Cartell

This article is about an Irish vehicle checking company. For other uses, see Cartel (disambiguation).

Cartell is an Irish vehicle checking company which commenced trading in 2006. It operates an online service to allow prospective vehicle purchasers to verify the history of a vehicle before purchasing. The checks available include details of finance problems, insurance write-offs, ownership history and whether a vehicle was formerly used as a taxi.

Services

Cartell operates an online check system for both private and trade buyers. A free check will show the manufacturer and model of the vehicle when a Vehicle Registration Number is entered. Paid checks allow further information to be obtained for varying fees. Information available includes:[1]

The firm has an agreement with HPI UK, a similar company based in the United Kingdom, to allow finance, ownership and insurance checks to be carried out on vehicles imported into Ireland from the UK. It also has access to the UK National Mileage Register.

Since 2002 the firm has been attempting to gain access to the Garda Síochána's vehicle theft records, to allow them to check if a vehicle has been previously reported as stolen.

Publicity

In 2008 Cartell passed information to the Road Safety Authority about the issue of written-off cars from the UK being imported, repaired and registered for use in Ireland.[4] The subsequent Irish Times article provoked an investigation by the Garda Siochána, Vehicle Registration Unit, Road Safety Authority and Revenue Commissioners. This resulted in a change to legislation requiring that from September 2010 all imported vehicles must be taken to a National Car Test Centre for inspection before being registered in Ireland.[5]

In 2010 the firm's legal branch drafted a legislative proposal proposing outlawing the clocking of vehicle odometers, which was not illegal in Ireland at the time. The principal drafter of the Bill was barrister John P Byrne. It was presented to the Oireachtas by Cartell director Jeff Aherne[6] and recommended by Tommy Broughan TD, who at the time was the Labour Party transport spokesman,[7] but did not progress into law.[8]

Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2012

Following the failure of their suggested vehicle clocking legislation in 2010 Cartell continued to press the bill, and in December 2012 it was presented again[9] by Anthony Lawlor TD as the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2012.[10] On 17 December the bill passed the first stage in the approval process. Meanwhile, Lawlor continued to press the government on the issue and managed to bring it to the attention of transport minister Leo Varadkar. As a result, on 15 January 2014 the content of Lawlor's bill was inserted as an amendment in the Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013, creating a new criminal offence of interfering with the odometer of a mechanically propelled vehicle.[11] The maximum penalty for the offence is a Class C fine (up to €2,500) or up to three months imprisonment. With this amendment in place Lawlor noted that Cartell had been responsible for bringing the issue to his attention, then withdrew his private member’s bill. The bill had its second reading on 21 January 2014 and on 25 February was enacted as the Road Traffic Act 2014. The new offence became law as Section 14 of the Act.[12]

2013 Request for Release of Stolen Vehicle Information

On 17 July 2013 Cartell again called on the Garda to release details of stolen cars.[13] Ireland is currently the only nation in the European Union where the police do not make details of stolen cars available to car check agencies or directly to the public.[14] In all other EU member states this information is uploaded to Interpol, which allows instant checks to be made on any suspect vehicle. Currently any search done on an Irish-registered vehicle will not reveal if the vehicle has been reported stolen.[15] Around 10,000 cars are stolen every year in Ireland and about 2,000 of these are never recovered.[16] Currently buyers of used cars have no way to check against theft records, and hundreds of buyers a year lose an average of from €10,000 to €20,000 after buying stolen cars which are then discovered and returned to their original owner.[17] The Garda claim that they cannot pass on the information because of data protection issues.

Sporting Sponsorship

In 2010 Cartell became official sponsor for the Rally of the Lakes, agreeing to sponsor the event until at least 2013.[18][19] In March 2014 Cartell's sponsorship of the event was extended for a further three years.

References

  1. Carzone.ie, Vehicle Check, retrieved 20 December 2012
  2. MIAFTR.ie, retrieved 20 December 2012
  3. NMR.ie, retrieved 21 December 2012
  4. The Irish Times, Repaired write-offs back on the roads, Wed 1 January 2008
  5. NCTS website, VRT Bookings, retrieved 21 December 2012
  6. Parliamentary Debates, Select Committee on Transport 16 June 2010, retrieved 20 December 2012
  7. Irish Labour Party website, Labour proposes outlawing vehicle clocking in Road Traffic Bill, retrieved 20 December 2012
  8. Cartell.ie blog, Cartell Clocking set to become illegal, retrieved 20 December 2012
  9. My Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2012, Anthony Lawlor's website, retrieved 20 December 2012
  10. Houses of the Oireachtas, Bills 1992–2012, Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2012 retrieved 5 February 2014
  11. Houses of the Oireachtas, Current Debates, Road Traffic (No. 2) Bill 2013 retrieved 20 December 2012
  12. Road Traffic Act 2014, retrieved 28 March 2014.
  13. Cartell.ie, Stolen car details 'should be released', retrieved 23 July 2013.
  14. The Irish Sun, 15 July 2013, Loophole lets car cons target Irish, retrieved 23 July 2013.
  15. IAATA, 18 July 2013, Irish Data Refusal Archived 7 April 2014 at the Wayback Machine., retrieved 23 July 2013.
  16. The Irish Independent, 17 July 2013, Stolen car details 'should be released', retrieved 23 July 2013.
  17. The Irish Independent, 19 July 2013, Pressure on Garda to pass on car theft data, retrieved 23 July 2013.
  18. Cartell.ie, About Us, retrieved 20 December 2012
  19. Rally of the Lakes official site Archived 29 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
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