What Is A Write Off Car?

Write Off Vehicles Explained

The term write off refers to the damage done to a car, usually after an accident. The accident can happen on the road or may be caused by fire or water. A write off simply means that the vehicle has been damaged to the extent that it is too expensive to repair or it is unsafe to be on the road.

A write off car is also known as a notifiable vehicle. It becomes notifiable upon being declared a total economic loss. Factors such as dismantling, fire damage, stripping of parts, water immersion, or collision damage may cause a car to be a notifiable vehicle.

A total economic loss arises when the wreck's salvage value added to the repair cost becomes more than the vehicle's market value. In most cases, you will obtain some compensation from your vehicle insurer should your car be declared a written-off vehicle.

When your car is declared a write-off, you will register its details in the Written Off Vehicle Register (WOVR). A vehicle is considered to be written off if it is sixteen years old and falls under the category of any of the following:

• A caravan

• A motorcycle

• A trailer with an ATM (Aggregate Trailer Mass) of over 4.5 tonnes or a vehicle with a Gross Vehicle Mass (GVM) of 4.5 tonnes or below.

Let's go into more detail about write off cars.

Types Of Write Off Cars

There are two primary types of write off cars which include statutory write off cars and repairable write off cars. The latter is a subdivision known as the inspected write off car. Basically, the notifier will determine whether a vehicle is a repairable or statutory write off.

In most cases, the notifier is the vehicle's insurance company, which offers comprehensive insurance coverage for it. The vehicle's owner, a dealer, an auctioneer, a loss adjuster, or an auto parts dismantler may also qualify as a notifier to decide whether a car falls under the repairable or statutory write off vehicle category.

A repairable write off car refers to a damaged vehicle that can still be repaired. However, the cost of repairing the vehicle would likely be more than the agreed value (the insurance policy sum) or the car's market value before the accident occurred.

Per the laws in Australia, once a vehicle has been declared to be a repairable write off car, you will cancel its registration number once it is listed on the Written Off Vehicle Register. Should this happen to your car, the relevant authorities will send you a letter detailing the necessary steps that you need to adhere to repair your vehicle and get it back on the road.

Factors For Reregistering A Repairable Write Off

There is a small window for repairing and re-registering your repairable written off vehicle. Before you begin repairs on your repairable written off vehicle, you must satisfy a number of conditions:

Eligibility

There are a few instances where Transport for New South Wales can authorise an application for repair and re-registration of a repairable write off vehicle. They are as follows:

• The car must not have suffered the kind of damage that amounts to a statutory write off.

• The applicant must be the registered operator of the vehicle.

• The applicant must have been the vehicle's registered operator for over four weeks prior to the car sustaining damage.

• The applicant must have inherited the vehicle from a legally registered operator of the car.

Authorisation

You can obtain authorisation from the relevant government authority, such as Transport for New South Wales, to begin the repairs once you meet any of the above eligibility criteria. While applying for authorisation to repair your written off vehicle, you will be required to provide the following:

• A complete Written Off Light Vehicle Application to repair a written off light vehicle.

• A Declaration of Vehicle Damage fully completed by the assessor.

• A valid letter from the company indicating that the applicant is authorised to operate as their agent. Moreover, the applicant is a company-registered operator.

• A last will and testament for cases involving inherited vehicles only.

Once authorisation is issued, Transport for New South Wales will send you an Authorisation Notification to Repair. After that, you can reach out to a licensed repairer for advice before you begin repairing your written off vehicle.

You will be required to repair your vehicle per its manufacturer's standards in case of damage. This is if the damage affects its structural integrity and the general safety of your written off vehicle.

Reach out to your vehicle manufacturer or any authorised dealer to obtain the repair instructions. You may have to part with some funds to have this information sent to you.

Non-compliance risk

The danger of not complying with this requirement is that you can compromise your vehicle's structural integrity and general safety. Also, if you do not comply, the authorities might slap you with a VIV (Vehicle Identity Validation) inspection.

Your vehicle could also be declared a statutory write off car if it can no longer be repaired, thus becoming a scrap metal. However, if you follow the first requirement, the next step is to obtain a roadworthy certificate and the Victorian VIV certificate allowing your repaired car back on the road.

Re-registering your vehicle

Not all repairable write off cars can be re-registered legally. Therefore, it is essential that you first check with your vehicle insurer. Further, the process of re-registering a repairable write off differs in each state or territory.

However, if, for instance, your repairable write off car has been repaired as per the regulations in New South Wales highlighted above, you need to follow these key steps to re-register it. These steps are:

• Ensure that an Authorised Unregistered Vehicle Inspection Scheme (AUVIS) inspection is conducted.

• Ensure that a Vehicle Identity Inspections Unit (VIIU) inspection is conducted.

After fully complying with the above requirements, you may then apply for registration of your repairable write off vehicle. After your repairable write off vehicle has been repaired and re-registered, it will be categorised as an inspected repairable write off car. Sometimes, despite the damage being irreparable, a hail-damaged vehicle may be recorded on the WOVR (Written Off Vehicle Register) as an inspected and repairable write-off vehicle.

A statutory write off car

A statutory write off occurs when the vehicle is so damaged on several occasions that you cannot take it back to the road anymore. The level of repair an expert would perform on the vehicle is immaterial.

