The ABI Code of Practice
The Association of British Insurers publishes the Code of Practice for the Categorisation of Motorised Vehicle Salvage. It’s a voluntary industry code — not statute — but around 97% of UK motor insurers (every ABI member) adhere to it. The current version is V12, published May 2025.
The Code sets out who can categorise a vehicle (an Appropriately Qualified Person, or AQP), what each category means, what damage triggers each, and how the decision is recorded on Vehicle Salvage & Theft Data (VS&TD, formerly MIAFTR).
What changed in V12
V12 is the first Code with explicit electric vehicle rules. Section 8 covers EV categorisation, including the treatment of structural high-voltage batteries and the new mega-casting rules (items 10 and 11 of the Cat S structural list).
On 24 November 2025, the industry register migrated from MIAFTR to the Motor Insurers’ Bureau’s MIB Navigate platform under the new name Vehicle Salvage & Theft Data (VS&TD). The function is identical; only the name and underlying system changed.
Where to find primary sources
Every guide on this site cites primary sources only: the ABI Code itself, GOV.UK and DVLA pages, parliament.uk for legislation, Thatcham Research for engineering standards, the IAEA for qualifications, the Motor Insurers’ Bureau for the register, and legislation.gov.uk for statutes.
No secondary blogs, no syndicated content, no AI-generated summaries.
How we work
Every page lists its sources, the date it was last reviewed, and the next scheduled review. Pages are fact-checked at least every six months, and rewritten in full whenever a new ABI Code is published. Corrections are dated and published openly.