Hi, sorry to hear of your accident.
Here's an article I wrote on this subject for the magazine of Volvo Owners Club. I hope some of it helps...
We were recently asked by one of our other car club partners for our comments and understanding of the demise of the DfT’s Vehicle Identity Check (VIC) programme for an article in their magazine. So I thought it might also be useful to share our thoughts with you.
Background (taken from DfT Consultation Responses document).
“Insurers log details of all written-off vehicles according to 4 salvage categories (A – scrap only; B – break for spare parts; C – repairable total loss where repair costs exceed the vehicle pre-accident value; D – repairable total loss where repair costs do not exceed the vehicle pre-accident value), and pass the information to the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The VIC scheme applied to salvage categories A, B and C; DVLA would place a “VIC marker” on these vehicles’ computer record, preventing issue of a replacement Vehicle Registration Document (V5C) or licensing reminder (V11) until the VIC marker had been removed. For this to happen, the vehicle was required to undergo and pass a VIC check conducted by VOSA.
The scheme was introduced in 2003 to help combat vehicle “ringing”. Typically, this involves the theft of a car of significant value, which is then given the identity of a similar car (make, model, colour etc) which has been the subject of an insurance write-off. The written-off car is obtained cheaply; its identity (Vehicle Identity Number (VIN) and Vehicle Registration Mark (VRM)) is then transferred to the higher value stolen car which, now apparently genuine, can be sold at market price.”
Not fit for purpose
What came out in the DfT’s Consultation on abolishing the scheme was that there was an apparently widespread mis-conception that the VIC programme was about roadworthiness when in fact it was purely designed to ensure vehicle authenticity, thus reducing vehicle crime and protecting purchasers from being duped. But even that didn’t work! During the 12 years of its existence only 38 cars were detected as being ‘ringers’. Ergo, the cost of detection is thought to be about £4m per vehicle caught.
Where do you stand now?
With the progressive tightening of regulation for the salvage industry the insurers’ write-off categories have gained some clarity, distinguishing clearly between safety and cost of repairs. Cat A or B write-off vehicles are classed as unsafe and therefore will not be allowed to return to the roads – they are only fit for destruction - and Cat C write-offs (uneconomical repair) will no longer need a VIC test from VOSA before returning to the highway. Cat D never did.
Retained salvage
Now, it is all too easy to find that the cost of repairs of a cherished vehicle could exceed by some margin the actual market value of the vehicle (Cat C or D). As we know, this might be not only a matter of love and affection for the vehicle, but have a real relationship to the perceived historic value of the vehicle now, or in the future. Volvo Owners Club in particular, has been looking into this issue with DVLA and the Department for Transport. It is early days yet, but one simple piece of advice seems apt. Until you agree a settlement with the insurance company, the vehicle is yours.
It is your property and they cannot scrap it without your consent. Specialist insurance policies will allow for the return of the vehicle remains if Cat B, C or D. Volvo Owners Club is concerned that not all inspection engineers are ‘historic aware’ and they may sometimes wrongly apply modern and inapplicable approaches to their inspections. It is important to ensure, if you intend to rebuild the vehicle at your own cost, or at a cost above the insurance company’s valuation, that it does not get involved in being ‘Cat B written-off’ where a Certificate of Destruction will be required for the body shell/frame/chassis after crushing. You might be left with a bag of bits you can’t use again as a complete vehicle.
The specialist insurers who really understand enthusiast business will go out of their way to try and accommodate an owner who wants to retain a vehicle, where the arguments are solely around economics (Cat C or D) – Chris Knott Insurance has plenty of experience of that and it usually comes down to negotiating a figure for cash-in-lieu of repairs, with some deduction for the value of salvage that an insurer would otherwise have earned.
In conclusion, it is as yet unclear whether the government will bring in an alternative measure to ensure roadworthiness beyond MOT tests (again not designed for such) before ANY vehicle is returned to the roads.
best,
Nick
