Working away this week and getting really frustrated with car rental companies again. Picked up a car at the airport terminal, it had more damage on it than some of the vehicles we de-fleet after three years, and a dangerous brake judder, so it was returned, they replaced the car, stated that it had 'nil' damage - wrong! Wheels damaged, bumpers scratched, doors scratched and more.
What is it with rental companies, I know that the cars are used by lots of different drivers, and they can get abused, but is it about time that they complete full appraisals of damage so that innocent drivers are not accused of causing damage to the vehicles that was there before they collected the car.
Rant over, feel better now!
Salvage Wire
Helping Automotive recyclers become leaders in their industry
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Monday, 24 May 2010
ELV Questions for the new UK Government
The questions below were sent to the UK political parties fighting the recent General Election. I am sad to report that none of them responded in any way. We are now re-framing the questions and will be sending them to the new Government, and the answers we receive will be posted here.
Over the last few years the EU End of Life (ELV) Regulations has come into full use.
The Environment Agency (for England and Wales) and SEPA (for Scotland) enforce ELV standards on all licensed businesses involved in the dismantling of motor vehicles of any type.
However, DVLA, who administer the Certificate of Destruction process (another part of ELV regulations) only apply to the limit of the regulations – cars and light vans.
As we approach the general election, to assist the Motor Salvage Industry make their decisions on who to vote for, please can you ask the following questions.
• How many vehicles were de-registered from Jan 1 2009 to Dec 31 2009?
• How many Certificates of Destruction were issued in that same period?
• If, as suspected, there is a discrepancy between the two, what happened to the vehicles where a Certificate of Destruction was not issued, where they treated at Authorised Treatment Facilities as the law requires?
• When is the DVLA going to extend Certificate of Destruction to cover all vehicles, closing the current loophole that means people can take a vehicle out of use and dismantle it without having to have the vehicle treated by authorised treatment facilities?
• What action is your party going to take to ensure that un-licensed operators are either taken out of business or forced to comply with those businesses that have invested in their facilities, staff and equipment to achieve, or maintain the standards required as ELV licensed operations?
These questions have been sent to the following:
Gordon Brown: Prime Minister
Hilary Benn: Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
David Cameron: Conservative Party Leader
Nick Herbert: Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Nick Clegg: Liberal Democrat Party Leader
Tim Farron: Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Alex Salmond: SNP Leader
Over the last few years the EU End of Life (ELV) Regulations has come into full use.
The Environment Agency (for England and Wales) and SEPA (for Scotland) enforce ELV standards on all licensed businesses involved in the dismantling of motor vehicles of any type.
However, DVLA, who administer the Certificate of Destruction process (another part of ELV regulations) only apply to the limit of the regulations – cars and light vans.
As we approach the general election, to assist the Motor Salvage Industry make their decisions on who to vote for, please can you ask the following questions.
• How many vehicles were de-registered from Jan 1 2009 to Dec 31 2009?
• How many Certificates of Destruction were issued in that same period?
• If, as suspected, there is a discrepancy between the two, what happened to the vehicles where a Certificate of Destruction was not issued, where they treated at Authorised Treatment Facilities as the law requires?
• When is the DVLA going to extend Certificate of Destruction to cover all vehicles, closing the current loophole that means people can take a vehicle out of use and dismantle it without having to have the vehicle treated by authorised treatment facilities?
• What action is your party going to take to ensure that un-licensed operators are either taken out of business or forced to comply with those businesses that have invested in their facilities, staff and equipment to achieve, or maintain the standards required as ELV licensed operations?
These questions have been sent to the following:
Gordon Brown: Prime Minister
Hilary Benn: Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
David Cameron: Conservative Party Leader
Nick Herbert: Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Nick Clegg: Liberal Democrat Party Leader
Tim Farron: Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Alex Salmond: SNP Leader
Friday, 21 May 2010
Technical Competence for UK ELV Sites
Metal recycling and ELV sites in the UK now have to meet Technical standards under statutory legislation.
