Seven motor insurers including Co-Operative Insurance Services, Fortis, Highway, MMA and Provident, have united the potential of recycled body parts to reduce repair costs and extend the life of older vehicles involved in collisions or MoT failures.

Gary Brench, MMA Insurance’s chief engineer says insurers write off about 500,000 cars a year, and that it costs about five times as much to deal with write-offs than repairs, after anti-fraud checks, engineers’ scrutiny time, customer negotiation, and salvage disposal.

Brench said a survey of MMA’s customers showed 50% were happy to have recycled repair parts fitted to cars over five years old.

Some repairers are anxious about the safety implications of certain non-cosmetic recycled parts which may be supplied without certification, and with the potential labour time involved in refurbishing body parts supplied undismantled.