What happens when your car is written off

The Australian Financial Complaints Authority notes in its published approach to motor vehicle total loss complaints that 'total loss' and 'written-off' are used interchangeably. That is true of the insurance conversation, but it is not true of the road transport paperwork, and confusing the two is where most of the surprise comes from.

The starting point is the statutory definition of a total loss, and it is remarkably consistent across the country. Section 89 of the New South Wales Road Transport Act 2013 says a light vehicle is a total loss if it has been damaged, dismantled or demolished to the extent that its salvage value as a written-off light vehicle, plus the cost of repairing it for use on a road, would be more than either the market value of the vehicle immediately before the damage, or the sum insured if it is insured for a specified amount. Transport Tasmania states the same test in plainer words on its written-off vehicles register FAQ. Transport WA phrases it as repair cost plus salvage value exceeding the vehicle's market or insured value.

Note what that test does not say. It says nothing about whether the car could physically be fixed. A structurally sound hatchback with a crumpled guard, a deployed airbag and a cracked windscreen can easily fail this test on a vehicle worth six thousand dollars, and be entirely repairable. That is an economic total loss, and it is what the registers call a repairable write-off. Access Canberra describes them as economic repairable write-offs — vehicles the insurer has valued as costing more to repair than the car is worth, which can be re-registered if repaired to the correct standards.

A statutory write-off is a different finding. It is about the nature of the damage, not the size of the bill. Transport WA describes it as a vehicle that has sustained severe damage making it unsafe and not suitable for repair, or that meets specific statutory damage criteria covering fire, water, structural and stripping damage. Access Canberra states plainly that statutory write-offs cannot be re-registered anywhere in Australia and that any usable materials or parts can only be sold for scrap or second-hand parts. Transport Tasmania's list is the most detailed published version: excessive structural damage under the national criteria; cabin water above the level of the inner doorsill for any period; fire damage that blisters interior or exterior paint on any three structural members from the roof, a pillar, the floor pan, the firewall or the longitudinal rails or chassis; or a vehicle stripped of its body parts, panels and components.

Motorcycles have their own criteria in several jurisdictions. Tasmania and South Australia both classify a motorbike as a statutory write-off if it has been fully immersed in salt water for any period, or in fresh water for more than 48 hours, or has been burnt to the point of being fit only for wrecking or scrap, or has impact damage to the suspension together with structural frame damage. South Australia has also legislated for the electric fleet: it deems a Category 1 electric or hybrid vehicle a statutory write-off where there is impact damage to the battery pack or power electronics.

The damage criteria themselves are not invented by each insurer. They come from the Damage Assessment Criteria for the Classification of Light Vehicle Statutory Write-Offs, published by Austroads as AP-G89-19 and developed with the National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council. Austroads states the guide is intended for insurance personnel and other notifiers who classify written-off vehicles for regulatory purposes, that it applies to passenger and light commercial vehicles only, and that it was written with enough technical precision to be referenced as an incorporated instrument under state and territory law. Its five assessment headings are the roof, pillars, floor pan, firewall, and longitudinal structural rails or chassis.

So the correct mental model is a sequence. The assessor first decides whether the vehicle is a total loss at all, using the economic test. If it is, the assessor then classifies it as statutory or repairable, using the damage criteria. Both findings go on the register. Only the first one is really about money.

AFCA's approach document sets out the arithmetic explicitly. A vehicle is economical to repair, it says, generally based on whether the market or agreed value is greater than the cost of repairs plus salvage. It adds one detail that matters enormously in practice: the cost of repairs does not include the cost of rectifying poorly executed repairs. An insurer cannot fail to repair your car properly, add the cost of fixing its own botched work to the repair estimate, and use the inflated total to declare a write-off.

There are therefore only three inputs, and every genuine dispute is about one of them. The pre-accident value of the car. The cost of repairing it. The salvage value of the wreck. Move any one of the three and the answer can flip. AFCA's own case studies show exactly how narrow the margins are. In one determination it cites, a Victorian vehicle had an agreed value of $11,600, a repair estimate of $9,880.98 and a salvage estimate of $3,203, which the insurer used to declare a total loss. The pre-accident market value, however, was $13,600 — and under the Victorian legislation the test runs against market value, so the vehicle was not a total loss at all and the adjudicator found the insurer had not exercised its discretion fairly.

