Deadline looms on ELV law, but how prepared are Irish motor insurers?

17 August 2022 / 3 min read

While reporting written-off vehicles has long been voluntary for motor insurers in Ireland, the law is about to change, with a looming deadline and costly fines if insurers are found to be non-compliant.

Legislation introduced in the Road Traffic Act 2016 (Part 2) will make it mandatory for motor insurers to declare all end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), a vehicle that is beyond repair or a danger to the public when in motion, to the Department of Transport within five working days of inspection.

end-of-life-vehicle

The End-of-life Vehicle Register makes reporting all the necessary information much easier for insurers.

Any insurer that fails to notify the Department in accordance with Section 4 or who notifies information knowing it to be false or misleading will be liable on summary conviction to a Class A fine (up to €5,000).

With around 160,000 vehicles written off each year in Ireland, this will require a lot of insurers’ time, effort, and resource to submit the correct information and ensure they are compliant.

To assist with meeting their statutory requirements, Verisk’s team in Ireland has worked with Vehicle Management System (VMS), an Irish automotive software development company, to provide an end-to-end ELV submission and reporting solution which can be fully automated and seamlessly integrated with current internal and third-party systems.

The End-of-Life Vehicle Register is a service that greatly simplifies reporting ELVs, replacing current paper-based processes, and provides insurers with a full audit trail. Write-off details recorded by the engineer or assessor can be automatically transmitted and securely processed via a mobile app, or alternatively, insurers can submit details manually via a secure online portal, available 24/7.

While the update to the Road Traffic Act regarding ELVs was signed into law in December 2016, the commencement date has yet to be confirmed. However, a recently established pilot scheme for insurers to begin submitting data would indicate it is coming soon, and it is strongly recommended insurers have a system in place in 2022 to ensure compliance.

What information needs to be submitted?

Motor insurers will have a number of obligations for Category A and B write-offs under the updated Road Traffic Act 2016 when it goes into effect. For reference, a Category A are vehicles that are so badly damaged that no parts can be salvaged, whereas a Category B is a vehicle where some parts are salvageable.

Under the new legislation, insurers will have to provide the registration number (if any), make, model, and body type of the vehicle, along with the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number)/chassis number and write-off category. Furthermore, insurers will also have to report whether the defects in the vehicle were a result of an event in a public place and if any insurance claims arose in relation to it, along with the date of inspection and the insurance company’ claim number if applicable.

How the End-of-life Vehicle Register can help

The End-of-life Vehicle Register makes reporting all the necessary information much easier for insurers. Once information has been submitted by the automated assessment service on the mobile app or the 24/7 online portal, the information is then validated and standardised into the Department of Transport’s required format. Confirmation on all submissions is displayed through the online portal and is communicated back to the engineer/assessor system.

If any records are rejected, they are automatically reported to the insurer and assessor via email or SMS – Verisk and VMS have a full audit trail and timestamps of all activity by users. Our support teams monitor these cases and initiate an escalation process if no action is taken to correct the information.

If, for example, the reported write-off category is wrong and needs to be updated, insurers have the facility to quickly update this – a process which is usually paper based and can take a while.

Reporting written-off vehicles shouldn’t be more difficult or time-consuming than it needs to be. If you’d like to find out more, please reach out to Jonathan Guard (jonathan.guard@verisk.com) or Denise Kelly (denise.kelly@verisk.com).