Cat C insurance write off...

bigee_2

Hi, New to the forum, a quick question, today spoke to my insurance and agreed to a figure less the buy back of my car, was ridiculous to even suggest not economical to repair, as the repair company marked every little scratch and dent on the body not just the latest ding.
I actually hit a chap who suddenly bolted across the busy road, dented my o/s wing and smashed the windscreen, chap the dusted his trousers and bolted, the windscreen I already sorted only the wing to replace, about £25 plus paint.
Sorry the question, what happens next, as I still have the car, the V5, latest MOT and insurance certificate, who does the scrapping, or can I somehow stop the scrapping and get the repair done?
Sorry my first accident so dont have a clue, many thanx

vaio

It sounds like you want to repair it and have already bought the salvage off your insurance company, if so then………..

If it's Cat C then you'll need to get a VIC done before you can tax it again. This is identity check only, nothing to do with roadworthiness or standard of repairs. Waiting time for an appointment can be 6-8 weeks but, as long as you have current tax & MOT, you can drive it as normal.

Current tax and MOT are both valid until the normal expiry date, you can renew the MOT if needed but must get the VIC done before you can renew the Tax.

Insurance is tricky, some companies end the policy if they pay out on a total loss, others don't. Read what your policy says.

Obviously you need insurance before you drive it anyway (or even park it on the road)


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bigee_2

Insurance said the policy would still run, sounds weird. Who actually does the Cat C with DVLA, surely they need the V5 documents etc from me...

Thanx

vaio

As I said, some insurance carries on, some don’t. Insurance is important so I would double check what your policy actually says.

As for the V5, you hang on to it. All you need to do is get the VIC done otherwise the “system” won’t let you renew the tax.

dacouch

Your Insurers will normally want you to advise them when the car is repaired and will generally want you to have a fresh MOT on the car. Give your Insurers a ring to find out how they deal with it

vaio

dacouch wrote: »

Your Insurers ......... will generally want you to have a fresh MOT on the car.....

Do they?

Another example of pointless B-ship nonsense.

Actually, can they, given it has an existing MOT and is an ongoing policy?

mcjordi

when i kept my cat c pug 106 2 years back my insurer said i could keep it insured so long as it was roadworthy but if the repairs werent carried out then they wouldnt pay out on it
(it was a non fault claim)
it had 8 months mot on it they said to me if it was roadworthy and said i didnt have to re mot it.. i got rid a few weeks later anyway

dacouch

vaio wrote: »

Do they?

Another example of pointless B-ship nonsense.

Actually, can they, given it has an existing MOT and is an ongoing policy?

It's fairly common practice with most Insurers, they use it as a way of confirming the vehicle is road worthy after the repairs. There are actually a fair amount of companies who will reduce the cover down to Third Party Only cover once they have written the car off until they have seen sight of a fresh MOT. This is why I recommended the OP checked with her Insurer to find out how they operate in these circumstances.

They can insist on a fresh MOT for the vehicle on an on going policy as by writting off the vehicle that is insured they have in effect full filled the contract (Policy). This is why some of the cheap and cheerful companies cancel a policy (With no refund) when they have written a car off as they have full filled the contract

vaio

No, unless the policy is written so it ends on total loss then the contract (policy) is to provide insurance to the policy holder up to the expiry date, then they have fulfilled the contract.

They can’t start adding extra conditions in half way through, and they certainly shouldn’t be able to reduce the cover unless explicitly stated in the policy

MOTs & their affect on insurance has been done to death over the years, I suspect that everybody now knows that lack of an MOT doesn’t affect the validity of insurance and I would hope that the supervisory bodies would take a dim view of extra conditions being imposed half way through a policy.

Obviously normal caveats about roadworthiness and value of vehicles apply but should only come into focus in the event of a future claim.

dacouch

They can and do request this following writting off a car and then being requested to cover the vehicle.

They can apply the conditions in these circumstances as The policy has fufilled its purpose.. in technical terms the contract has been discharged by performance.

The request for the MOT is to ensure the car is actually roadworthy.

As I stated in an earlier post some Insurers automatically restrict cover the third party only as soon as they write a vehicle off, if they require sight of a fresh mot they will not reinstate full cover before seeing this

vaio

Nope, I think you’re wrong on this one. Either the policy is written so it ends on total loss or it’s not. If it doesn’t end on total loss then the policy continues until the normal end of term so it’s not a request to cover the vehicle, they’ve already agreed to do that and can’t start varying the terms half way through..

As an example: My car gets daubed with paint stripper and written off, my ongoing fully comp policy pays out £6k for the car and sells me the salvage for £1k. If that car then gets stolen, catches fire or I drive it into a ditch before getting it repainted then I can’t see any justification for my company to refuse a claim and I suspect the supervisory bodies would take the same view.

Better still, suppose my car is actually a 6 month old Yaris or similar, will the MOT computer actually let you do a test on a 6 month old car?