AN interim payment has now been made in what is expected to be the biggest claim ever made in the history of car insurance in Britain.

About £3m has been paid out in response to GNER's claim following the Selby rail disaster, in which ten people died in February last year.

The company had issued a writ for compensation following the disaster and although an interim payment between insurance companies has now been made, the matter is said to be still continuing.

Tragedy struck when a Land Rover driven by 37-year-old Gary Hart came off the M62 and landed on the East Coast Main Line near the village of Great Heck.

The GNER claim is just one of several that Hart's insurers, Fortis, are facing.

Railtrack has issued a writ seeking almost £11m for the costs and losses it incurred with the clean-up, repairs to the track and lost business, while the freight company involved is also seeking a multi-million pound settlement.

Victims and their families are also seeking payouts from the insurers, who say that while they have settled only 13 of the 80 personal injury claims they have made interim payments of almost £600,000 to 60 people involved in the crash.

It is expected that the insurers will be arguing that some responsibility for the crash should be shared by the Highways Agency which, it claims, should have had barriers in place to prevent such a tragedy.

Hart, from Lincolnshire, was jailed for five years after being found guilty of ten counts of causing death by dangerous driving.