Car written off as Cat S - I want to keep it; how does this work?

Edtough

Car was rear ended damaging tailgate and bumper. Liability admitted by third party, and so everything is being dealt by third party insurer. I was told this morning they have written my car off, and will deem it a Cat S.

I intend to buy the car off the third party insurer for salvage value, and replace the boot and bumper myself. What are the implications for it then being a Cat S please? Do I have to jump through a load of inspection and re-registering hoops? Or can I just fix and carry on driving the car as normal; I don't intend to sell it.

TooManyPoints

For Cat S I believe you must send the V5C to the insurers then apply to the DVLA for a new V5C. 

I would imagine (though I'm not sure) that the tax is cancelled as part of this process (as if you were transferring RK when you sell it) and you will have to re-tax it.

badmemory

Isn't there a stricter form of MOT it has to pass after a right off.

Nobbie1967

You need do nothing. Mine was written off Cat S a couple of years ago. Got the settlement, fixed it and kept driving it. Insurance renewed at around the same price, no problem getting quotes, you do not even need to declare the Cat S unless asked, as the insurers already know.  No need to send in V5, no need for an inspection. Might be an idea to get it MOT’d just to prove it was in a road legal state after the repair.  You are advised that if selling you must tell the buyer it is a Cat S as it will not be noted on the V5 until the next change of owner.

TooManyPoints

You need do nothing

Whatever you did a couple of years ago, that is incorrect.

After they have written it off as Cat S the vehicle becomes the property of the insurers. They must notify the DVLA of their write-off decision. The (now previous) owner must inform the DVLA of the transfer and he must send the V5C to the insurers. He can then negotiate to buy the vehicle back and if he does he must apply to the DVLA for a new V5C which, when issued, will show the vehicle as a Cat S write-off.

Nobbie1967

TooManyPoints said:

You need do nothing

Whatever you did a couple of years ago, that is incorrect.

After they have written it off as Cat S the vehicle becomes the property of the insurers. They must notify the DVLA of their write-off decision. The (now previous) owner must inform the DVLA of the transfer and he must send the V5C to the insurers. He can then negotiate to buy the vehicle back and if he does he must apply to the DVLA for a new V5C which, when issued, will show the vehicle as a Cat S write-off.

Nothing to my knowledge has changed in the last two years to affect this process unless you have proof otherwise? Writeoffs do not become the property of the insurance company unless they payout the full pre-accident value. Many are happy to leave the car with the owner and just payout the difference between pre-accident market value and salvage value. This appears to be the case here, in which case I stand by my ‘do nothing’ comment.

TooManyPoints

Just about anywhere you see the process explained gives the same details. Category "S" means written off with structural damage. I would say it is incumbent on the DVLA to provide that information to anybody who might buy the vehicle otherwise there is little point in differentiating between Cats "S" and "N".

Here's the .gov webpage:

Scrapping your vehicle and insurance write-offs: Insurance write-offs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

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.

You can keep the log book if you want to keep a category D or N vehicle.

Here's information from Aviva's website:

If you wish to keep your category S or N write-off, you should negotiate with your insurer so they sell the vehicle back to you for a mutually agreeable sum. If your vehicle is a category S write-off, you’ll need to send the logbook to the insurer and apply for a new one from the DVLA, at no cost. You won’t need to do this for a category N write-off.

Also, remember that it’s up to you to tell the DVLA that your car has been written off or scrapped – if you don’t, you could be fined £1,000

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Nobbie1967

TooManyPoints said:

Just about anywhere you see the process explained gives the same details. Category "S" means written off with structural damage. I would say it is incumbent on the DVLA to provide that information to anybody who might buy the vehicle otherwise there is little point in differentiating between Cats "S" and "N".

Here's the .gov webpage:

Scrapping your vehicle and insurance write-offs: Insurance write-offs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

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.

You can keep the log book if you want to keep a category D or N vehicle.

I imagine there is some legislation somewhere describing this.

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Thanks for that, that was exactly the same when mine was written off and is incomplete and misleading as many of those sites are. They are describing the scenarios where the insurance company removes the car and pays out the full value as is often the case with an at fault claim with comprehensive insurance. They then own the car and the process to buy the car back will be different.

The OP is in the position I was in. Third party insurer attempting to settle claim while the car is sat on their drive. They offer a settlement to cover your loss and do not take ownership of the vehicle. When they settled with me they said they would inform DVLA that the car was a Cat S, but that I would have to tell anyone that it was Cat S as the V5 would not show it. Because the DVLA were informed, the Cat S would show up in any car check and appear on the V5 next time the car changed hands.

Mildly_Miffed

badmemory said:

Isn't there a stricter form of MOT it has to pass after a right off.

No.

There used to be an ID check, to try to flag ringers, after a Cat C/S write-off, but that was binned a few years ago after it had found an absolutely ludicrously tiny percentage.

Cat S will not just be "tailgate and bumper". S is for structural. The insurer think the panels behind the bumper, the boot floor, etc are damaged.