Rover dealers last night expressed fury with the collapsed carmaker's administrators, claiming they were owed up to five times more than the amount given in an official creditors' report.
Administrators from PricewaterhouseCoopers have received claims for £1.4bn from unsecured creditors to MG Rover, of which £4m is spread between about 300 dealerships.
According to PwC, the total for claims owed to dealerships is smaller than the £6.4m owed to advertising group Zenith Media.
A spokesman for the Rover dealers said: "I don't know how they got these figures. The total is at least five times what's in their document.
"PwC hasn't impressed us. [The administrator] has been relatively secretive and totally disinterested in the fate of Rover dealers. We have met once, when he asked for certain information. But he has turned down invitations to attend recent meetings." Administrators at PwC were unavailable yesterday for comment on dealership concerns.
Figures revealed in the PwC report suggest hundreds of suppliers and dealerships, as well as other creditors will, at best, receive 6p for every £1 they are owed by MG Rover.
The company's assembly lines, vehicle stock, brand names and other assets are said to be worth £85.5m. After they are sold an unidentified, but substantial, sum will go to PwC for its work as administrator and £5m will be paid to preferred creditors. The remainder must be shared between unsecured creditors owed £1.37bn.
MG Rover's pension fund dominates the creditor list, after PwC estimated the carmaker's liability in relation to a shortfall would be £325m. This figure could be dramatically reduced if the fund is taken over by the Pension Protection Fund, the government and industry safety net scheme.
However, the PPF has made clear it will not do so at least until Phoenix Venture Holdings, Rover's former owner, which has not collapsed, cuts links with the pension scheme.
The biggest creditor listed by PwC in its report is a complex grouping of loans provided by sister firms to Rover. These amount to £641m and may include the original £430m soft loan from BMW provided five years ago when the German firm sold Rover to Phoenix.
Phoenix has previously promised to channel all its assets into a trust for the former Longbridge workforce.
Meanwhile Rover dealers have received a more sympathetic hearing in the offices of Capital Bank, the leasing arm of HBOS. It said yesterday warranties offered by Rover before its collapse would be honoured by the bank.
A bank spokesman said a fund would help clear a backlog of 15,000 unsold MG and Rover cars. Capital said there was still strong demand and it expected sales to go ahead.
The spokesman for the dealers' association said Capital had rescued a potentially dire situation. "They have been like a knight to the rescue," he said.
The bank is the cars' technical owner and was under pressure to salvage something. It will also pay towards storage and transport costs arising from the cars' sale and provide subsidy for retail discounts.
When MG Rover collapsed a 20% discount to dealers was withdrawn and warranties became worthless. Capital will fund a discount of 15% off the purchase price of the cars.
