One Hollywood actor was given the biggest car insurance claim the UK has ever seen after colliding with a tree, which resulted in severe damage to the injured driver’s car
A Hollywood actor holds the UK’s record for largest car insurance claim(Image: Gareth Cattermole, Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
A Hollywood star holds the record for largest car insurance claim ever made in the UK.
Rowan Atkinson’s incident occurred in August 2011 when the actor lost control of his McLaren F1 on a slippery road.
The high-speed supercar collided with a tree and a road sign, resulting in severe damage. While Atkinson walked away with only a shoulder injury the rear end of the McLaren was obliterated, reports the Express.
Rather than being written off, the damaged car was returned to McLaren’s factory in Woking. The fix-up job took roughly a year to complete and the final bill was jaw-dropping as insurers ended up shelling out between £900,000 and £910,000, breaking the previous UK record for a single motor insurance claim.
Rowan Atkinson is best known for his roles in Mr Bean, Blackadder and Johnny English(Image: Kate Green, Getty Images)
The enormous scale of the claim was due to the motor’s precious materials, intricate engineering and the fact that almost every part needed expert attention. The bill came to approximately $1.4 million, positioning it among the costliest private vehicle repairs in history.
Atkinson previously told C&SC: “I’m not a collector. I don’t like the top-cupboard syndrome that causes so many good cars to evaporate. It depresses me that they are hidden away like investment art, or gold ingots in a Swiss vault.”
Atkinson thankfully only walked away from the crash with injury to his shoulder(Image: Karwai Tang, WireImagevia Getty Images)
Rather than becoming a monetary catastrophe, the McLaren eventually turned out to be a profitable venture. Atkinson held onto the motor for several additional years before selling it in 2015, well after prices for the F1 had rocketed.
The selling price reached into the tens of millions which comfortably overtook both the initial buying cost and the staggering repair expenses. He said: “When I bought it in 1997, it all seemed pretty rash, because I was expecting it to depreciate.”
“But of course it didn’t depreciate, far from it. Meanwhile I’ve avoided buying Aston Martins and Ferraris, which has saved me a fortune.”
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