Car owners are flogging off vehicles that suffered the brunt of the recent torrential weather in Britain to unsuspecting buyers, industry experts have revealed.
According to vehicle inspectors at mycarcheck.com website owners are finding it difficult to claim on their rain-damaged vehicles .
The company’s head, Roger Powell, said: "We have had to warn some customers that the vehicle they are trying to buy has actually been written-off in recent storms."
These could be luxury models on which owners are keen to dodge huge insurance excess payouts, or vehicles covered only by third party, fire and theft policies which are not protected against water damage, according to Powell.
He explained: "The cars might look fine at first glance, because they have dried out. But safety equipment such as airbags and electronic systems could be compromised and should be professionally checked."
As storms swept across the country two weeks ago, more than 33,000 motorists called the RAC for help but only a fraction actually made claims for water damage, revealed Norwich Union .
Although the insurance provider handles one in every seven motor policy in the UK, less than 1,000 claims for flooded cars were received during June.
