£200m 'compo windfall' for 270,000 drivers

AN ESTIMATED 270,000 motorists are expected to receive £200million in compensation after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that some insurers had short changed customers on stolen or written-off vehicle claims.

- By Vicky Shaw

Of this, £129m has been paid to date to almost 150,000 customers relating to the historic claims, the regulator said.

The FCA carried out detailed work with insurers following an initial review last year which found, in some cases, automatic deductions to payouts were made for assumed preexisting damage. This disadvantaged careful drivers who had looked after their vehicles and made it harder for them to buy like-for-like replacements.