§ Mr. Gordon PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to ensure that motor vehicles written off for insurance purposes do not reappear in the used car market as vehicles of merchantable quality.
§ Mr. KeyVehicles are generally written off by insurance companies for economic reasons rather than on the basis of whether they are capable of being safely repaired. Where such vehicles are repaired and subsequently relicensed DVLA automatically notifies the police so that they can make inquiries where appropriate. Many written off vehicles are properly restored to a roadworthy condition each year and so legislation in this area would be unwarranted. Information on whether a vehicle has been previously written off by an insurance company is available to prospective purchasers from specialist data collection companies in the private sector. My advice would aways be to have a car inspected by an independent expert before agreeing to make a purchase.