The mirror-image case also appears. A Queensland vehicle insured for an agreed value of $5,400 had repair quotes of $6,852.08 and $5,800.88 and a salvage value of $750, against a market value of $4,710. The adjudicator was satisfied the insurer had acted fairly in declaring it a total loss. The difference between the two outcomes is not attitude; it is which numbers went into the same formula.

Pre-accident value is where the money usually is. AFCA cites a determination in which the insurer's assessment of $20,865 was rejected because the industry guide it relied on did not fairly reflect the vehicle's value — it was $10,900 below the average retail figure in a competing guide and significantly below comparable car sales listings. The adjudicator concluded a fair pre-accident market value was $27,560, and on that figure the vehicle was economical to repair even on the highest repair estimate. Those figures are from AFCA's April 2023 approach document and are illustrations of method rather than current market values.

The relationship between agreed value and market value produces its own trap. AFCA says that where the two diverge significantly it is generally fair to assess the vehicle as a write-off based on its market value rather than the agreed value — otherwise the insurer could keep the salvage having paid substantially less than market value on a car that was economical to repair on a market basis. But it also says the insurer's liability would not generally exceed the agreed value unless the insurer made an error. In other words, agreed value is a ceiling on what you are paid, not a floor under whether your car gets repaired.

Where the policy and the legislation disagree, AFCA's position is that the legislative position will generally prevail, and that in most cases it is fair for the insurer to apply the relevant legislative definition when deciding whether the vehicle is economical to repair. That keeps the insurer's decision consistent with the register listing it is legally obliged to make.

One more rule catches people whose car went in for repairs and came back wrong. AFCA generally assesses the fairness of the insurer's decision at the time it decided to repair, rather than retrospectively. If it was reasonable to rely on the initial estimates, the insurer cannot later declare a total loss merely because the repair bill blew out. Conversely, where the cost of rectifying failed repairs is being added to the repair cost to justify a write-off, AFCA says the rectification cost is not added when considering whether the vehicle is economical to repair.

The notification duty sits on the assessor, not on you, and it is short. In New South Wales it is statutory: section 93 of the Road Transport Act 2013 requires an assessor to provide Transport for NSW with the required information about each notifiable light vehicle assessed as a total loss within seven days after the assessment and before the vehicle is sold or otherwise disposed of. Motor vehicle recyclers face the same seven-day rule from the moment they form the intention to demolish or dismantle a vehicle. Section 97 requires a written-off light vehicle warning label to be attached within the same period.

Victoria mirrors it. Transport Victoria states that an insurer or self-insurer must tell the Department of Transport and Planning before the vehicle is disposed of, or within seven days from when it is assessed; that motor wreckers must report within seven days of starting to demolish or dismantle a vehicle; and that a licensed motor car trader must report within seven days of acquiring a vehicle and before disposing of it. Victoria is also the only jurisdiction publishing three categories rather than two — repairable write-offs, inspected write-offs and statutory write-offs.

South Australia publishes the most granular timetable of any state. Insurers must notify within seven days of writing off a notifiable vehicle. Dismantlers, wreckers and repairers must notify within seven days of acquiring one. Auctioneers and motor vehicle dealers must notify within seven days of acquiring, but before auctioning or disposing of, a written-off notifiable vehicle. Private owners must notify before selling, disposing of or dismantling the vehicle. And anyone bringing a written-off vehicle into South Australia must notify within seven days, unless the status is already recorded on an interstate register.

Tasmania requires prescribed persons — auction houses, dealers, insurers, auto parts dismantlers and loss assessors — to forward the notification form to the Registrar within seven days, and specifies that notification must be on the approved form, with a statutory declaration expressly not acceptable. It also confirms that owners are not required to assess a vehicle themselves. The ACT requires an 'authorised designated person', typically the insurer that assessed the vehicle as a total loss, to provide the information to Access Canberra within seven days of making the decision to write off the vehicle, and Access Canberra states that it does not accept unauthorised submissions.

The Northern Territory is the outlier in both direction and duty. The MVR requires notification within 14 days of the vehicle being declared a total loss under a contract of insurance — and if you are not making an insurance claim, within 14 days of the date of the incident. The obligation sits with the registered owner, although the insurer, a licensed motor vehicle trader or an approved assessor can submit the advice on their behalf. The NT also requires a statutory write-off's compliance plate and vehicle identification number to be permanently marked with a diagonal chisel line by the party that assessed the vehicle, and a warning label stating that the VIN has been cancelled.

