Good to know: We are a Claims Management Company (CMC). You do not need to use a CMC to make your complaint to your lender, bank or insurer. If your complaint is not successful you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service yourself for free if the firm is still trading. For eligible failed firms, you can refer a claim to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for free.
If you have had a car, van or other vehicle written off or lost due to theft in the last 6 years, you could be owed money.
To explain, when your vehicle was written off or stolen and not recovered, your insurance company is expected by their regulator to ensure the offer adequately covers the cost of buying a replacement vehicle.
However, a recent investigation by insurers’ regulator (the Financial Conduct Authority), expressed concerns that fair offers are not always made.
Our expert team here at Allegiant has verified that some insurers have been making unfair offers that are too low based on the realistic cost of buying a similar car. What’s more, compensation payment is being ordered against insurers where this occurred. The compensation amount is calculated by what offer you should have been given by your insurer, less the amount you have already received. Our research confirms typical compensation is between £1,000 and £2,0001. You can also claim interest on this sum.
We can help you by looking at the offer your insurer made, and comparing it with cutting edge industry valuation tools. Our team will also look at vehicle adverts from the time your vehicle was written off, to check the offer your insurer made. What’s more – it’s all done on a no win, no fee basis.
Get Peace of Mind
Our service is No Win, No Fee. Our success fee for this kind of claim is typical 36% inclusive of VAT.
By instructing us, we can either validate that your insurer’s offer was fair giving you peace of mind (at no cost to you), or get you compensation where we think the offer was not fair. You only pay where we are successful in claiming compensation.
We could help recover your money, even if:
Click below to see answers to common queries.
A write-off, or total loss, occurs when your insurer decides that the cost of repairing your vehicle is economical based on its market value before the incident. The insurer will declare it a total loss and provide a settlement based on its pre-accident value.
Yes you can still make a claim. An insurance company treats a claim as a “fault” claim when it can’t get back any of the costs it’s paid out to settle the claim from a third party (such as another driver’s insurer). This does not change the fact that your insurer should make a payout reflecting the true pre-accident market value of your vehicle.
Some insurers offer a lower initial settlement, assuming the customer might accept it or might not know how to challenge it. This is a point of concern highlighted by the UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority.
Even if the insurer increases its valuation, it still may not be high enough when compared to the objective guidance available for valuing vehicles.
If you cannot remember the registration of your vehicle, we can still help. Simply enter the details of the vehicle manually and we should be able to find the vehicle and registration for you to continue a claim.
You’re still responsible for any remaining finance payments. Allegiant can provide guidance if your settlement falls short of covering the finance balance, if you are using Allegiant’s services.
Yes, the valuation considers factors like age, mileage, model, and additional features. Allegiant ensures these factors are considered fairly, where that information is available.
Allegiant can assist with claims for incidents up to six years old, making it possible to revisit past claims where recent guidance suggests a higher valuation should have been used. If the write-off is more than 6 years ago, certain time limit restrictions for making a reclaim could apply.
| Top 10 most written off cars in 20232 | |||
| Rank | Car Model | Quantity | |
| 1 | Ford Focus | 7,219 | |
| 2 | Ford Fiesta | 6,422 | |
| 3 | Vauxhall Astra | 6,363 | |
| 4 | Volkswagen Golf | 6,123 | |
| 5 | BMW 3 Series | 5,283 | |
| 6 | Nissan Qashqai | 3,423 | |
| 7 | BMW 1 Series | 3,338 | |
| 8 | Volkswagen Polo | 2,852 | |
| 9 | Ford Transit | 2,838 | |
| 10 | Audi A3 | 2,831 | |
Write-offs are classified into four categories:
In some cases, yes. You can buy back your vehicle, especially if it’s a Category S or N. However, the vehicle will carry a write-off marker, which could affect resale value. However, if it is a category A or B these vehicles are unable to be returned to the road and subsequently have to be scrapped.
Yes, you can negotiate. It’s reasonable to ask your insurer how they calculated the value and which trade guides they used. Allegiant can support you in these discussions if your claim was undervalued, and you are using our service to reclaim.
Allegiant assists customers who believe their write-off settlement was undervalued by insurers. Using industry trade guides, Allegiant can determine the car’s true pre-accident market value and could help you reclaim any underpaid amount.
It is important before engaging the services of a company or person offering to help you recover lost money through fraud that they are legally authorised to do so. Allegiant Finance Services Limited is a Claims Management Company that is Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm Reference Number: 836810.
You can check our credentials on the Financial Conduct Authority’s Financial Services Register. The register lists all the firms authorised to conduct regulated financial services activities, which includes Claims Management Services. You can find the Financial Service Register by entering “FCA register” on your internet browser.
We’re a UK based business operating from 400 Chadwick House, Warrington Road, Birchwood Park, Cheshire WA3 6AE. We were founded in 2010. You can check by typing in “Companies House Search” into your internet browser and searching for “Allegiant Finance Services”.
You can also check independent review sites like Trustpilot and Google Reviews.
Yes, our service is chargeable but only where you receive compensation.
You do not need to use a claims management company to make your complaint to your bank. If your complaint is not successful you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service for free.
