[JS Kwt]

The Great British Write-Off Cars scandal-
Crashed cars repaired and sold with clean history

Crashed cars written-off by insurers are being repaired and sold to unsuspecting motorists.

Auto Express exclusive report

Cars that have been deemed insurance write-offs following serious accidents are passing vehicle history checks with a clean bill of health and being sold to unsuspecting motorists, Auto Express can exclusively reveal.

Vehicle history checks are relied on by countless buyers every year to reveal whether a car is subject to outstanding finance, has mileage irregularities, has been stolen, has previously been scrapped or has been deemed an insurance write-off.

But the damaged cars you see in these photographs were sold at a salvage auction, having been classified as ‘Cat S’ – meaning they were written off after sustaining serious, structural accident damage, and were only allowed back on the road after having been properly repaired.

Despite this, all of these models passed the vehicle history checks offered by both HPI and Experian AutoCheck, and were being marketed to consumers as never having been written off.

Some Cases revealed by Auto Express

2015 Toyota Yaris Icon Hybrid
Auctioned as a write-off


This Toyota Yaris was auctioned as a Cat S write-off in August 2018 with significant front-end damage and a suggested retail value of £9,330.

On sale nine months later

By March 2019 this Yaris had been repaired and was advertised for sale to consumers for £8,995. HPI and Experian checks did not reveal its write-off history.


2012 Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI Elegance
Auctioned as a write-off

This Skoda Superb was auctioned as a Cat S write-off in June 2018 with significant front-end damage.

On sale nine months later


By March 2019 this Superb had been repaired and was advertised for sale to consumers for £7,250. HPI and Experian checks did not reveal its write-off history.

How widespread is the problem?


Auto Express obtained data from the DVLA showing how many write-off ‘transactions’ the agency processed during financial years 2016/17, and 2017/18.

There is a significant difference between the two organisations’ databases, with nearly 100,000 fewer written-off vehicles a year appearing on MIAFTR compared with DVLA records. Even after removing from the equation Cat A and B vehicles – which must be scrapped and can never be driven again – these numbers give a clear idea of the discrepancies between MIAFTR and the DVLA’s database.

Full Article

[dhanushs]

This happens in India too. I personally know a couple of workshops who specialise in the bodywork of total loss cars.

This is also one of the numerous ways Insurance makes money.

[itwasntme]

From my personal experience of living across various parts of the UK, there is a very distinct seamy underbelly in the UK car industry which no amount of DVLAs, Experians, annual MOTs etc has been able to stamp out.

While the majority of used car dealers are very much above board, a significant minority are not, and stoop to a zillion 'third world country' style fraudulent misrepresentations, rampant clocking of odometers, swapping of key parts and outright theft & sell schemes.

As a result, even most dyed-in-the-wool Britishers have a healthy distrust of the entire industry!

[GTO]

Big scam in India too, and insurance companies are also to blame as they sell off total loss cars instead of scrapping them.

I had sold my 1st-gen City Vtec to a BHPian. Sadly, the car was damaged by a landslide when parked. Believe it or not, another BHPian later spotted this car being used by a family

[condor]

On a similar note, is any one familiar with salvaging of cars (in UK). This seems to work something like - in case of older cars where the damage is not much, the car was "purchased" by the insurance company and sold back to same customer for a lower price.
( I am not understanding this concept, but have heard it happen).

[vennarbank]

I and two of my friends, faced the same situation, but in US [Mass] by 2001/2. At that time i verified with Carfax, and the car was shown as clean. But when i tried to sell a year later, it became a totalled car, being rebuilt. It was a testing time for me. [I was lucky that some drunkard crashed behind my parked car, and i got more than what i paid initially]

[Kashish]

I firmly believe that the RTO should pass a rule compelling all the insurance firms to get the registration of a said vehicle declared as a total loss CANCELLED and get the vehicle scrapped immediately in the interest of safety. This will to a great extent help in reducing such scams which are apparently quite common in India. It shall of course not cover the cars plying without insurance but would still become quite a deterrent to such practices.

