4. Applying the Statutory Write-off Criteria
Before any of the SWO criteria can be applied, the vehicle must first be considered a written-off vehicle. A written-off vehicle is a vehicle that:
· has been damaged to the extent that it is determined to be a total financial loss i.e. its salvage value plus the cost of repairs would exceed its market value;
· has been dismantled for the disposal of the parts; or
· has been crushed for scrap metal.
Once a vehicle has been determined to be a written-off vehicle the SWO criteria should be applied as follows:
These criteria have been designed to identify vehicles that have been in such a severe crash that repairs would entail replacing much of the vehicles’ identifiable structure.
The criteria is that three of the following five impact damage indicators must be present if a vehicle is to be classified as a statutory write-off:
· Impact damage to the roof of 300 x 300 mm or more
· Impact damage to the floor pan of 300 x 300 mm or more
· Impact damage to the firewall of 300 x 300 mm or more
· Any impact damage to the suspension
· Impact damage to mechanical components such as engine blocks, transmission cases and axle houses, where these are deformed, cracked or broken.
In a motorcycle, there must be impact damage to the suspension, and two areas of structural frame damage which exclude scratching.
The roof, floor pan and firewall are three relatively remote areas of the vehicle that are somewhat protected in typical impacts and it is unlikely that all three areas would sustain substantial damage in less than a severe crash event. Similarly, the nature of the necessary damage to the mechanical components generally requires a severe event. The intent of the”impact damage to the suspension” item is also to flag damage that was caused by a severe impact.
4.1.3 Interpretation
The use of the term “impact” in describing damage of more than 300mm x 300mm to the roof, floor pan or firewall is intended to mean damage that was caused directly by impact with some object during the crash event. It is not meant to identify transposed or incidental damage. For example, following a side impact there might be visible roof ripples caused by distortion of the B pillar. However, these may largely “pop out” and disappear when stress is relieved by cutting the pillar during the repair process. In this case, there is a risk that the vehicle might be incorrectly assessed as a statutory write-off if it also sustained floor pan and suspension damage.
Commonsense must also be applied when considering the area of the damage given that in many cases the exact limit will be difficult to define. With borderline cases the test should be, “Was the damage caused by a severe impact?” For example, if a person stands or gently sits on the roof of a car it is quite likely to produce a dent greater than 300mm x 300mm, but this does not mean that that part of the vehicle has suffered a severe crash event. Dents of this nature might be mostly removed with gentle hand pressure and should not be classed as one of the SWO criteria.
Again, the use of the term “impact” when considering damage to the suspension is intended to describe damage caused by a severe crash. Minor suspension damage can easily be caused in “normal” driving by hitting potholes or kerbs. Such damage will require a wheel alignment to correct and it may even require the replacement of some components [it is often cheaper to replace components than try to repair them]. Therefore, when considering suspension damage as one of the SWO criteria, the test should be, “Is the nature and extent of the damage significant and the result of a severe impact?” Minor suspension damage even if it may require the replacement of some components should be ignored.
The SWO criteria also refer to “impact” damage to mechanical components such as engine blocks, transmission cases and axle houses, where these are deformed, cracked or broken. This means that the damage must have been caused by a severe impact and must be readily visible. Damage that has resulted from normal wear and tear or potential but not visible damage to the engine or drive train because of the likely misuse of the vehicle [common in the case of stolen and recovered vehicles] should not be included for the purposes of the SWO criteria.
