Motor Industry News

A survey of more than 50,000 vehicles has revealed that about one in seven of cars on Britain's roads are write-offs.

According to the vehicle data check company, mycarcheck.com, 15 per cent of vehicles across the UK have been damaged beyond repair and classed as a "total insurance loss" but still put back on the road.

Each year an estimated 25,000 dangerous cars are put back on the road, many of them sold to unsuspecting motorists by organised gangs and confidence tricksters making an estimated £3bn a year from the illegal trade.

"It is very difficult to say how many vehicles involved in fatal accidents every year may have had a chequered past but on the basis of our research it is a fair bet that a large proportion probably had something to hide," said Roger Powell, General Manager of mycarcheck.com.

"People should be aware that a car may look alright but if it has been written-off or stolen then insurance companies may not pay out if it is ever involved in another claim."

"The onus is on the owner to check out a vehicle’s history, not the insurance companies."