Where do you go My Lovely?

Where do you go My Lovely ? (when you’re sold on for scrap)

Did you know that in the UK (according to DVLA statistics) there were 11518  L3* motorcycles written off by insurance companies in 2021?

Just to explain – there are four categories of written off vehicles in the UK. A category write offs must be completely scrapped i.e. all parts destroyed (there were 145 L3 motorcycles); B category write offs can only be used for spare parts (there were 3071 L3 motorcycles); N category (once known as D cat.)  refers to cosmetic damage and can be repaired and put back on the road (there were 8231L3 motorcycles), while S category (once known as C cat.) refers to structural damage and can also be put back on the road (there were 71 L3 motorcycles for 2021). These numbers were very similar for 2020 and 2019.

Of these L3 motorcycles, B and N categories equalled 11302 and of these the B category which were written off, were able to be used and sold on for spare parts, while N category could be repaired and sold on as complete motorcycles – or used as spare parts. What is surprising is the low number of A category (145) but even more is the S category write offs (71).

I spent most of last year working on a project on behalf of mechanical engineers in Ireland and GB – though the project focused more on cars than other vehicles, the principle remains the same for motorbikes. I also worked with NaVCIS and The Criminal Investigation dept. of the Competition Commission in Ireland on this project.

What was evident from the study – was that there is a major problem with the insurance industry and write offs, according to my contacts within the industry, this is partly because their engineers who decide which category the vehicle might be, do the bulk of their work to determine categories by looking at photos.

That said, S category is a major issue for cars anyway – because these vehicles that have structural damage which are allowed to return to the road following repairs, are not necessarily safe and according to those engineers involved in crash investigations should not be put back on the road, mainly because there was evidence that many of these vehicles have been sold on by unscrupulous auction houses and salvage yards.

Motorbikes are different though – presumably because what the industry is doing is to bypass S category to move the bikes into N category so that they are easier to dispose of and do not need to be re-registered with the DVLA and because the salvage industry can either break them up into parts – given the high cost of OEM parts and sell them, or simply pass them off as kosher bikes to the unsuspecting punter. Considering the number of dog and chain salvage yards and the questionable methods of certain auction houses – it’s quite easy to do and very profitable.

While there are few auction houses that deal exclusively with motorcycles there are companies like 4th Dimension that do –  According to my colleagues involved in vehicle crime investigation, their business is very active…

• So you might ask – what’s your point? Well my point is that is appears that motor insurance companies are writing off bikes that they shouldn’t. For example, N category is effectively cosmetic damage and it appears that they are possibly amalgamating S categories within N categories to make more profit, but going back to my original point – the underlying reason – it’s because the OEM parts are so expensive (as well as the cost of removing the bike and storage) – so insurers prefer to write off the bike rather than have it repaired – unfortunately as explained, we know that there is a proportion of salvage operators who have questionable business ethics and of course we know in the end who’s the schmuck that pays out…. the motorcyclist when he has to pay for insurance coverage.

Elaine Hardy PhD

(*L3 = Solo motorcycle with an internal combustion engine over 50cc and/or a maximum speed over 45km/h)

Originally posted on LinkedIn – Where do you go My Lovely ? (when you’re sold on for scrap)