Queensland frames the duty by reference to who holds the vehicle. Insurers, self-insurers, loss adjusters, dealers, auctioneers and auto parts dismantlers must notify the Department of Transport and Main Roads when a notifiable vehicle has been assessed as a total loss. If nobody else has done it — a common situation for uninsured or unregistered vehicles — the owner must notify before selling or disposing of the vehicle. Western Australia places the duty on the approved assessor, who is responsible for determining total loss, calculating repair and salvage costs, classifying the vehicle, and notifying the Department of Transport and Major Infrastructure where the criteria are met.

Which vehicles are caught differs enough to matter. Most jurisdictions use a fifteen-year age limit and a 4.5 tonne mass limit. Queensland uses sixteen years or younger at the time of loss and expressly cannot write off a vehicle older than that, a heavy vehicle over 4.5 tonnes, or one registered interstate. New South Wales covers light vehicles up to 4.5 tonnes gross vehicle mass, including light trailers, light caravans and motorbikes up to fifteen years old, plus light trucks of any age. South Australia extends its notifiable list well beyond light vehicles to prime movers over 4.5 tonnes, rigid trucks and buses over 3.5 tonnes, and heavy trailers. Tasmania records vehicles outside the age and weight limits as 'wrecked' on its motor registry system instead.

A total loss settlement is not the number on the assessor's valuation. It is that number less a series of deductions, and each of them is worth checking against your product disclosure statement rather than accepting on the phone.

The excess comes off first. ASIC's Moneysmart makes the general position clear: you usually have to pay an excess when you make a claim whether you were at fault or not, and only some policies waive it in limited circumstances. Its worked example is instructive — a driver hit by a stolen car whose driver fled still had to pay the excess, because her policy said the excess applied where the at-fault party could not be found. Ask specifically whether the excess is waived rather than assuming it will be refunded once liability is settled.

Unexpired registration and compulsory third party cover are the deductions people query most, and the reason for them is usually legitimate. The Financial Rights Legal Centre explains that these are typically deducted from the payout because you can claim the refunds directly from your CTP insurer and your state transport authority. What that means practically is that you have to go and collect them. In New South Wales, Service NSW requires the number plates and a completed cancellation form to be brought to a service centre within 14 days of the vehicle being written off; you may then claim a refund of the unused portion of the motor vehicle tax with a police incident report or insurance statement showing the date of the incident, and separately contact your CTP insurer with evidence of the cancellation, which calculates the green slip refund from the cancellation date. Transport for NSW also notes that CTP cover continues for four business days after registration is cancelled.

Other jurisdictions run the same logic through different doors. Western Australia cancels the vehicle licence once the write-off is recorded and requires the number plates to be returned within 28 days, with a letter confirming the cancellation sent to the registered owner; where the insurer or wrecker holds the plates, you need to confirm whether they are returning them for you. The Northern Territory states directly on its written-off vehicle reporting page that you can get a refund of current registration where applicable. Queensland folds the notification into the cancellation, requiring an individual notifier to lodge form F4069 when cancelling the vehicle's registration.

If the car is financed, the settlement generally goes to the financier before it goes to you, and there is nothing unusual about receiving nothing at all if the loan balance exceeds the settlement. That gap is what gap cover is sold to address, and it is worth checking whether you already hold it before assuming you do not.

Then there is the salvage. AFCA's approach document says most policies allow the insurer to retain the wreck and sell it, although not all do, and that whether you may keep it depends on the policy wording as well as on what is fair in the circumstances. The Financial Rights Legal Centre's practical advice is to tell the insurer early if you want to buy the salvage back, so that it is not sold before anyone asks you. Queensland's guidance adds the warning that keeping the vehicle does not keep it off the register — the write-off is still recorded, the history cannot be removed, and that will usually reduce the vehicle's value, which is something to weigh before accepting a reduced cash settlement in exchange for keeping the car.

Finally, expect the timing to be governed by the General Insurance Code of Practice rather than by goodwill. Moneysmart states the insurer must contact you within 10 business days of the claim and must reject a claim in writing. The Financial Rights Legal Centre sets out the code's fuller timetable: within 10 business days the insurer must accept or deny the claim or tell you it needs more information; it must decide within four months of receiving the claim, extending to twelve months in exceptional circumstances such as a declared catastrophe; it must tell you within five business days if it appoints a loss assessor; external expert reports must be completed within twelve weeks; and it must give you progress updates at least every 20 business days.