Managers must be qualified as Technically Competent Management (TCM), and this applies to all ELV and Waste Management sites
For low risk Metal Recycling Facilities, 4 appropriate NVQ’s or an Environmental Permit Operators Certificate (EPOC).
For medium risk ELV sites, 6 appropriate NVQ units or completion of a Vocationally Related Qualification (VRQ) course at an approved training centre followed by a work related project.
Following successful qualification continuing professional competence is necessary to keep registration as TCM valid. All current TCM’s must pass a new competency test before the end of Feb 2011 – note, this includes anyone deemed to be competent under ‘grandfather rights’ – and all TCM’s will be reassessed bi-annually.
You can find more details through the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management at www.ciwm.co.uk/pm/17, or through your local training centres/colleges.
Managers must be qualified as Technically Competent Management (TCM), and this applies to all ELV and Waste Management sites
For low risk Metal Recycling Facilities, 4 appropriate NVQ’s or an Environmental Permit Operators Certificate (EPOC).
For medium risk ELV sites, 6 appropriate NVQ units or completion of a Vocationally Related Qualification (VRQ) course at an approved training centre followed by a work related project.
Following successful qualification continuing professional competence is necessary to keep registration as TCM valid. All current TCM’s must pass a new competency test before the end of Feb 2011 – note, this includes anyone deemed to be competent under ‘grandfather rights’ – and all TCM’s will be reassessed bi-annually.
You can find more details through the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management at www.ciwm.co.uk/pm/17, or through your local training centres/colleges.
Friday, 14 May 2010
More on New South Wales
Discussions with a number of people have highlighted that the NSW Government do not want to enact expensive legislation to control motor salvage, so have started on this ill conceived attempt to stop insurance write off's being re-registered. The Association of British insurers Code of Practice for Motor Salvage is not legislation either, it is a voluntary code of practice that the UK insurance industry, the UK salvage industry, fleet and hire car companies, and the police have all signed up to. the important factor, is that it works - it controls salvage, vehicle documentation, prevents fraud, and ensures that vehicle history is available for consumers to see.
Surely now is the time for the Australian insurers, salvage federations and national government to take a step back and take a fresh look at this issue, review what other countries are doing, take the best of all the codes and regulations, and put their own code of practice into place, a code that can be supported by all involved in the motor salvage industry, a code that will increase the professional standing of the industry, improve consumer protection, prevent fraud, reduce theft and ultimately save money for insurers and consumers.
Don't forget, if insurers are not receiving a lower level of revenue from their motor salvage than 12 months ago then insurance premiums will rise, hitting the consumer even harder in difficult financial times.
Surely now is the time for the Australian insurers, salvage federations and national government to take a step back and take a fresh look at this issue, review what other countries are doing, take the best of all the codes and regulations, and put their own code of practice into place, a code that can be supported by all involved in the motor salvage industry, a code that will increase the professional standing of the industry, improve consumer protection, prevent fraud, reduce theft and ultimately save money for insurers and consumers.
Don't forget, if insurers are not receiving a lower level of revenue from their motor salvage than 12 months ago then insurance premiums will rise, hitting the consumer even harder in difficult financial times.
Friday, 23 April 2010
Australian ban on repairing motor salvage
The New South Wales Government intend to introduce legislation that bans all insurance write offs from being re-registered, effectively condemning all motor salvage in NSW to the crusher.
Mr David Campbell, Minister for Transport and Roads has said that the legislation will prevent vehicles being ‘re-birthed’ with stolen parts.
This has major implications for much of the industry, and shows that Government initiatives are being implemented without full investigation of the consequences.
Currently many insurers will use the salvage value of a vehicle to ‘construct’ a total loss scenario for high value vehicles with heavy damage. As an example, a $40,000 Mercedes with $30,000 worth of damage would probably achieve $12,000 return as repairable salvage, but would struggle to get $4,000 under the proposed NSW laws, so the customer and insurer are faced with 3 options.
Repair the car – would you want your $40k vehicle repaired?
