Can I drive

Herzlos

It sounds like the car is still roadworthy, since the damage is minor. You can always get a local garage to give it a quick inspection for some peace of mind.

Given the age/value of the car, you may want to choose to keep the car and take a payment in lieu of having them repair or write it off, and then you can decide whether to repair or just leave it as is.

ThePoorAngel

Update:

Copart contacted me and said it's a Cat-S, which I find it unfair as the wheel is just scratched. But they said any touch to the wheel is Cat-S. I think I could not contest that.

offered some relatively low price, but they said if I want to negotiate then I need to find a model with exactly the same age, mileage, #doors, engine, etc. etc., which I could not find any, so I had to accept the price.

Then they offered 26% buy-back, which again, is too high. But then still worth it.

I know that once the Car is a Cat-S, it needs a repair and an MOT. I did some research and it seems that the car needs to undergo a lengthy process (send V5C to the insurer, do another MOT, blah blah).  

But I wonder if I can drive it now? (e.g. can I drive home now that I am at work? or in the next few days while the insurance does the paperwork?) 

I've just had a call with Copart. I can confirm the offer with them today. However, when will the Cat-S be label officially assigned to the car? I assume it takes days for the label to be assigned and for the insurance to finalise the deal and pay me the money (value minus salvage).

Should I necessarily leave the car in the street until all the process is done?

I spoke to my mechanic and he believed nobody does the V5C stuff and it only needs an MOT. He said nobody does the V5C stuff, so I'm now totally confused. 

ThePoorAngel

Also, I wonder if the MOT can be done BEFORE I tell DVLA about Cat-S?

Car_54

ThePoorAngel said:

Also, I wonder if the MOT can be done BEFORE I tell DVLA about Cat-S?

You can have an MOT any time.

But doesn't the insurer advise the DVLA of the write-off?

sheramber

https://www.gov.uk/scrapped-and-written-off-vehicles/insurance-writeoffs

You can be fined £1,000 if you do not tell DVLA.

Keeping the vehicle

If you want to keep a vehicle in category C, D, N or S, the insurance company will give you an insurance payout and sell the vehicle back to you.

To keep a category C or S vehicle, you also need to:

• send the complete log book to your insurance company
• apply for a free duplicate log book using form V62

DVLA will record the vehicle’s category in the log book.

Ectophile

Car_54 said:

Ectophile said:

As a driver, it's your responsibility to ensure that the car you're driving is roadworthy.  Not anybody else's decision.  So if you're happy that the damage is cosmetic, and the car is roadworthy, then you can drive it.

Whether the car is roadworthy is ultimately a question for a court , not the driver’s opinion.

True, but I'm not going to go to a court before getting into my car to drive to work every morning.

sevenhills

ThePoorAngel said:

Also, I wonder if the MOT can be done BEFORE I tell DVLA about Cat-S?

You also need to tell your insurance company that your vehicle is cat/s, it may cost £100 more

Car_54

sevenhills said:

ThePoorAngel said:

Also, I wonder if the MOT can be done BEFORE I tell DVLA about Cat-S?

You also need to tell your insurance company that your vehicle is cat/s, it may cost £100 more

Or possibly less ….

Aretnap

sevenhills said:

ThePoorAngel said:

Also, I wonder if the MOT can be done BEFORE I tell DVLA about Cat-S?

You also need to tell your insurance company that your vehicle is cat/s, it may cost £100 more

You don't need to tell an insurer that it's a Cat S unless they ask. Few if any insurance companies ask. (They might of course check themselves when you give them the registration number).

ThePoorAngel

sheramber said:

You can be fined £1,000 if you do not tell DVLA.

Keeping the vehicle

If you want to keep a vehicle in category C, D, N or S, the insurance company will give you an insurance payout and sell the vehicle back to you.

To keep a category C or S vehicle, you also need to:

• send the complete log book to your insurance company
• apply for a free duplicate log book using form V62

DVLA will record the vehicle’s category in the log book.

That is exactly my confusion.

I settled with the insurance company today, and kept my Cat-S car. Got the payment on the spo t. Also, fixed it today, and I will do the MOT first thing tomorrow. Pretty fast, as I really need to use the car.

However, what about the DVLA forms? I need to send the V5C to my insurance and send V62 to DVLA. I can "send" both forms tomorrow, but it takes time for both insurance and DVLA to process it and send me back the new V5C. can I drive my car after merely "submitting" the forms via post, or shall I necessarily wait for their response?

Also, is there a chance that once DVLA invalidates my MOT? (e.g., I do the MOT tomorrow, DVLA receives the paperworks and registers my car as Cat-S, and thus invalidate my MOT that I have just done.) Is that a possibility?