AFCA publishes, in its approach document, a list of what it asks each side for. That list is the most useful checklist available anywhere for someone preparing to dispute a write-off, because it is literally what the decision-maker will read.

From you, AFCA asks for what you consider the pre-accident value of the vehicle was, with supporting information such as assessor reports, valuations or sale advertisements; what you consider the fair salvage value to be, with supporting information such as an estimate from a salvage yard; any quotations you hold to repair the vehicle; information supporting any safety concerns; and any expert reports in your possession. From the insurer it asks for the certificate of insurance and product disclosure statement, assessment reports and photographs, its assessment of pre-accident value, an explanation if an assessor changed a quote, assessor comments on the safety of the proposed repair, a salvage valuation report, a repair quote, and its application of the relevant legislation to the loss circumstances.

Read that second list carefully, because you are entitled to ask for most of it. If an assessor's quote was revised downward or upward, the reason for the change is something AFCA will want explained. If the insurer relied on an industry valuation guide, the case study above shows that a guide figure well below comparable retail listings and sale advertisements is exactly the kind of evidence that gets a valuation overturned. Comparable listings for the same make, model, year, kilometres and condition, gathered at the time of the loss and saved with dates, are the cheapest and most effective evidence available to a private owner.

Safety arguments work differently. AFCA says that if a vehicle is unsafe to repair, the only fair decision is for it to be declared a total loss, and that it will generally be guided by expert opinion. It states expressly that it will not generally be sufficient for a party simply to say the vehicle is unsafe — the party needs a written expert opinion from an assessor or repairer, with reasons and supporting documents. That cuts both ways: where the insurer wants to repair a vehicle whose damage meets the Austroads statutory criteria, AFCA says the insurer must be able to explain why that is fair, generally with an expert opinion and manufacturer or industry guidelines setting out an acceptable repair method.

Repeated failed repairs are their own category. AFCA may decide it is fair to treat a vehicle as a total loss after multiple unsuccessful repair attempts, weighing whether the vehicle can be safely repaired, how many attempts were made, the likelihood a proper repair can be achieved, whether you had use of the vehicle for a significant period after the incident, and whether all outstanding issues can be identified. Where it does decide the vehicle is a total loss on that basis, the amount payable is generally based on the agreed or market value as at the time the event occurred — not the depreciated value after months of failed repairs.

Unusual vehicles need a valuer rather than an assessor. AFCA notes that for a showroom, classic or specialised vehicle a valuation may be required, that valuers factor in bespoke adjustments, that a valuation can be very different from and usually more accurate than an assessment, and that this should generally be arranged by the insurer where it needs to assess market value.

There is one scenario that catches uninsured owners and is worth stating plainly. If your car is damaged by someone else and you have no comprehensive policy of your own, the other driver's insurer may offer to assess your vehicle. The Financial Rights Legal Centre's guidance is that allowing that assessment can result in an automatic register listing, and that the alternative is to send a letter of demand for the reasonable cost of repair or replacement less any salvage value. That is a decision to make before the assessor arrives, not afterwards.

Every insurer must run an internal dispute resolution process and it is the compulsory first step. The Financial Rights Legal Centre states that when you complain to the insurer's internal dispute resolution department, the insurer should send you a written response within 30 days including the reasons for its decision, and that if the complaint is not resolved after 30 days you can lodge with AFCA at no cost. Moneysmart's guidance on writing that complaint is worth following literally: put the word 'complaint' in the subject line, include your name, contact details and the date, explain the problem and the outcome you want, and attach copies of the relevant documents while keeping the originals.

You do not have to wait out the maximum periods before complaining. The Financial Rights Legal Centre makes the point directly — you can act if delays appear unreasonable at any time, rather than waiting for the four-month or twelve-month outer limits to expire.

AFCA itself is free to consumers, independent, and available to individuals and to small businesses with fewer than 100 employees, including sole traders, partnerships and incorporated businesses, as well as to registered charities. General insurers are among the organisations required by legislation to be AFCA members. If you accept an AFCA determination, the financial firm is bound by it.

