VIN Branding Committee, Chair: Corey Earl
OARA has long been an advocate for a fair and balanced provincially regulated scheme to permanently brand VINs of vehicles that have been declared a total loss.
The association led efforts to pull together a wide variety of stakeholders and lobby the government for change. The government took up that challenge, formed a diverse industry stakeholder group to develop those regulations.
OARA participated and while we did not get everything we wanted, the Regulations were passed in 2002 with the promise of a five year review. No review took place and OARA re-convened the stakeholders. While there was a general view that the Regulations had issues, there was no further activity.
We currently have a system where an estimated 60% of total loss vehicles are branded, with less than 7% branded as Irreparable. On a daily basis, the auctions show vehicles that are misbranded, and there are no restrictions on who can buy Irreparables.
The Board has resurrected the VIN Branding Committee to see what options are available to “fix” the branding situation in Ontario.
The OARA Branding Committee is seeking specific input and examples from Members to highlight the problems within the current Branding scheme in Ontario. Screen shots of improperly branded vehicles from the auction sites, photos of vehicles you have, repair estimates, etc.