BC salvage title rules: ICBC's Salvage, Rebuilt, Non-Repairable and Altered statuses

In US searches it's a "salvage title". British Columbia doesn't issue one. What it has is a status that ICBC records on the vehicle, and it follows the vehicle from owner to owner. ICBC handles both vehicle registration and basic insurance in the province, so it's the one office that holds a BC vehicle's record.

These notes sum up ICBC's published rules as of October 2026. They aren't legal advice, so check with ICBC before you buy, repair or register a vehicle.

What ICBC's statuses mean

ICBC records the five statuses below. The vehicle's own record is what counts.

ICBC itself warns that a status doesn't describe a vehicle's condition or its full damage history. A Normal vehicle can have been damaged, and a Rebuilt one can be in any state today. So read ICBC's vehicle claims history alongside the status, since it shows past claims recorded in British Columbia. A vehicle that has lived in another province or country may have records there too, which a national history report can pick up.

Buying a Salvage vehicle in BC

Private sales are allowed. Check the VIN on the registration against the plate on the dashboard at the windshield and the label on the driver's door frame. Then look up the status and claims history with ICBC. Search the province's personal property registry for liens, and the registry of any province the vehicle came from, because a lien registered against a vehicle can stay with it after a sale.

Ownership transfers through ICBC's process at an Autoplan broker, and a Salvage vehicle can change hands even though it can't be licensed. Bring it home on a tow truck or trailer. It has to be repaired and pass a provincial inspection before ICBC records it as Rebuilt, after which it can be licensed and insured again, subject to your insurer. The BC rebuilt inspection guide covers those steps.

Selling a damaged vehicle that was never written off? If it's unsafe to drive when it changes hands, the sale itself makes it Salvage. You and the buyer sign a notice, and the buyer files it with ICBC within 10 days.

A Non-Repairable vehicle is another matter. It can never be licensed or insured again in British Columbia and sells for parts or scrap only. ICBC sends most flood and fire write-offs this way. On DNF, every flood and fire write-off joins the parts-only group whatever brand it carries, under a rule of our own.

A vehicle arriving from another province or country needs a provincial inspection before it can be licensed here. If it was branded salvage, written off or similar elsewhere, a trade-qualified autobody technician has to assess its structure first. Ask ICBC or an Autoplan broker how it'll be recorded before you buy.

ICBC's auctions and the VSA

ICBC sells many of the vehicles it writes off through an auction partner. Its salvage registration page says buyers need to be licensed dealers, or licensed non-dealers, with a registered buyer account, and Non-Repairable vehicles go only to licensed wreckers and recyclers. If you don't hold a licence, buying salvage in BC without a dealer licence covers the other routes.

For your own use, no licence is needed. Repairing and selling vehicles as a business is different. Motor dealers in British Columbia are licensed by the Vehicle Sales Authority (VSA). Anyone who deals in five or more vehicles in 12 months is treated as a dealer, and the VSA says buying even one vehicle to resell can count, so ask the VSA before you start.

See salvage vehicles for sale in BC, rebuilt vehicles in BC or everything listed in British Columbia.