What AFCA is looking at is not whether the insurer was technically entitled to write the car off, but whether it exercised its discretion under the policy fairly and consistently with the duty of utmost good faith — a duty AFCA describes as mutual, owed by the insured to the insurer as well as the other way round. Its general test is that a decision to repair rather than write off is fair if it is both safe and economical to do so. It weighs whether the vehicle is economical to repair, the relevant state or territory legislation, whether the vehicle will be safe if repaired, and whether the insurer has already failed to repair it properly after multiple attempts.

The remedies are broader than a bigger cheque. AFCA says that if it is not satisfied the insurer exercised its discretion fairly it will generally award a different outcome, which may be that the vehicle should have been repaired rather than written off, that it should have been written off rather than repaired, or that the insurer should pay compensation for non-financial loss. It can also decide that a firm must take, or refrain from taking, particular actions.

On the register itself, be realistic about what is available. AFCA states that insurers have a legal obligation to list written-off vehicles and that it considers the practice acceptable when consistent with the legislation, so a complaint amounting to 'I do not want my car listed' will not succeed. Where a vehicle has been placed on the register in error, AFCA may decide the insurer should ask the responsible state or transport authority to amend the record, and may award compensation. That is a narrow door, and it is why the argument is better made before the notification than after it.

There is one further quirk AFCA addresses that surprises owners of repaired vehicles: vehicle identification number plates. Where a VIN plate has been removed to facilitate a repair it may not be replaceable, because manufacturers often do not issue a second plate. AFCA accepts that this is not the insurer's responsibility to compensate where the removal was necessary because of accident damage, but where the removal happened because of the insurer's own error, such as poor repairs, it may find the insurer responsible for the resulting loss of value and may also award non-financial loss.

A repairable write-off can be registered again, but not by simply fixing it and turning up. Every jurisdiction requires an identity check aimed at re-birthing — the practice of applying a legitimate vehicle's identifiers to a stolen car of the same make and model, which Transport Tasmania identifies as the reason the register exists, since written-off vehicles are the largest source of those legitimate identifiers.

New South Wales is far and away the most restrictive, and anyone planning to buy a repairable write-off there needs to read this before spending money. Transport for NSW will only consider an application to re-register where the applicant is the registered operator and the damage is hail damage under specific conditions, or was the registered operator for more than 28 days before the damage occurred, or inherited the vehicle from the original registered operator — and in every case the vehicle must not have suffered damage specified in the statutory write-off assessment criteria. The process then requires an Authorisation to Repair obtained before any work begins, a Certificate of Compliance from a licensed repairer on completion, an identity, design and safety check at an Authorised Unregistered Vehicle Inspection Scheme station, and an inspection by Transport for NSW's Vehicle Identity and Inspections Unit before the registration application is lodged at a service centre. Starting repairs without the authorisation is the mistake that ends the exercise.

Queensland runs two inspections. A repairable write-off can be re-registered after it passes both a safety certificate inspection, which checks minimum vehicle safety standards, and a written-off vehicle inspection, which checks the identity of the vehicle and of the parts used in the repairs. Queensland Inspection Services is the contracted provider and bookings are made on 1300 722 411. A statutory write-off can never be re-registered, so it needs no inspection at all.

South Australia also runs two, in a fixed order. An identity inspection confirms the VIN or chassis number, compliance plate and engine number and determines whether the vehicle may be stolen, re-birthed or repaired using parts from a stolen vehicle; only once that is passed can the road safety inspection be booked, which assesses whether the vehicle meets registration standards and whether the quality of repairs meets statutory requirements. Within 100 kilometres of the Adelaide GPO the identity inspection must be done at the Vehicle Identity Assessment Station at Regency Park. You must present proof of identity, evidence of previous registration in Australia if available, a current unregistered vehicle permit or trade plate unless the vehicle arrives by tow truck, the inspection payment receipt and a completed repair diary, with a supplementary restraint system report where required. Bookings are made on 13 10 84.

The ACT will re-register a repairable write-off if the vehicle was ACT registered at the time it was written off and it passes the required inspections, and expressly will not register a vehicle listed as written off in another state or territory until that jurisdiction has inspected and cleared it. Repairs must follow the manufacturer's repair methods and conform to recognised industry standards, and a licensed motor vehicle repairer must certify them; a non-licensed repairer may do the work, but only a licensed repairer can certify it, and the repairer will typically require a photographic repair diary, staged inspections during the repair, and copies of the standards relied on. Access Canberra also publishes rules on reusing parts from other written-off vehicles, including that an engine from a written-off vehicle may be used regardless of why that vehicle was written off, subject to engineering certification if the specification differs.

