YOUR VEHICLE HAS BEEN ‘WRITTEN OFF’
This fact sheet is for information only. It is recommended that you get
legal advice about your situation.
CASE STUDY
Joeseph is comprehensively insured and drives a low value, 10
year old car. It has got low kilometres and he takes good care
of it, he only drives it now and then. He is insured for market
value, which is probably about $4,000. He was reversing his
car and hit a telegraph pole.
FACT SHEET
He makes a claim with his insurance.
His insurer tell him that they are writing off the car as it is
uneconomical for them to repair, they offer him the market
value less his excess and rest of his premiums. His registration
is cancelled and they deduct that from his pay out too. The
insurer is only going to give him $2,100.
Joeseph wants his car back, he won’t be able to buy another
car for $2,100.
CALL THE
INSURANCE
LAW SERVICE
ON
1300 663 464
He wants to get his car back, because he thinks he can just
repair it for $1,000.
The insurer tells him they’ve written it off, and his registration
has been cancelled.
WHO DECIDES WHETHER TO REPAIR OR WRITE OFF MY
CAR?
Under most car insurance policies it is the insurer’s choice whether
to:
Financial Rights Legal Centre
Inc. ABN 40 506 635 273
Fact sheets are information
only and should not be relied
upon as legal advice.
●●
Repair your car;
●●
Pay you to do the repairs; or
●●
Declare your car a total loss and “write it off”
There are laws in each State and Territory that outlines when a
vehicle needs to be “written off”.
What your insurer can do under your insurance policy sometimes
interacts with the law.
©2017 Financial Rights
All rights reserved.
If you are uninsured, in some circumstances you may also be
affected by the law.
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FINANCIAL RIGHTS LEGAL CENTRE | FACT SHEET |WOVR
WHAT IS THE LAW AROUND WRITTEN OFF VEHICLES?
States and Territories generally acknowledge two classifications of
written-off vehicles (WOV):
1. WOVs that unrepairable because they are unsafe to repair
(sometimes called “statutory write off” or “non-repairable write off”);
and
2. WOVs that are repairable but which are uneconomical to repair
(“repairable write off”
FACT SHEET
Since 2013 there is a national framework of damage assessment criteria
for the classification of WOVs which all the States and Territories
are more or less aligned to. These assessment criteria, known as the
‘Damage Assessment Criteria for the Classification of Statutory Write-Offs’,
were developed by the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council
(NMVTRC) and Austroads, and promote the consistent application of
more stringent assessment criteria for the classification of WOVs.
The national framework applies to light vehicles (under 4.5tonnes) less
than 15 years old, and includes cars, motorcycles, trailers and caravans.
There are some differences in each State and Territory as to terminology.
For example, NSW immediately deems all WOVs as statutory write-offs
(except for solely hail-damaged vehicles), whether they are assessed as
unsafe to repair or uneconomical to repair. However, only WOVs which
are uneconomical to repair may be repaired if authorisation is granted.
The following is a general summary, and for more detailed information
you should contact your local state road authority.
UNECONOMICAL TO REPAIR UNDER THE WOVR LEGISLATION
The damage assessment criteria for a vehicle to be classified as a
repairable write-off are generally:
>
SALVAGE VALUE + COST OF REPAIRS MARKET VALUE OF
VEHICLE (PRE-ACCIDENT) OR SUM INSURED
If the vehicle has been damaged, dismantled or demolished to the extent
that its salvage value as a written off vehicle plus the cost of repairing the
vehicle for use on a road would be more than:
1. the market value of the vehicle before the accident, or
2. the sum insured (if the vehicle is insured for a specified amount).
In most States and Territories if your car is declared a repairable write off
you can apply to the state authority to repair the vehicle so it can be reregistered and driven.
The WOVR may then be updated that the car is a “repaired write off”. This
may affect the value of the vehicle in the future if you intend to sell the
car. This is because the WOVR is designed to protect other road users in
respect of purchasing cars that have had substantial repairs.
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FINANCIAL RIGHTS LEGAL CENTRE | FACT SHEET | WOVR
UNREPAIRABLE OR “STATUTORY” UNDER THE LEGISLATION
In all States and Territories, vehicles that have been written-off as unsafe
to repair cannot ever be re-registered. Generally the vehicles will have to
have sustained certain types of damage.
