Cartell is an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
vehicle
A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wa ...
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
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...
.
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:
*Checks to identify vehicles written off by an insurance company using the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud and Theft Register Ireland, an initiative begun by Cartell based on its experience with the UK equivalent
*Checks with lenders to identify outstanding finance issues involving the vehicle
*Mileage checks against the National Mileage Register, a database of Irish-registered vehicles established by Cartell
*Verification of Vehicle Identification Number and registration papers
*Number of previous owners and whether the previous registration was as a private or commercial vehicle
*Vehicle details, including body shape, number of doors, engine number and engine capacity
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
(; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...
's vehicle theft records, to allow them to check if a vehicle has been previously reported as stolen.
Publicity
Vehicle write offs
* In 2008, Cartell passed information to the
Road Safety Authority
The Road Safety Authority (RSA; ga, Údarás Um Shábháilteacht Ar Bhóithre) is a state agency formed by the Irish Government to promote road safety within the Republic of Ireland. The agency has devolved control of much of the work of the D ...
about the issue of written-off cars from the UK being imported, repaired and registered for use in Ireland. The subsequent ''
Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' 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.
* In 2014, Cartell called for Regulation of Written off vehicles in Ireland estimating there were over 200,000 write offs in the Irish fleet at any time. A subsequent article in the Irish Examiner reported that six deaths a year caused by written off cars
* In January 2014, opposition TD Timmy Dooley (FF) raised the issue in the Dáil. The then Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar (FG) responded by announcing he was set to introduce “Death Certificates” for vehicles written off as the result of collision damage and to appoint the Road Safety Authority to oversee a new process of independently verifying repaired vehicles before they are returned to the roads (Parliamentary Debates, Wednesday, 15 January 2014, Written Answer No. 963).
* In July 2016, the company welcomed reports that Minister for Transport, Shane Ross (Ind), brought new legislation to cabinet to compel insurers to notify his Department of Category A and Category B write-offs.
Vehicle clocking
* In 2010, the firm's legal branch drafted a legislative proposal proposing outlawing the
clocking
In computing, the clock rate or clock speed typically refers to the frequency at which the clock generator of a Microprocessor, processor can generate Clock signal, pulses, which are used to Synchronization (computer science), synchronize the op ...
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
The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:
*The President of Ireland
*The bicameralism, two houses of the Oireachtas ...
by Cartell director Jeff Aherne and recommended by
Tommy Broughan
Thomas Broughan (born 1 August 1947) is a former Irish Independent politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) from 1992 to 2020.
He sat as a TD for the Labour Party until late 2011, representing the Dublin North-East constituency from 1992 ...
TD, who at the time was the
Labour Party transport spokesman, but did not progress into law.
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 by
Anthony Lawlor TD as the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill 2012. 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
Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach since December 2022, and previously from 2017 to 2020. He served as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from June 2020 to De ...
. 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. 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.
2013 Request for release of stolen vehicle information
On 17 July 2013, Cartell again called on the Garda to release details of
stolen cars. Ireland is currently the only nation in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
where the police do not make details of stolen cars available to car check agencies or directly to the public. In all other EU member states this information is uploaded to
Interpol
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...
, 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. Around 10,000 cars are stolen every year in Ireland and about 2,000 of these are never recovered. 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. The Garda claim that they cannot pass on the information because of
data protection
Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data pr ...
issues.
Sporting sponsorship
In 2010, Cartell became official sponsor for the
Rally of the Lakes, agreeing to sponsor the event until at least 2013.
Rally of the Lakes official site
In March 2014, Cartell's sponsorship of the event was extended for a further three years.
References
{{reflist
Service companies of Ireland