Tasmania's process starts with a structural inspection by an approved motor body repairer before the vehicle reaches the registry stage, and the written-off vehicle label is central to it — the label must remain affixed and be present at the clearance inspection, and only Transport Inspectors are authorised to remove it and clear the register status. Where a label has to come off during repair, evidence that it was affixed must be recorded and produced in the repair diary. Victoria requires a vehicle identity validation inspection and warns buyers of a repaired but not yet inspected write-off to obtain every receipt for replacement parts and repair work, because a statutory declaration will not be accepted in place of a missing receipt.

Two constraints apply everywhere. First, driving the vehicle in the meantime is restricted: South Australia permits a repairable write-off on the road only where it is currently registered, or on an unregistered vehicle permit or trade plate and only for repairs or a pre-registration inspection, and Tasmania allows a repairable write-off to be driven only to a place of inspection and registration. A statutory write-off may not be driven on a road in any circumstances. Second, passing the inspection does not clear the record. Queensland states it plainly: after the vehicle passes the written-off vehicle inspection, it remains on the register so future buyers are aware of the history, which can affect resale value.

Storm seasons produce write-offs in a different pattern from crashes, and two jurisdictions publish rules specifically for hail because the damage is so often cosmetic rather than structural.

Queensland's position is the most generous. A hail-damaged vehicle written off by an insurer may be exempt from the written-off vehicle inspection altogether if it has cosmetic hail damage only, you were the registered operator immediately before the hail damage, and the registration is current. The exemption is automatic where all three are met — no application is needed — and a confirmation letter about the write-off and exemption arrives in around 14 days. The hail write-off does not affect the registration period and you may keep driving the vehicle if it is safe to do so, although the write-off and exemption record are retained on the register. If a falling tree or a crash contributed to the damage, the exemption does not apply.

South Australia takes the same approach in a different form. Assessors determine whether a vehicle has cosmetic hail damage, meaning no structural damage and no interior water damage from the hail. Those vehicles are still notifiable, but they do not require a written-off vehicle label to be affixed and may be driven on roads. Where hail causes structural damage, the Austroads damage assessment criteria apply as usual.

Queensland also publishes the practical advice most likely to save someone a genuine problem after a hailstorm: your insurer must tell you if your vehicle has been recorded on the register, and if you intend to keep driving the car while waiting for a replacement, you can ask the insurer not to record it as written off until the replacement arrives. High demand for vehicles after a large hail event can stretch that wait considerably, and the same page notes that an insurer may provide a hire vehicle or let you keep driving the damaged car if it is not defective. Broken or cracked windows, broken lights and damaged wiper arms make a vehicle defective, and driving a defective vehicle on a road is an offence.

Flood is treated less kindly, and for good reason. Water in the cabin above the level of the inner doorsill for any period is a statutory write-off criterion in Tasmania and appears in the national criteria used across the country, which means a flooded car is frequently not a repairable write-off at all but a vehicle that can never be registered again. Transport for NSW warns that after flooding many vehicles, including caravans and camper trailers, are assessed and declared written off due to total economic loss, that these cannot be re-registered for use on the road, and that some flood-damaged vehicles will not be assessed as a total loss at all and can still be sold at auction or privately — which is the practical reason to inspect any flood-region purchase thoroughly and check the register first.

A declared catastrophe changes the service you receive, not the terms of your cover. The Insurance Council of Australia is explicit that a catastrophe declaration means additional resources are made available to speed up claims processing, and that these declarations have no effect on your insurance, your excess or what is covered by your policy. It is also distinct from a government disaster declaration, which may release recovery funding but operates separately from your insurance. The one place a catastrophe does change the rules is timing: under the General Insurance Code of Practice, a catastrophic event is one of the exceptional circumstances that extends the insurer's decision window from four months to as long as twelve.

Before you buy anything from a hail or flood region, run a search on the Personal Property Securities Register using the vehicle identification number. Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the ACT all direct buyers there, and Queensland adds the warning that matters most: a private seller is not required to tell you that the vehicle is on the written-off vehicle register.