A summary of what is considered a statutory write off appears below.
There are minor differences in every State and Territory and so you
should check with your local authority.
FACT SHEET
Type of
Damage
Vehicle
Type
Motorcycles Impact
Conditions
The suspension is damaged, and at least 2
areas of the structural frame are damaged.
Salt Water A motorcycle is fully immersed in salt water
Immersion for any period.
Fresh
Water
Immersion
Fire
damage
Malicious/
theft/
stripping
Light motor Excessive
vehicles up
structural
to 4.5 tonnes damage
GVM
Excessive
fire
damage
A motorcycle is fully immersed in fresh water
for more than 2 days (48 hours)
A vehicle is burned to such an extent that it is
only fit for wrecking or scrap.
Has been stripped of all, or a combination of
most, interior and exterior body parts, panels
and components.
A vehicle has excessive structural damage
if three indicators are found in the vehicle.
(Indicators are listed in the ‘Damage
Assessment Criteria for the Classification of
Statutory Write-Offs’.
A vehicle has excessive fire damage if:
a) As a result of fire, paint on the vehicle
(whether internal or external) has blistered on
any three of:
i) the roof; ii) a pillar; iii) the floor pan; iv) the
firewall; v) longitudinal structural rails or
chassis, or
b) as a result of fire:
i) the vehicle has sustained a combination of
exterior and interior fire damage
ii) the vehicle has suffered damage to the
extent that it is written-off
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FINANCIAL RIGHTS LEGAL CENTRE | FACT SHEET | WOVR
Excessive
water
damage
Excessive
stripping
damage
A vehicle has excessive water damage if
the internal cabin of the vehicle has been
inundated with water (irrespective of
whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt
water) to a level above the level of the inner
door sill.
A vehicle has excessive stripping damage if:
a) It has been stripped of interior or exterior
parts, panels and components such as wheels,
bonnet, guards, doors, boot lid or interior
parts, or
b) By reason of that stripping it is written-off.
FACT SHEET
I AM INSURED, AND MY INSURER AS DECLARED MY CAR
A WRITE OFF OR WON’T DECLARE IT A WRITE OFF – CAN I
DISPUTE IT?
THEY’VE WRITTEN MY CAR OFF
When you are insured, an insurer can make an “election” under the
insurance policy as to how they settle your claim.
The WOVR law also allows them to choose to:
●●
repair the car even if it is “uneconomic” per the law’s definition
to do so as long as they get an authorisation and meet the other
requirements; or
●●
declare it a WOV and place it on the register.
The insurer will generally obtain the quotes about the cost to repair and
determine value of the salvage. You may think the insurer is wrong.
If they decide to declare it a write off the problem is you have a very small
window of time to raise the dispute, as the insurer is obliged to notify the
WOVR very quickly (up to 7 days from the assessment). Once the insurer
notifies the WOVR you will generally struggle to get them to change
their mind, as they will need to amend the WOVR which requires them to
amend their original assessment.
If the car is declared as having “non-repairable damage” it will be very
difficult to resolve the dispute without getting significant evidence that
the legislative requirements of a non-repairable car have not been met
and the insurer was wrong.
If the car has sustained repairable damage, and you want your insurer to
repair your vehicle you will need to get some evidence to support your
claim that the repairs or salvage value are cheaper than the market value
of the repaired vehicle. Think about getting:
●●
Quotes from a salvage yard regarding salvage value (or visit
www.pickles.com.au)
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FINANCIAL RIGHTS LEGAL CENTRE | FACT SHEET | WOVR
●●
Quotes from a smash repairer about what the repairs should
cost
●●
Evidence of market value of your vehicle (pre-accident) (visit
www.redbook.com.au or www.glassguide.com.au)
If your calculation of repairs plus salvage is lower than the market value
you should give that evidence to the insurer IMMEDIATELY and ask them
not to report your vehicle to the Written Off Vehicle Register (WOVR).
FACT SHEET
You need to be mindful that your insurers quotes may differ from yours
as they need to repair the car to certain standards and guarantee those
works. Your smash repairer you get quotes from may not be repairing all
the damage and may not be guaranteeing the work. Your quotes must be
for the same level of repair as the insurers level.