If you choose to use our service our fees are owed upon a successful claim and are a percentage of the amount recovered.
We do not charge upfront fees, and if your claim is unsuccessful there is no charge. You can cancel your claim for free at any point unless an offer has been made, at which point our success fee will apply.
You can view our fees here
Allegiant will need some details about the vehicle that was written-off due to accident or theft. If you provide us with the vehicle registration, we use special databases to look up the important information about the vehicle. We also need to know who your insurer was, and when you believe the vehicle was written off.
You do not need to know what a fair valuation for your vehicle would have been; because we will look into that for you.
The answer to this largely depends on our negotiations with your insurer, and their willingness to settle your reclaim. If your insurer is willing to make a compensation offer, the reclaim should take a few months from start to finish. However, if your insurer does not agree, and we need to involve the Financial Ombudsman Service, then this could potentially add many more months to await a resolution – depending on the ombudsman service’s workload.
If a reclaim is successful, Allegiant charges a percentage of the reclaimed compensation as a fee. We do not charge a fee on the insurance payout you originally received prior to your reclaim with Allegiant.
For example:
a. A few years ago your insurer pays you an amount by valuing your written-off vehicle at £2,000.
b. You start a Reclaim with Allegiant. We uncover that your vehicle was in fact worth £2,500, resulting in a compensation payout of £500, to make up the difference.
c. Allegiant would charge a fee based on the new £500 payout (not the original payout of £2,000).
d. Allegiant’s fee, based on a £500 compensation payout, would be £180 (including VAT).
If Allegiant does not recover compensation, you won’t be charged any fees. Allegiant only earns a fee on successful claims.
Our success fee is due only if your insurer makes a compensation payout, and is calculated on the amount of the compensation payout.
The success fee amount is calculated using a band charging system. There are five charging bands. Each band has a maximum amount that we will charge.
Success Fee Charging Table
| Band | Compensation Payout | Percentage rate the Success Fee is calculated on (including VAT) | Maximum Success Fee in band (including VAT) |
| 1 | £1 to £1,499 | 36% | £504 |
| 2 | £1,500 to £9,999 | 33.6% | £3,000 |
| 3 | £10,000 to £24,999 | 30% | £6,000 |
| 4 | £25,000 to £49,999 | 24% | £9,000 |
| 5 | £50,000 or more | 18% | £12,000 |
Below are examples of how this would work in practice.
| Lower example | Higher example | |||
| Band | Compensation Payout | Success Fee | Compensation Payout | Success Fee |
| 1 | £100 | £36 | £1,499 | £504 |
| 2 | £1,600 | £537.60 | £9,999 | £3,000 |
| 3 | £12,000 | £3,600 | £24,999 | £6,000 |
| 4 | £30,350 | £7,284 | £49,999 | £9,000 |
| 5 | £55,000 | £9,900 | £100,000 | £12,000 |
Please note that the examples in the tables are for illustration purposes only. They are not an estimate of the likely outcome or success fee.
We realise that claiming against an insurance company may feel daunting. We aim to make the claims process as simple as possible. Our experienced team will communicate with the insurance company (and where required, the Ombudsman service) on your behalf. We use bespoke technology to ensure efficient claims handling. Throughout the process, we inform you of claim progress using a “stage process”, so you can track your progress easily. Please remember that you do not need to use a claims management company to make your complaint to your insurance company. If your complaint is not successful, you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service yourself for free.
Pre complaint investigation and analysis
Formal complaint made, where appropriate.
Insurance responds with a Final Response Letter
If an appropriate outcome cannot be reached, referral to Financial Ombudsman Service.
Insurers are expected to fairly value a vehicle based on its market value shortly before it was damaged beyond repair in an accident or stolen. While some insurers play fair and promptly make the correct settlement payouts, not all of them do. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the regulator of insurance companies, has raised concerns about insurers making initial lowball valuations. This tactic involves deliberately undervaluing a vehicle in the hope that the customer will not challenge the valuation or request a higher settlement.
The 10 examples listed below challenged the valuations their insurers offered. All of them took their cases to the UK Ombudsman, who ruled that the insurers had to increase their vehicle valuations. However, not everyone challenges their insurer’s valuation. Some customers may reject the first offer but accept the second without further dispute. Could you have missed out by accepting your insurer’s valuation?
If your experience is similar to the 10 customers below, you could have missed out on an additional £1,700 on average. And if you had accepted the insurer’s initial lowball valuation, the amount you missed out on could be as much as £2,900, based on these examples.
*Claim success is dependant on merit and not guaranteed
1Based on 100 Ombudsman decisions – Financial Ombudsman service, £1000 to £2000 most common redress band: 01/01/2024 to 01/09/2024. £0=23 decisions; £1 to £1000=26 decisions; £1000 to £2000=31 decisions; Above £2000=20 decisions
2https://www.topgear.com/car-news/list/these-were-10-most-written-cars-britain-2023
Good to know: We are a Claims Management Company (CMC). You do not need to use a CMC to make your complaint to your lender, bank or insurer. If your complaint is not successful you can refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service yourself for free if the firm is still trading. For eligible failed firms, you can refer a claim to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for free.