When your vehicle is declared as a statutory write off car, it simply means that it can no longer be registered anywhere in Australia due to the registration of its Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) in a Written off vehicle register.

This would translate to the car being no more than scrap metal. However, that does not mean that it is entirely useless. You can sell the parts of the vehicle to repair other cars.

Parts of the statutory written off car that have the Vehicle Identification Number stamping or the Chassis number cannot be used. You cannot use the chassis of a statutory write off to repair other vehicles because of the potential damage to the structural integrity of the car.

Damage Assessment Basis For Statutory Write Off

Statutory write off vehicles are grouped into two primary categories to determine damage assessment criteria before a vehicle is declared a statutory write off car.

Light motor vehicle

A light motor vehicle has to meet the following conditions to be declared a statutory write off car:

• Excessive structural damage: A vehicle is said to have excessive structural damage if it meets the criteria stipulated in the Damage Assessment Criteria for the Classification of Light Vehicle Statutory Write Offs.

• Severe fire damage: A vehicle has excessive fire damage if the fire causes interior and exterior damage or if the internal or external paint on the pillar, roof, firewall, floor pan, or longitudinal structural chassis of the vehicle has blistered. A car meets the criteria of excessive fire damage if it is damaged to the extent of it being written off.

• Excessive stripping damage: When the interior and/or exterior components, panels, and parts of the vehicle, such as the doors, wheels, or bonnet, have been stripped off to the extent of a write off car, the vehicle is said to be a statutory write off car as per the criteria of excessive stripping damage.

• Excessive water damage: When too much water gets into the car to a level that reaches or goes beyond the inner door sill, the vehicle is a statutory write off car because of excessive water damage. Under this criterion, whether the water inside the car is salty or fresh is not essential.

Motorcycles, caravans, and trailers

Different statutory write off assessment criteria exists for light caravans, light trailers, and motorbikes. Therefore, for a motorbike, light caravan, or light trailer to qualify as a statutory write off, it has to meet any of the following conditions:

• Must have sustained impact damage to the suspension and one or more sections of the structural frame.

• It is burnt to the extent that it is no more useful than for the purposes of scrap metal usage or wrecking.

• Must have been fully immersed in fresh water for more than forty-eight hours while attached to a box trailer or a skeleton-type trailer.

• It must have been fully immersed in salty water for any amount of time without a box trailer or a skeleton-type trailer.

• It has to be stripped of all or both the interior and exterior components, panels, and body parts.

How To See If Your Car Has Been Written Off

If you have been involved in an accident in the recent past and you are wondering if your vehicle has been written off, check to be specific. How can you check if your car has been written off? You can contact your vehicle insurer and inquire whether they have assessed your car after the accident and the total extent of the damage to the vehicle.

Depending on the level of damage to your car, it may take some time for a complete assessment to be carried out and feedback given to you. You can also conduct a review of the past status of your vehicle through a PPSR (Personal Properties Security Register) check.

This register is designed to protect all road users from purchasing illegally rebirthed or stolen vehicles or vehicles that have recently undergone substantial repairs. Rebirthing refers to the transfer of identifying parts of a wrecked car to another stolen vehicle. Rebirthing enables criminals to sell a stolen car with another vehicle's identity.

If you are interested in purchasing a used vehicle, check if the car is registered as a written off vehicle. Check the Personal Property Securities Register to confirm whether the vehicle has been registered as a write off vehicle. Also, find out if the vehicle features any outstanding loans.

Can you be paid if your car is written off?

Yes, you can receive a payment if your vehicle is written off; however, the payout depends on the agreed value or the car's market value. The market value refers to the amount your car would collect in an open market, all other factors considered. On the other hand, the agreed value refers to the amount of money agreed upon between you and your car's insurer.

The type of cover taken for your car will also determine whether you are eligible for the payout or not. The type of cover refers to, for instance, fire, storm and flood, hail accidents, etc. Most insurance policies consider such factors as the unused part of the registration and compulsory third party (CTP) insurance, the remaining premiums, or the client's excess when determining the payout for a written off vehicle.

Unused registration and CTP

Most insurers consider these as part of the market value of the car. These have the potential of reducing your payout should the insurer deduct the remaining value of Unused Registration and CTP from your payout. The product disclosure statement (PDS) determines how your insurer deals with your registration and CTP. You can also apply for a refund of your registration from your territory's Department of Main Roads or the state and CTP from your CTP insurer.

The remaining premiums

Although people pay premiums on a monthly basis, most car insurance policies work on an annual basis. Now, if your car is written off, there are high chances that the insurer will deduct the unpaid premiums from the date of the claim to the date the current annual period ends.

The excess

This is a mandatory feature in car insurance. If one makes a claim, the insurer deducts the excess payable on each claim from the payout. Factors such as the agreement on lower premiums for a higher excess or the type of cover determine the amount of excess deducted from the payout.

Can I Keep My Write Off Car?

If you're considering whether or not it's possible to keep your write off car, the answer is yes. You can ask your car insurer or trusted car buying and selling company if you can keep your repairable write off vehicle, which will make for a more accessible claims settlement. And in this case, you'll receive the sum insured value of the insured vehicle.