Liverpool car park fire could cost £20 million in claims, says ABI

The Liverpool car park fire is likely to result in claims worth £20 million being paid out to motor insurance customers, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has estimated.

Payments have already been made to some of the hundreds of people who lost their vehicles in the blaze on New Year’s Eve, with a number of insurers bringing in extra staff to ensure claims are dealt with as swiftly as possible.

More than 1,300 vehicles were destroyed in the fire at the ECHO Arena car park in Liverpool.

As well as getting the money to replace their vehicles, customers have also been making claims for the value of belongings which were inside them, according to the ABI. Depending on the cover they had, some people will also be able to get money back for other transport costs.

The motor insurance industry paid out £33 million in claims every single day in 2016, according to the ABI, but it is highly unusual to have so many vehicles destroyed at the same time at a single location.

Rob Cummings, head of motor and liability at the ABI, said: “Insurance exists for just this sort of event, and insurers were working hard over the bank holiday to get on with processing people’s claims as quickly as possible.”

“Customers affected should be reassured that insurers are expecting to pay out around £20 million to help get them back on the road.”

“The insurance industry pays out tens of millions of pounds every day, so while this is a very unusual event it is well within the bounds of what firms expect to deal with.”

Mark Dugdale