Even as much of New Orleans remained underwater from Hurricane Katrina's rampage, NICB went about preventing another calamity--the expected flood of water-damaged vehicles being sold to unsuspecting consumers around the nation. With estimates of Katrina-damaged vehicles approaching half a million units, NICB realized the public safety challenge that many of these vehicles would present if not quickly identified and tracked.
So it was against that backdrop that our member companies were asked to participate in a voluntary vehicle identification number (VIN) tracking project. Most of our member companies saw the benefit not only for public safety but for positive public relations that such a venture would inspire and they agreed to assist.
Thus the "Katrina Flood Vehicle Database" was launched on NICB's website on October 17, 2005. It was an industry first and gave consumers unprecedented, free access to insurance company claims data on vehicles and boats that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
This resource was an immediate hit with consumers and numerous local, state and federal agencies and private sector entities across the nation linked their websites to NICB's to allow their constituents easy access to this resource.
On November 7, 2007, NICB expanded this service to include information on unrecovered stolen vehicles and renamed it--VINCheck. In June, 2008, VINCheck was expanded yet again to provide data on vehicles that have been previously declared as salvage by participating NICB member insurance companies.
As it nears its seventh birthday, VINCheck remains the most visited page on NICB's website receiving in the last 12 months over 1.6 million page visits. It is also frequently referenced in all kinds of media from local talk shows to national network radio and television stations and cable outlets.
A consumer recently posted her thoughts on our "Tell Us Your VINCheck Success Story" link on the NICB website. Here is an excerpt:
"It [2011 Mazda3i] had few miles and the seller kept telling me that the title was clean. He seemed suspicious though, and the price was a little too low. I decided to look up the vin number and through this site [VINCheck] I found out that it had had a salvaged title. The seller had been lying to me each time I asked. I didn't purchase from him because he had lied repeatedly and didn't know what else he could be lying about. I'm so glad that this site is around. It gives you the basic information for free! But the basic information was just enough to help me with this particular car. It then advises you to have the vehicle inspected if you are still thinking of purchasing it, and advises to have a full report done so you can see all the details. This site was easy to use, extremely useful, and free. I use this site on all vin numbers of vehicles that I am seriously contemplating. It has made my car search less intimidating. Thank you!"
This consumer is exactly the kind of person we had in mind back in 2005 when the Katrina Flood Vehicle Database came to life. We're happy to say that today's VINCheck continues to provide that same free access to millions of vehicle records--all made possible by participating NICB member companies and NICB's 100-year commitment to fighting insurance crimes and vehicle theft.
For the price--nothing!--VINCheck remains the best vehicle history service in existence.