The insurers pay the market value and sell the vehicle as damaged repairable, with no mention of total loss or write off – thus hiding the history of the vehicle or:
Pay the owner the repair cost on a cash in lieu basis and then let the owner decide on the next course of action, many of whom will sell the vehicle as damaged, but with all the vehicle documentation. Fuelling the possibility of fraudulent activity, including vehicle cloning that the legislation is trying to stop.
Message to NSW, look at the current Code of Practice in force in the United Kingdom, it has been in force since the early 1990’s, and it successfully controls the decision on vehicle repair or scrap, and also specifies information that must be made available through data check services, and the release of vehicle documentation to the purchasers of motor salvage. These controls give the insurers the opportunity to sell salvage; to construct total loss cases for the benefit of their customers; gives legitimate salvage companies the chance to continue buying and repairing vehicles; makes life much more difficult for those that are operating outside of the law; and improves the professionalism of the whole motor salvage industry.
Mr David Campbell, Minister for Transport and Roads has said that the legislation will prevent vehicles being ‘re-birthed’ with stolen parts.
This has major implications for much of the industry, and shows that Government initiatives are being implemented without full investigation of the consequences.
Currently many insurers will use the salvage value of a vehicle to ‘construct’ a total loss scenario for high value vehicles with heavy damage. As an example, a $40,000 Mercedes with $30,000 worth of damage would probably achieve $12,000 return as repairable salvage, but would struggle to get $4,000 under the proposed NSW laws, so the customer and insurer are faced with 3 options.
Repair the car – would you want your $40k vehicle repaired?
The insurers pay the market value and sell the vehicle as damaged repairable, with no mention of total loss or write off – thus hiding the history of the vehicle or:
Pay the owner the repair cost on a cash in lieu basis and then let the owner decide on the next course of action, many of whom will sell the vehicle as damaged, but with all the vehicle documentation. Fuelling the possibility of fraudulent activity, including vehicle cloning that the legislation is trying to stop.
Message to NSW, look at the current Code of Practice in force in the United Kingdom, it has been in force since the early 1990’s, and it successfully controls the decision on vehicle repair or scrap, and also specifies information that must be made available through data check services, and the release of vehicle documentation to the purchasers of motor salvage. These controls give the insurers the opportunity to sell salvage; to construct total loss cases for the benefit of their customers; gives legitimate salvage companies the chance to continue buying and repairing vehicles; makes life much more difficult for those that are operating outside of the law; and improves the professionalism of the whole motor salvage industry.
Thursday, 1 April 2010
How clean is the operation?
Over many years of working in the salvage industry I have seen a discernable increase in the environmental standards of the sites that I visit.
I visited a yard last week in the UK that took me back 6-8 years, the storage area was ankle deep in mud, vehicles were being stripped in the open, and the working area was covered in oil, mud and other vehicle fluids. Vehicles stored had obviously not been de-polluted, still had wheels and tyres on and fluids were visibly leaking.
This yard is licensed by the Environment Agency, and is also registered with their local council, yet they still continue to operate whilst appearing to ignore many of the standards set by End of life Vehicle Regulations.
The UK salvage industry needs to work very closely with the various government departments and agencies to raise professional standards and increase the public perception of the industry. Yards like the one detailed above bring the industry into disrepute, and must be encouraged to improve within a defined timescale otherwise their licences need to be revoked.
I am very fortunate; my role takes me to many yards all over the world, with some of the best being in Germany and Holland. Most of these have got there through rigorous enforcement and in some cases grants from local and national government. They set the standard that the salvage industry worldwide needs to aim for, and this includes how they work with their environment agencies locally and nationally.
We need to get over the ‘them and us’ attitude that I see too often from many UK yard owners and managers when they talk about the various environment agencies they deal with, we need to have a collective effort from all salvage professionals to continually increase standards, and a passion to help others in the industry improve. This can only be completed by the industry coming together, putting aside the differences that many have to enable progress.
As the UK moves towards a General Election, what do the various political parties say about this, what questions should we be asking the local candidates and what should the party leaders be asked?
I have my own ideas about the questions that need to be asked, what about yourselves, comment on this blog and add your own questions, and I will collate them and put to the various parties on your behalf.