If your insurer has written off the vehicle you could ask to salvage the
vehicle, and ask for them to pay you the cost of repair. If you do this you
need to remember that:
●●
If your car has non-repairable damage you won’t be able to do
this;
●●
You will need to get an authorisation to repair and meet your
State requirements to get the authorisation and your insurer
may not be liable to pay you to do this;
●●
Your car will be on the WOVR as a formerly written off car or
repaired write off which may substantially reduce its value;
●●
Your policy with your insurer will come to an end as you have
been paid out a “total loss” and your insurer may not want to
continue to insure your car in the future;
You can take your dispute to Internal Dispute Resolution of the insurer
(See our factsheet on Insurance Dispute Resolution) and on to the
Financial Ombudsman Service. FOS does not have any jurisdiction to
compel the WOVR to remove a listing, and may not make a finding to
compel the insurer to amend the WOVR.
THEY WON’T WRITE OFF MY CAR
Sometimes after you have been in an accident you may not feel safe in
your car, even if they fix it.
As outlined above, if it is economical and the damage does not meet the
non-repairable damage standard then the insurer can choose to repair
your vehicle.
You would need to gather lots of evidence that the vehicle sustained nonrepairable damage.
Most insurance policies expressly exclude any losses resulting from
the depreciation of the value of the vehicle. It is not arguable that the
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FINANCIAL RIGHTS LEGAL CENTRE | FACT SHEET | WOVR
depreciation of the vehicle is a reason to write it off.
It can be very difficult to compel an insurer to write off a car where it can
be repaired.
You can take your dispute to Internal Dispute Resolution of the insurer
(cross refer to fact sheet) and on to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
I AM UNINSURED – CAN THE OTHER PARTY’S INSURER WRITE
MY CAR OFF
FACT SHEET
Sometimes the at fault parties insurer may ask to assess your vehicle.
They may even offer to repair it for you.
You need to be mindful that when an insurer assess a vehicle they have
obligations under the “Written Off Vehicle Register” irrespective of
whether you are there customer or not.
All insurance companies who assess cars (whether it be the car of their
own insured or not) are obliged to notify the WOVR. Once the WOVR is
notified it may be impossible to remove.
As an uninsured party who is not at fault, you are entitled to your
“common law damages” to put you in the position you were in before the
negligence.
The usual measure of damage in a motor vehicle repair claims is as
follows:
REASONABLE REPAIR COST OF DAMAGE INCURRED OR
MARKET VALUE (WHICHEVER IS THE LESSER)
PLUS TOWING COSTS
PLUS DEMURRAGE (HIRE CAR COSTS, LOST WAGES OR
PROFITS ETC– LIMITED TO “REASONABLY INCURRED”)
LESS SALVAGE (WHEN IT IS WRITTEN OFF)
The damages you can recover is limited to what is ‘reasonable’ given the
circumstances (such as the age / make / model / condition of the other car,
and the availability of car repairers in the area).
If your car is at risk of being written off because the repair cost may
exceed the market value of your car, you should not let the insurer assess
your car if you do not want your car on the WOVR as written off.
Instead you should send a letter of demand to the insurer with the repair
bill. If the repair bill exceeds the market value of your car, the insurer can
pay you the market value instead. You would then need to contribute any
additional costs to repair the car if you wanted to repair the car.
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FINANCIAL RIGHTS LEGAL CENTRE | FACT SHEET | WOVR
MY CAR IS ALREADY ON THE WOVR
Once the insurer has notified the WOVR it is impossible to remove
the listing unless the insurer agrees they were wrong. Unfortunately,
insurers and their assessors are usually very quick to report cars to the
WOVR.
In some States you can obtain an authorisation to repair a repairable
written off vehicle.
FACT SHEET
A vehicle that has been placed on the WOVR may diminish in substantial
value. So, if you decide to salvage the vehicle and undertake an
authorisation to repair you need to be aware that it will always be a
“repaired write off” or “former WOV” on the WOVR.
Once it is repaired it is still on the WOVR, this is to notify potential
purchasers that the vehicle has sustained damage in an accident and has
had substantial repairs. The purpose of the law is to protect other road
users and not necessarily the owner of the vehicle.
NEED SOME MORE HELP?
See Fact Sheet: Getting Help for a list of additional resources.
Last Updated: February 2017
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FINANCIAL RIGHTS LEGAL CENTRE | FACT SHEET | WOVR