Vehicle Identity check – VIC Required for all Cat C Cars

admin    Uncategorized    

Following on from previous posts on auto salvage categories, I thought it would be useful to dig into Vehicle identity checks in more detail.

Any cat C or B car (if and when repaired) will require a VOSA Vehicle check. This essentially ensures that the vehicle is indeed genuine and is the car which it actually is. I.e. Not been a cut and shut, or had its identity changed for that of another car.

The VIC scheme was introduced in 2003. In any instance where a car is written off the insurer will notify the DVLA – this will apply for salvage categories A, B or C.

The car is then flagged at the DVLA and will be given a ‘VIC marker’ against the DVLA vehicle record. Whilst a VIC marker is set against a car the DVLA will not issue a V5 registration document. One will only be issued once the car has passed a VIC.

The VIC check is carried about in about 20 or so minutes, and costs around £36. Its important to note the VIC check purely assess the car’s identity and by no means gives and steer on the quality of the repair work carried out – Just that repairs have been carried out to a satisfactory standard, and that the car is considered road worthy.
So if you are buying a car which was previously a CAT C make sure you thoroughly check all repairs.

Personally if I were to buy a car to repair and sell, I’d try and avoid Cat C cars which require a VIC, not only are these cars usually significantly more damaged than a Cat D car. There is the added hassle of a VIC check, and the subsequent resale value is that much less.

More detailed information on VIC checks are available here at direct.gov.uk