Salvage Categories

Sadly this subject has reared its ugly head yet again. I should add at this point that the opinions that follow are mine and no BVSF member has reported any cases to me officially. More and more I am seeing what I perceive to be cases of totally incorrect categorisation. Probably one of the worst ones being a Cat C that realistically could/should have been a Cat A !!! I think that attention must be drawn to a statement within the Salvage Code of Practise that reads…”can/ should the vehicle be repaired”, realistically almost anything “could” be repaired, but “should it” and this is where there seems to be a degree of difficulty for some in the interpretation of the Code.

I am speaking as an ex Motor Engineer and it grieves me to see cases of blatant mis-categorisation.

I am very happy to take up any cases of what appear to be mis-categorisation for any member of the BVSF but I will of course need to know the name of the Insurer as well as the Registration Number of the vehicle and this is where the problem begins. It is fully understood that member companies want to protect their Insurance contracts and “rocking the boat” is not something that is relished in these hard financial times. However, this problem will not just go away, if anything, in my opinion it will simply get worse. Therefore, if there is a member out there who has or is suffering “mis-categorisation” which of course could easily cause financial hardship to the member concerned and they want something done about it, then please feel free to contact me with images and details. If, however, a member is concerned that in doing so they will jeopardise an insurance contract and they would simply like others to see what is, in effect, happening out there then I am very happy to publish images with identities removed (both of the vehicle and surrounding area), so that others can see. This action will probably not result in an immediate improvement in the situation but may conceivably draw it to the attention of people that matter.
I am in regular contact with the ABI and from discussions that I have had they are very willing to listen to any cases for which I am very grateful.

RPW