Following the recent RTE Primetime report on UK write-off entering the Irish market, vehicle history expert CARTELL.IE has reported on the actual numbers of written-off vehicles imported into Ireland from the United Kingdom in 2015. In a first-of-its-kind analysis Cartell reports that 10.75% of all UK imports registered in Ireland over a 6-month-period in 2015 were previously written off in the UK.

Cartell.ie examined 29,089 imports registered in Ireland in 2015 (taxed private and untaxed) and

found that 10.75% of those examined were previously written-off by UK insurers. In the case of untaxed imports, vehicles which have been registered in Ireland in 2015 but not yet taxed, that percentage shot up to 12.6%. In the case of taxed (private) imports the percentage was 10.4%.

Cartell.ie next examined the year of registration in the UK of each vehicle imported to examine which years were more likely to be written-off prior to importation. Cartell found that in the case of an imported 6 to 7-year-old vehicle 18.2% had been written-off in the UK. That percentage increased to 20.8% for a 7 to 8-year-old vehicle and 21.2% for an 8 to 9-year-old vehicle.

Cartell say that overall there is more than a one-in-five chance that an import has been previously written-off for 7 to 12-year-old vehicles.

The vehicle history specialist also found UK Category B written-off vehicles are still making their way into the Irish fleet. A vehicle written-off as Category B is designated as parts salvageable only and is not meant to be on the road. During the period of research 26 vehicles were registered in Ireland after the attribution of Category B status in the UK. 16 of those 26 had already been taxed in Ireland.

No Category A vehicle was imported into Ireland in 2015 during the period considered by the study.