CrushWatch has reunited over £672m worth of cars to rightful owners

Uninsured UK vehicles worth in excess of £672m 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 totalling £672,397,471 that had been confiscated from uninsured drivers were among those saved from being scrapped, according to figures released from automotive experts HPI (formerly known as Hire Purchase Information) through its Crushwatch scheme.

CrushWatch was launched officially in 2009 to allow UK police forces to check vehicles before disposal, giving the option of reuniting finance companies with their often very valuable assets.

Over the past decade, the average value of each vehicle saved by Crushwatch has almost doubled from £5,589 in 2009 to £9,317 in 2019.

The figures for the last full year (2018) reveal an overall saving of £122m, up from £94m in 2017. The scheme has already recovered over £65m this year (to end of June).

The HPI CrushWatch initiative helps lenders both reduce their losses and contribute to road safety by reclaiming their assets from the police. Uninsured vehicles which would have been returned to the road, sold at auction or scrapped are reunited with their legitimate owners under the innovative scheme.

Barry Shorto, head of industry relations at HPI said: “It’s staggering to think that in the time that Crushwatch has been operational over £670m worth of vehicles have potentially been saved. 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.

“Sadly our data reveals that drivers of supercars and premium vehicles are not exempt from this practice. Preventing this from happening is not just a safety issue but also about enabling finance companies across the UK to reclaim their vehicles which otherwise may have ended up at auction or on the scrap heap.”