Liberty Mutual, the nation’s eighth-largest car insurer, is providing Carfax with its data on every car the insurer declared a total loss and sold for salvage for the past five years and going forward. The information will be disclosed to buyers on Carfax vehicle history reports.
"Varying state laws and a deceitful practice called ‘title washing’ allows salvaged cars to be sold without any documentation they were once totaled," said Ted Gramer, Liberty Mutual executive vice president, personal claims. "In the aftermath of disasters like the recent Midwestern floods and hurricanes, consumers need added protection from increased fraudulent activity."
Carfax is offering a free search to confirm whether a vehicle has beeen damaged by flooding through the Liberty Mutual Rewards Web site, www.libertymutualrewards.com. Consumers also can purchase a complete Carfax vehicle history report at a 25 percent discount at Liberty Mutual’s site.
Liberty Mutual also announced its participation in the National Insurance Crime Bureau’s VINCheck buyer protection program. Consumers can input any vehicle identification number (VIN) at www.nicb.org to determine if a participating insurance company has previously declared the car a total loss.
