The Vehicle Identity Check (VIC) has been introduced to help reduce vehicle crime. The VIC check is intended to deter criminals from disguising stolen cars with the identity of written off or scrapped vehicles.

When an insurance company writes off a car, the registration document (V5 logbook) is surrendered to them and destroyed. The insurance company will then notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) that the vehicle has been written off. This notification will set a ‘VIC marker’ on the vehicle record on the DVLA database. If the vehicle is subsequently repaired with the intention of returning it to the road, the DVLA will not issue a new registration document or vehicle excise duty licence until the car passes a vehicle identity check (VIC). The VIC is designed to help confirm that the vehicle being returned to the road has been repaired following accident damage and has not been stolen.

The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) will carry out the VIC. This will involve comparing the vehicle presented to VOSA against the information held by DVLA, such as the vehicle identification number, make, model, colour and engine number. The VIC will also compare the record of previous accident damage with evidence of damage repair as well as checking other components to confirm the age and identity of the vehicle.

The VIC check is a major deterrent against the "cloning" of accident damaged vehicles, this is a dodgy dealers con trick where the details of a written off or total loss vehicle are applied to a stolen vehicle, the vehicle (VRM) will then show up as a total loss but not as stolen because data checking companies can only check the registration number provided. Always check the VIN number matches exactly and looks original, you can do this by checking with www.mycarcheck.com