As
part of the process of abolishing the VIC scheme, the
Department for Transport is considering what needs to be done to protect
consumers from fraudulent sales of repaired insurance write-offs. And whether certain types of salvage should
ever be repaired.
The
report below, obtained from local media sources, highlights a horrific example
of what can go wrong when insurers loose control of their salvage. Data obtained from the VIC scheme has already
confirmed that many category B vehicles are repaired. There is also a significant trade in the export
of category B vehicles, almost certainly for repair overseas, but they are
openly traded on public auction sites in the UK
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In June 2013, teenager Rebecca Learoyd & her best friend Megan
Robinson were driving a repaired insurance ‘category B’ Fiat 500 when it hit a
Citroen Xsara, killing both of them & the driver of the Citroen, Anne
Peachey.
The survivor of a triple fatal crash, Mrs Peachey’s daughter
Joanne, who was seriously injured in the crash, spoke of her dismay after the
couple that sold the Fiat 500 were given only suspended prison sentences at
Durham Crown Court after admitting fraud. They maintained their innocence right up to
the last minute.
She said: “We are disappointed it was a suspended sentence. They
are only sorry because they have been caught.”
It emerged during the investigation that Ralph Brown and Anne
Stidwell bought two ‘category B’ write-off Fiats, both of which were so badly
damaged they should have been crushed after spare parts were removed, in 2012
from a well known insurance company. Instead they were repaired to a “poor
quality”.
Amazingly, there is nothing to prevent badly damaged write-offs
being repaired and there is no system in the UK for checking the quality of
repaired vehicles.
Brown & Stidwell then fraudulently sold the Fiat 500 driven by
Rebecca – falsely claiming that the vehicle had belonged to their daughter
& was in ‘mint condition’. But they had actually purchased the vehicle for
£1366 from an insurance internet auction.
They then sold it for £4850. The
other Fiat had also been sold for £5350.
Simon Reevell, prosecuting, said Brown and Stidwell ran a business
buying damaged cars from insurance companies and repairing them and reselling
them through their company website.
Passing sentence Judge Christopher Prince said: “This was
sophisticated offending by each of you. “These people trusted you and believed
you to be private sellers on behalf of your daughter.”
Sidwell was sentenced to ten months imprisonment and Brown to eight
months, each suspended for two years. They
were each also ordered to do 100 hours unpaid work and pay £1,100 in costs.
