THE DEPARTMENT of Transport has received new information on car write-offs from insurance companies, and is checking the data to see if vehicles have been returned to the roads, and to warn any unsuspecting owners about their car's history. Hibernian became the first insurer to hand over its records on written-off cars, when it forwarded records on 5,429 write-offs to the department earlier this year.
The department checked this list against the State vehicle register to make sure the cars had been taken off the roads. Department officials discovered that 261 vehicles on Hibernian's list had been returned to the road, having been re-registered by new owners or re-taxed.
The department sent out warning letters to the owners of the 261 vehicles. The move followed a report compiled last year by private car-checking company, cartell.ie, which found that written-off cars were re-appearing on the roads.
The Road Safety Authority, an Garda Síochána, the Revenue Commissioners and the department launched an investigation last year after receiving the report.
There is no compulsory reporting system in the Republic forcing car owners to inform the department when vehicles are written off. Insurance companies are not obliged to hand over their records on write-offs. This has allowed potentially dangerous vehicles to be repaired and re-taxed for the road. Some vehicles were even found to have passed the NCT.
Since the investigation into the write-offs, the Irish Insurance Federation (IIF) has said insurers would start handing over information voluntarily, so the department can update the State vehicle register, National Vehicle Driver File (NVDF).
