Help! Cat D write off but passed MOT - what should I do?

kieraowl
kieraowl Posts: 29 Forumite
First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
in Motoring
Hi everyone. Please help me, I am in a panic.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a minor bump. My very old, pretty worthless to anyone but me VW Polo went into the side of another car at 5 mph - totally my fault (I am having a rough time at the moment). The car was totally driveable but has a bit of a scratch up the side.

I reported it to my insurers (Quotemehappy/Aviva) because of the other car involved. They have taken eons to get things moving.

Because the car was due an MOT, the damage wasn't severe, and the insurers took so long, I had it MOTed in the interim. It passed.

Now the insurers are saying that the car is a category D write off. What does this mean? It is still safe to drive, because it passed the MOT after the accident, and was serviced only in August as well.

Can I get the car back and drive it for another few months?? Will I lose any insurance settlement from it being a write off in this case? How does it work?

I would like to ask my insurance company, but they have left phone messages for me and are now closed.

Comments

  • molerat
    molerat Posts: 31,802 Forumite
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    Cat D is generally purely cosmetic damage but to repair would cost more than the car is worth. Your insurer will probably be willing to deduct the scrap value of the car from your payout and allow you to keep it and carry on driving. They may require it to be MOT'd but you already have done that so if you are happy with the car it should be no problem.
  • flashg67
    flashg67 Posts: 3,994 Forumite
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    Could you tell them you don't want to claim on your car? \i did this many years ago on a worthless car I had where I caused damage to another car
  • King_Nothing
    King_Nothing Posts: 854 Forumite
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    As mentioned above, why are you claiming for your car in the first place if the accident was your fault, and the car is old and worthless?
  • caprikid1
    caprikid1 Posts: 2,127 Forumite
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    Cannot see any point if she hit another car not claiming for hers also.


    Surely a claim is a claim ? Its a fault Claim ??
  • EdGasket
    EdGasket Posts: 3,503 Forumite
    caprikid1 wrote: »
    Cannot see any point if she hit another car not claiming for hers also.

    Surely a claim is a claim ? Its a fault Claim ??

    The 'point' of not claiming is that a low-value car will almost certainly be written-off for minor damage and after your excess is deducted you might not get anything back and lose your car which becomes the property of the insurer. At the very least you get to keep your car but it is now declared a cat D write-off so worth even less than before and more difficult to insure.
  • BeenThroughItAll
    BeenThroughItAll Posts: 5,018 Forumite
    EdGasket wrote: »
    The 'point' of not claiming is that a low-value car will almost certainly be written-off for minor damage and after your excess is deducted you might not get anything back and lose your car which becomes the property of the insurer. At the very least you get to keep your car but it is now declared a cat D write-off so worth even less than before and more difficult to insure.

    It's not though, is it? I've owned a fair few Cat C and Cat D cars and bikes and not one of them has been any more difficult to insure than any other car I've owned. I've never once been asked by an insurer if a car I'm proposing is previously written off.
  • EdGasket
    EdGasket Posts: 3,503 Forumite
    BeenThroughItAll wrote: »
    It's not though, is it? I've owned a fair few Cat C and Cat D cars and bikes and not one of them has been any more difficult to insure than any other car I've owned. I've never once been asked by an insurer if a car I'm proposing is previously written off.

    Lucky you! Some inurers won't insure write-offs; some will but charge more. The insurers don't need to ask you if it is written off or not; they control the database and have all that information.
  • mrspurp751
    mrspurp751 Posts: 4 Newbie
    Surely beauty of comparison sites is they have the information so know car is cat d and gives prices accordingly, not a big issue or cat d and c cars wouldn't bother to be sold they'd be scrapped!
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