Supercars saved from crusher
MORE than half a billion pounds-worth of uninsured UK vehicles have been saved from potentially being crushed in the last decade including Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bentleys and Aston Martins. Vehicles including supercars and high-value cars to the tune of £543,712,611 that had been confiscated by police from uninsured drivers were among those saved from being scrapped, according to figures released by automotive experts HPI. The company operates a scheme called Crushwatch which allows UK police forces to check vehicles before they dispose of them, giving the option of reuniting finance companies with their often very valuable assets. The average value of each vehicle saved by the scheme has almost doubled from £5,589 in 2009 to £9,052 in 2018. The number of checks carried out has also increased nearly five-fold since the start of the scheme a decade ago. Figures for 2017 showed that six Lamborghini Huracans – worth between £147,000 and £186,000 – and one Lamborghini Aventador worth £318,000, were recovered along with a Ferrari 458, Bentley Continental GT and Aston Martin Vanquish worth £134,000, £111,000 and £104,000 respectively. The overall total value of cars saved from the crusher in 2017 was an eye-watering £94 million, some £7 million higher than the 2016 figure making it an all-time high for Crushwatch in terms of vehicles saved. By the end of June this year the scheme had already recovered £58.5 million worth of vehicles, potentially establishing this year as a record year for numbers and value of vehicles saved. HPI uses its comprehensive database of financed vehicles to identify vehicles that have been confiscated from uninsured drivers and then notify their rightful owners. Barry Shorto, head of industry relations at HPI says: “The success of the initiative illustrates the need to crack down on driving without insurance, drivers who are causing a risk to other road users and pedestrians.” High-value vehicles are among hundreds of thousands of cars that were confiscated by police after their drivers were found not to have valid insurance, a large proportion of which belong to finance and leasing companies. Historically, in such situations, the cars would either be sold on, often via auction, or scrapped, without the finance company ever being aware.