The BBC has been forced to take down an article that claimed car insurance companies were racist.
A leaked report detailed the outrage at the BBC Verify service after its journalists wrote about an “ethnic penalty” in car insurance.
The memo by a former independent adviser to the BBC’s Editorial Guidelines and Standards Board described the article as “thoroughly wrong”.
Michael Prescott’s memo, seen by the Telegraph, says the BBC “fell too easily for putting out ill-researched material that suggested issues of racism where there were none”.
The story, published in February 2024, featured on BBC Breakfast, the One and Six O’Clock News, Radio 1 Newsbeat, Radio 5 Live and the BBC’s TikTok channel.
It incorrectly claimed car insurance quotes were higher in areas with large ethnic minority populations, even if road accident and crime levels were similar to other places.
An internal review was requested by Mr Prescott, who found the story “so unlikely”.
The review found “multiple serious editorial problems” with the reporting.
The BBC has come under fire for the ‘thoroughly wrong’ article
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PA
The memo read: “BBC audiences were being encouraged to believe Britain’s major insurers were, intentionally or unintentionally, racist, and charging high prices to customers based on their ethnicity.
“For me, it was hard to imagine UK FTSE boards or executive teams conceiving of or sanctioning a policy to charge ethnic minority customers higher prices.”
A statement had been issued to the BBC by the Association of British Insurers, which provided “important context”, however, it was only quoted selectively.
After being flagged to BBC executives, the reference to the “ethnic penalty” was removed, but the report was “so thoroughly wrong that later, a stricter view was taken and the entire report was taken down.”
Multiple issues were flagged with the data on which the BBC Verify report was based.
It did not take into account external factors that influence insurance prices, including whether a particular area has an unusually high claims history or a large number of people who drive without insurance.
The data was also at least five years out of date.
A statement was published in place of the article, which read: “BBC News has removed an article from our website about car insurance premiums as it did not meet our normal editorial standards.”
The BBC said it does not comment on leaks.
The broadcaster has come under fire after accusations of “doctoring” President Donald Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s call for “heads to roll” at the broadcaster.
Speaking to GB News on Tuesday, Mrs Badenoch slammed the BBC for the “fake news” scandal.
She told The People’s Channel: “Everyone with a TV pays a licence, they are funded by us and they should not be telling us things that are not true. Heads should roll.
“Whoever did that should be sacked.
“That’s what Tim Davie should be doing: identifying who put out misinformation and dismissing them.
“The public must be able to trust our public broadcaster.”
