Good commercial relationships between insurers, repairers and recyclers are necessary to address vehicle theft issues, particularly that of older cars being stolen for their scrap value.

The National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council (NMVTRC) says a dramatic increase in scrap metal prices has increased the number of older cars being stolen off the street for their scrap value, and highlighted the need for better relationships between the three key stakeholders.

The council says while there are no quick fixes, there is room for improvement by metal recyclers, who need commercial incentives to do more about vehicle management and parts provenance, as well as continuous registration and improving recyclers’ reporting performance.

The NMVTRC recently hosted a forum in Melbourne for more than 50 representatives of the insurance and automotive industries, environmental agencies, scrap processors, police and registration authorities to discuss reforms related to second-hand dealing.

Many offences are not successfully prosecuted due to inadequate penalties, and while NSW leads the way with regulations around the licensing of both smash repairers and parts recyclers, non-compliance is still widespread.

A Canadian software system is being examined to help facilitate better reporting on written-off vehicles.

The forum agreed significant commercial benefit must exist for all parties involved to get the insurer, the repairer and the recycler to help sort out the issue, NMVTRC Executive Director Ray Carroll told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“The insurer/repairer/recycler relationship is complex,” he said. “All are inter-dependent, but relations have sometimes been strained over how much respective influence each should have over their ‘common’ customer – the vehicle owner – and how to calculate the fair cost of repairs and replacement parts.”

Mr Carroll acknowledged that hundreds of thousands of undisputed transactions take place each year to the commercial benefit of all involved.

Over the next few months the council will work with key stakeholders on ways to resolve the issues related to the theft of vehicles for scrap.