Around 15,000 “write-offs” are returning to UK roads undetected each year. It’s al happening because of an insurance loophole according to Autocar magazine.

Shortcomings affect the independent vehicle history checks. This is leading to one-in-50 vehicle write-offs being put back on the road. They are getting a ‘clean vehicle history’ as a result of the voluntary status of the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud Theft Register (MIAFTR).

Loopholes

Currently, not all of the UK’s 200 insurers are signed up to the MIAFTR scheme. ‘Reject My Car’ founder, Ian Ferguson, says that this leads to both car dealers and consumers getting “caught out”. This problem is “huge and getting bigger”.

Autocar’s Editor, Mark Tisshaw, said: “Used buyers are at risk of unknowingly buying a written-off vehicle because of this loophole in the industry.

Health checks unreliable

“A single vehicle health check is no longer a good enough guarantee” he added. Their investigations found owners had bought cars which had been incorrectly flagged as ‘not written-off’. This is despite being checked by a vehicle health check provider.

The Motor Insurance Bureau (MIB) informed the magazine that new measures are to be introduced. These will improve the database, but for now buyers remain at risk. Second-hand cars could incorrect histories, even if buyers have paid for a vehicle check.

Previous record

In 2019 BBC One’s Rip-Off Britain consumer watchdog highlighted this problem. Two years on and little has changed.

The show looked at two of the UK’s largest dealer groups – Pendragon and Arnold Clark. Both offered for sale cars discovered to be insurance ‘write-offs’.

In a statement issued at the time Pendragon said customer safety was its absolute priority. It states that all the vehicles it retails are checked by vehicle manufacturer-trained technicians or independent AA engineers. They are also subject to full CAP HPI background checks. It added that 28% of the vehicles it purchased in 2018 did not meet its standards for retail sale to consumers.

A statement from Arnold Clark Automobiles said: “We regularly review our processes and procedures throughout the business and this applies to the checking of vehicles that we are considering bringing into stock for retail sale.” They also source vehicle history information from a third-party provider”.

Growing numbers

Vehicle history checker, Motorcheck, stated that it estimates more than 2,000 advertised with a clean history at any given time in the UK have serious questions about their past life.

The MIAFTR sees roughly 700,000 claims per year added to its register. However, vehicles insured under third-party only, or those self-insured by their owners such as local councils or the police, are not recorded in the database. This poses a serious challenge for vehicle-check companies.

New laws

Last November VCheck called for dealers across the UK to support its call for a change to the law around write-off data.

The company is lobbying the industry and government to compel insurance companies to register write-offs with industry databases to protect both dealers and motorists.

VCheck founder and chief executive, Adrian Mierzwinski, said: “Badly-damaged cars, some destined to be broken for spares are being patched up and sold through dealers to consumers who then have a car worth a fraction of its original value, not to mention many are so poorly repaired they are dangerous.”