Vehicle Identity Check
The Vehicle Identity Check (VIC) was one regulation concerning car ownership in the United Kingdom, which was in force between April 2003 and October 2015. The VIC was introduced on 7 April 2003, and was created to prevent the illegal practice of vehicle cloning. The scheme was run jointly by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA). The scheme was first announced in January 2002, and was planned to come officially into force by April 2003. It was initially meant to keep track of scrapyard vehicles. Details. The VIC  applied only to cars and was intended to ensure that the vehicle registration certificate (V5C) was "not" issued for stolen or cloned vehicles using the identity of a destroyed vehicle. When any car was written off by an insurance company as “Category C” or higher checking was required before the V5C could be issued. Vehicles in Category D did "not" require inspection. The test, carried out by VOSA, determined whether or not a car presented was the same one that was listed against records by the DVLA. To apply for the check, the VIC1 Form had to be completed and  submitted to VOSA. A car bought with "no" V5C might "also" require the VIC even if there had been no insurance claim to confirm its identity before any new V5C was issued. The VIC was "not" a check on any repairs carried out to the car and did not certify its roadworthiness or mechanical safety; this is instead part of the MOT Test. Closure. Up to July 2012, an estimated 900,000 vehicles had been tested under the scheme. However, only 38 “ringers” or cloned vehicles had been successfully identified. The VIC Scheme officially closed on 26 October 2015. Since then , the conditions for issue of a V5C are that the vehicle has obtained a MOT Test Certificate, is roadworthy and has insurance. The task force indicating its closure was completed the month prior in September 2015.