I visited a yard last week in the UK that took me back 6-8 years, the storage area was ankle deep in mud, vehicles were being stripped in the open, and the working area was covered in oil, mud and other vehicle fluids. Vehicles stored had obviously not been de-polluted, still had wheels and tyres on and fluids were visibly leaking.
This yard is licensed by the Environment Agency, and is also registered with their local council, yet they still continue to operate whilst appearing to ignore many of the standards set by End of life Vehicle Regulations.
The UK salvage industry needs to work very closely with the various government departments and agencies to raise professional standards and increase the public perception of the industry. Yards like the one detailed above bring the industry into disrepute, and must be encouraged to improve within a defined timescale otherwise their licences need to be revoked.
I am very fortunate; my role takes me to many yards all over the world, with some of the best being in Germany and Holland. Most of these have got there through rigorous enforcement and in some cases grants from local and national government. They set the standard that the salvage industry worldwide needs to aim for, and this includes how they work with their environment agencies locally and nationally.
We need to get over the ‘them and us’ attitude that I see too often from many UK yard owners and managers when they talk about the various environment agencies they deal with, we need to have a collective effort from all salvage professionals to continually increase standards, and a passion to help others in the industry improve. This can only be completed by the industry coming together, putting aside the differences that many have to enable progress.
As the UK moves towards a General Election, what do the various political parties say about this, what questions should we be asking the local candidates and what should the party leaders be asked?
I have my own ideas about the questions that need to be asked, what about yourselves, comment on this blog and add your own questions, and I will collate them and put to the various parties on your behalf.
Saturday, 16 January 2010
2020 and all that!
As we start a new decade, what can the motor salvage market expect over the next 10 years, and how different will the marketplace be in 2020?
In the short term, I do not expect too many changes, vehicles will remain fairly conventional and the need for ‘green’ parts will increase as more companies see the need to reduce their carbon footprint and increase their use of recycled parts in vehicle repair and maintenance.
2015 will be a critical point in the decade for a number of reasons.
Firstly, EU ELV legislation means that 95% of each car scrapped in the EU will have to be recycled, an increase over the current 85%. By then, many other countries will have followed the lead set by the EU and have similar legislation.
By 2015 there will have been significant increases in the production of hybrid, electric and alternative fuelled vehicles, including Fuel Cell and Bio-Fuel. The conventional fossil fuel vehicle will be less popular and values of these will decrease with more coming to salvage, and with less demand more of each vehicle will have to be scrapped and the waste recovered, rather than parts being sold to meet recycling targets – and this problem will grow for a few years as the global vehicle market changes to fit the new - low carbon - world order!
So what opportunities can we see for the salvage market during the decade?
China and India are the fastest growing car markets in the world, with an incredible demand in both countries for cars – there could be many opportunities for switched on businesses able to gain a foothold in either country for the supply of vehicles, or the supply of parts. With the incredible growth of vehicle ownership in both countries there will be the inevitable incidents and accidents that occur with new drivers, and with an infrastructure that is unable to grow as fast as vehicle ownership – supply of parts for vehicle repair in these countries may be a very profitable option.
The global credit crisis may also have helped the motor salvage industry; many of the motor manufacturers are investigating or developing ‘global’ models, so they sell the same vehicle in all countries of the world – so the parts coming off a car in the USA could be fitted to a vehicle in China, and parts from China could be used in India – and so-on.. This opens up the whole world to the supply of parts from motor salvage.
Another opportunity could be to specialise in the new technology, become a salvage specialist for hybrid, or fuel cell vehicles. It sometimes takes a few years to develop an idea, and build a reputation in a new area, why not start now and be ahead of the rest of the market?
I think that by 2020 the global salvage market will be looking a very different place, much more regulation and recycling targets will be in place, but with some fantastic opportunities for those that have been prepared to take a risk and develop new markets and build their reputation as a global operator.
Salvage wire could assist you in developing your business to take advantage of the opportunities that this decade will bring, see our web site for more details of how we can help you.
www.salvagewire.com
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