Buying back a written off car?

astonsmummy

Hi
My car was written off by my insurance company but they said i can keep the car too for nothing.
The damage was quite minimal but because of the age they wrote it off.
Anyway, i know i have to fix it and get a new MOT, but do i also have to get it checked over by anyone else?
Does anyone knw the process of it all, i'm all confuzzled

Conor_3

Not really. We never did with a car we had written off.

astonsmummy

Conor wrote: »

Not really. We never did with a car we had written off.

ermm thanks :rotfl:

pinkfluffybabe

This happened to someone in my work. They had to take it to a DVLA testing place in Glasgow to get it checkout out for roadworthyness (is that a word!). I would call your local DVLA office and check because you may have trouble taxing/insuring otherwise.

Also, I believe there may be little point in getting comprehensive insurance after this as your car is effectively worth £0 (not to you as obviously you need it to get around).

vaio

Depends on the category, yours is likely to be a C or D,

Cat C has to have a VIC identity check before you can bring it back on the road & use it.

Cat D doesn’t need this check, it just needs to comply with the normal motoring law

And, insure it like normal, it’s value will not be £0, only newish repaired cars have their value badly affected, a £500 fiesta written off for a damaged door then repaired with a scrapyard door is still a £500 fiesta

astonsmummy

vaio wrote: »

Depends on the category, yours is likely to be a C or D,

Cat C has to have a VIC identity check before you can bring it back on the road & use it.

Cat D doesn’t need this check, it just needs to comply with the normal motoring law

And, insure it like normal, it’s value will not be £0, only newish repaired cars have their value badly affected, a £500 fiesta written off for a damaged door then repaired with a scrapyard door is still a £500 fiesta

Thanks, i'm not going to change the insurance, i'll just leave it as it is, it only costs me £32 a month.
Oh i hope it's a cat D, i neeed to get the car back on the road asap, how would i know?
i know i should just phone the insurers but i keep phoing and asking loads of different questions

vaio

The insurance company will be able to tell you the category.

I’m not sure that a written off car needs a “new” MOT if it still has a current one. Obviously it must comply with the law but think about the fiesta in my previous post. It gets written off for a dented door but, provided there are no sharp edges etc and it opens etc there is actually no need to repair it at all, just keep using it.

astonsmummy

Thanks guys, i finally got through to the insurance company, it's a cat D write off, so no inspection needed, it only needs a new headlight and indicator light to be drivable.
I do however have to MOT it again :rolleyes: but the MOT runs out in november so i'd have to do it eventually.

scheming_gypsy

take it for the MOT first without doing the lights and see if it'll pass with them. No point paying out if it needs a shed load spending on it, you can take it back for a reduced fee MOT or replace the light there and it should be free.

astonsmummy

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

take it for the MOT first without doing the lights and see if it'll pass with them. No point paying out if it needs a shed load spending on it, you can take it back for a reduced fee MOT or replace the light there and it should be free.

the lights will need doing as it is smashed.

scheming_gypsy

aye but if it's going to cost a packet to pass it's MOT would you pay it if you could get a run around for less money?
if it only fails on the lights then replace them but it might not be worth spending the money on the lights just for it to fail its MOT.