Insuring Cat N Cars

sandyman68

Hi there
When doing a search to insure a Cat N car using the usual comparison sites, do they know that it has been written off? If not, is it then your responsibility to tell them before you take out the insurance with one of the companies from the results of the search? Thanks 

Kattekwaad

The insurance companies have all the information they need, if they don't ask you don't need to tell them (and a Cat N is not immediately noticeable whereas a Cat S is noted on the V5c)

sandyman68

Thanks, so a Cat N would not show up on the V5 then? So where is it recorded?

Kattekwaad

HPI checks and on the insurance database.

Aretnap

You only have to tell an insurance company about things they ask about - either by asking a direct question, or by giving you a list of assumptions and asking you to tick a box to confirm that they are correct. So if they don't mention write-offs in the questions or the assumptions, you are under no obligation to tell them.

The same is true by the way of modifications, convictions or anything else that you might think relevant to your insurance policy. As a consumer you are not expected to second guess what an insurer might or might want to know about - if the insurance company want to know something it's down to them to ask.

From memory there are one or two insurers who do refer to a car's write off status in their assumptions but the vast majority do not. Either they don't care, or they take the information from their database automatically at the time they give you a quote. You will not generally have any difficulty insuring a Cat N car.

sandyman68

Thanks very much for the info. So, with the comparisons websites, which I've used many times, there's no mention of having to declare whether the vehicle is a write-off. There's the usual stuff about convictions etc.yes. So when one decides to go with (usually the cheapest) a company they click through and take out insurance with them online. At what point does the insurance company realise that they've just insured a write-off? I ask because presumably there are no more checks beyond what info the comparison websites have provided. Or would the companies get in touch soon afterwards when they've had time to conduct a proper check of a vehicle they've just insured?

Car_54

sandyman68 said:

At what point does the insurance company realise that they've just insured a write-off? I ask because presumably there are no more checks beyond what info the comparison websites have provided. Or would the companies get in touch soon afterwards when they've had time to conduct a proper check of a vehicle they've just insured?

This may be a dumb answer, but bear with me.

Let's say the car would be worth £10,000 without the Cat N, and the insurers accept it on that basis.

They later discover it's a Cat N, so maybe worth £8,000. So the amount they'd have to pay if it's written off is much less. Happy days!