A Melba man who bought back his own hail-damaged car as a registerable write-off from his insurance company has urged others in a similar position to challenge ACT Road Transport's exorbitant charge levied to prove their ownership.
Bob Salmond had his Mazda CX-5 cosmetically damaged in the January 3 hailstorm which swept through Belconnen.
It was the second time one of his cars had been hail-damaged, as his older model Holden Commodore was also hit in the major hail event which swept through the territory and regional NSW just over two years ago, causing millions of dollars in damage to thousands of vehicles.
Having purchased his Mazda new, correctly servicing and maintaining it since then, Mr Salmond had no issue with keeping the car with its modest hail damage even though his insurer had inspected the vehicle and decided it was sufficiently damaged to be written off and the insured value paid out.
Mr Salmond gladly paid a modest $4400 to buy back the car as a registerable salvage vehicle, and had that cost deducted from the sum insured.
His insurer advised the car would have to go on the register for registerable, repairable write-offs and be subject to a roadworthiness inspection before re-registration, conditions with which the owner was happy to comply.
However, when he sought a roadworthiness certificate, ACT Road Transport deemed its inspection and Mr Salmond's identification verification to be a "complex" one and said the charge for this service would be $621.90.
"This charge was ridiculously inflated for the nature of the inspection and identification check needed," Mr Salond said.
"The car is in perfect mechanical condition and had hail dimples that you could barely see with the naked eye. The vehicle had never changed ownership."
The costly "complex" inspection is the RTA's default fee. Mr Salmond has urged others in a similar situation with hail damage to challenge it.
Only after he challenged the RTA's charge was the identification fee reduced to a much more modest $67.
"There must be many people in the same situation because the inspectors at the Hume inspection station are working overtime to get through the many cars that are being presented to them after the Belconnen hailstorm," he said.
"I suspect that the legal requirement for the inspections is an unintended consequence of complex legislation which has valid uses for other circumstances, and would be easily addressed by a simple change to the wording of the legislation.
"My concern is for people who are in the same boat as I was but are being milked for a high and unnecessary cost by an over-complicated government process."
He is pushing for a simple legislative change to ensure others don't get slugged with the high charge.
The ACT government said in a statement a "detailed assessment helps protect future owners of the vehicle, while disrupting unlawful activities such as vehicle rebirthing".
"For this reason, where a person chooses to purchase a vehicle that has been identified as a written-off vehicle, the booking of a complex inspection is appropriate as it ensures sufficient resources can be allocated to the task," it said.
"Should a vehicle present to Hume for an inspection for a written-off vehicle, but only cosmetic (hail) damage is identified as part of the assessment process, the team will adjust the fee to mirror the 'basic' or standard inspection fee.
"This routinely occurred following the hail storm event of January 2020, however, the need for a basic assessment over a complex one cannot be ascertained until the vehicle is inspected and the extent of the damage understood."