[Rahul Rao]

This is a world wide phenomenon, not just UK and India. In India for any total loss case the onus is on the owner to cancel registration and get the OTT refund.
By not doing so you keep the registration live, and the car available for salvage and rebuild.
If any one tries to follow the correct process, the insurance companies ties them up in litigation and doesn't pay them any thing.

Lastly people feel that after 5 years what refund will I get, but the calculation is different, and the tax reduces in a different way, OTT payed is like a deposit which accrues interest, and a small amount is debited every year.
In MH the refundable OTT tax balance in percentage of original paid is as below.

The figures vary every year due to change in interest rate the state treasury pays the transport department.



Rahul

[audioholic]

Given the higher costs of labour in these countries, crashed cars have very high chances of being classified as totalled. In India the damage must be relatively higher to declare the same. Leave these two countries, ladies and gentlemen I would like to present to you this guy in Russia. Look at the state of the cars he fixes back to shape. These can never be safe and stable as before, but still he puts in a lot of effort and skills since they can afford it and these cars are brought by people who want to show off with a big car but dont have the budget for it. Here we go:

https://youtu.be/wR2f-q4WPfs

Look at the extent of damage and the amount of repairs done.

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao

In MH the refundable OTT tax balance in percentage of original paid is as below.

The figures vary every year due to change in interest rate the state treasury pays the transport department.

Attachment 1873541

Rahul

Rahul that is an eye opener post. Does my math on say a road tax of Rs. 1,00,000/- paid in 2015 be like this?



Does the chart also imply that the so called OTT / LTT is only valid for a period of 20 years?

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Rahul that is an eye opener post. Does my math on say a road tax of Rs. 1,00,000/- paid in 2015 be like this?

Attachment 1873542

Yes you are correct.

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Does the chart also imply that the so called OTT / LTT is only valid for a period of 20 years?

It is something like that, but changes every year. This calculation was initially put up in 1997 when OTT became compulsory with a calculation for 25 years, with interest correction, it changed to 15 years in the end of 2004-05, and again increased gradually.
If you do manage to maintain a car beyond 20 years, they do not ask you for more tax, but if you transfer a car from another state, or cancel registration of your car this is the payable or refundable amount.
Just for academic purpose, as published chart is only for 20 years, older cars may attract the same tax that any 20 yr old car may attract.
Rahul

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by Rahul Rao

Lastly people feel that after 5 years what refund will I get, but the calculation is different, and the tax reduces in a different way, OTT payed is like a deposit which accrues interest, and a small amount is debited every year.
In MH the refundable OTT tax balance in percentage of original paid is as below.

The figures vary every year due to change in interest rate the state treasury pays the transport department.

Attachment 1873541

Rahul

Rahul,

I was discussing this with another friend and he was curious to know under what conditions OTT refund can be applied for? He plans to export his 2 year old bike to Europe as he plans to move there for professional reasons. Can he cancel his registration and claim a refund? Can the import duty be claimed as a refund too? Or would that only be possible with manufacturer intervention?

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Rahul,

I was discussing this with another friend and he was curious to know under what conditions OTT refund can be applied for? He plans to export his 2 year old bike to Europe as he plans to move there for professional reasons. Can he cancel his registration and claim a refund? Can the import duty be claimed as a refund too? Or would that only be possible with manufacturer intervention?

Check this thread, it might have some useful information:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/india...-india-uk.html (I exported my Ford Endeavour from India to the UK!)

[Rahul Rao]

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Rahul,

I was discussing this with another friend and he was curious to know under what conditions OTT refund can be applied for? He plans to export his 2 year old bike to Europe as he plans to move there for professional reasons. Can he cancel his registration and claim a refund?

Yes once he gets the NOC to ship the bike abroad he can fill the form DT.
Once he gives proof of registration abroad his refund claim will be processed.
Note that there is a small 6 month window for the refund process.

Originally Posted by moralfibre

Can the import duty be claimed as a refund too?

No I dont think bike can be considered as sem ifinished or raw material for refund to be processed.

Rahul