Insuring a Cat C write off car

b091397

I have recently found out that my car has been in the past a Cat C write off. can anyone give me any advice if I was meant to inform my insurer of this when I insured the car or if they would already know. i didn't know when i got/insured it and i don't want to be told I'm uninsured or something if i ever had an accident because i didn't form them of something i didn't know.

and also is there any way of finding out what damaged was sustained in whatever accident it was in before i owned it. the car always has problems and i don't trust it and to find out it has previously written off makes me very wary of driving it.

AdrianC

Your insurer can find out, but you should make them aware of it. After all, if they don't need to know, then the premium won't change. If they do change your premium, then they needed to know.

If you HPI it, you can find out when it was written off. But more than that? Not easily.

If the repairs aren't apparent, then they've probably been done well. The decision to write a car off rather than repair it is purely a financial one - if the insurer choose to repair it, then there's no record.

If you're that wary of it, sell it.

BeenThroughItAll

IF the insurer asked if the vehicle had been previously written off, and you lied, then it'd be a problem.


IF the insurer didn't ask and you didn't tell them, it won't be a problem.


The insurer is supposed to explicitly ask any questions the answers to which they consider material to deciding to quote or provide cover.

Stoke

I really wouldn't worry about the repairs. A close friend of mine had his Polo written off cat C for a damaged rear bumper. The difference between Cat C and D is purely economical. I think if the damage bill is less than 50% of the cars value, but uneconomical to repair, it's a Cat D, if it's more than 50% of the cars market value, then it's Cat C. In his case, it was a 55 reg Polo in-which had suffered a rear shunt. These kind of accidents rack up surprisingly big quotes, new bumper, sprayed etc, new rear lights etc etc. He actually bought back the salvage for £50!! proceeded to find a second hand colour matched bumper for less than £100 and found rear light clusters at a scrapyard. The whole thing came in at about £200 to repair, with just some small creases on the rear boot.

For his trouble, the insurer gave him a nice little payout for the cars write off value.

Back on topic, I believe Cat B is when it begins to depend on whether the car can be safely repaired. Cat A usually means there is nothing that can be safely salvaged.

BeenThroughItAll

Stoke wrote: »

I really wouldn't worry about the repairs. A close friend of mine had his Polo written off cat C for a damaged rear bumper. The difference between Cat C and D is purely economical. I think if the damage bill is less than 50% of the cars value, but uneconomical to repair, it's a Cat D, if it's more than 50% of the cars market value, then it's Cat C. In his case, it was a 55 reg Polo in-which had suffered a rear shunt. These kind of accidents rack up surprisingly big quotes, new bumper, sprayed etc, new rear lights etc etc. He actually bought back the salvage for £50!! proceeded to find a second hand colour matched bumper for less than £100 and found rear light clusters at a scrapyard. The whole thing came in at about £200 to repair, with just some small creases on the rear boot.

For his trouble, the insurer gave him a nice little payout for the cars write off value.

Back on topic, I believe Cat B is when it begins to depend on whether the car can be safely repaired. Cat A usually means there is nothing that can be safely salvaged.

A Cat B car can only be broken for parts, it's not allowed to be repaired and put back on the road. Bodyshell must be crushed but other parts may be salvaged.


Cat A must be totally destroyed. No parts may be reused.

Stoke

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

A Cat B car can only be broken for parts, it's not allowed to be repaired and put back on the road. Bodyshell must be crushed but other parts may be salvaged.


Cat A must be totally destroyed. No parts may be reused.

Yes, sorry, my original point didn't clarify. Cat B cars don't return to the road. However they're written off not because of their value, but because of significant body damage etc.