The institute of Automotive Engineer Assessors held a well attended Ireland regional meeting in January at which the guest presenters were representatives from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s Criminal Enforcement Division.

The discussions centred around the commission’s activities in relation second hand car sales with particular emphasis on clocked cars and cars sold that had been previously written off.

Paul Hanna, Deputy Director at the Criminal Enforcement Division, who has previous experience with the Metropolitan Police and the Garda Ombudsman, explained that the work of his section is to provide protection for consumers under various statutes including the Competition Act 2002 and Consumer Protection Act 2007. He explained that second hand car sales has been the biggest single area of complaint made to the commission for the past two year.

In relation to cars sold with false mileage he explained how the division will track suspect vehicles and Investigate to establish true mileage through various sources such as NCT and MOT records, lease companies, dealer documents and insurer and assessors records. They will also contact new purchasers where the mileage is suspect. 

Similar checks and research are carried out on cars which are suspected of being previously written off, where the seller has not provided this information to the purchaser at the time of sale. This is an issue which is take very seriously because of the safety implication.

Evelyn Galvin of the CCPC explained how the division works with the Garda and other agencies such as Revenue to fully investigate any consumer complaints and bring prosecutions where appropriate. She highlighted several successful prosecutions of used car dealers across Ireland as well as the power to make public the details of dealers who have been issued with compliance notices on the ccpc website.

The meeting also covered ways in which the assessor members of the IAEA could assist the division in its work and the valuable services they provide, especially in relation to write offs.

Despite the good work of the CCPC in this area, there remains a major problem with unscrupulous car dealers, especially in relation to imported vehicles, something that drags down the public perception of the industry. Although the Commission can only act on consumer complaints, it does welcome feedback and intelligence from reputable motor industry business that are concerned about illegal operators.

The CCPC can be contacted on LoCall 1890 432 432 or via their website at www.ccpc.ie