Should I keep my no-fault write off (category S) car?

vaderag

I wonder if I can get some advice....
We were in an accident the other week, which was not our fault. Another car drove into the side of ours. The damage did not seem extensive (we've used the car since), but we've just heard that the insurance assessors have deemed it not worth paying to repair (Category S)

We've been offered a (slightly low, but mostly reasonable) sum for the car, but the reality is that this sum wouldn't allow us to buy a replacement even in the same condition based on what is on what we can see on the market right now

Alternatively they have said if we kept it we would get roughly £1000 less in money, but we figure we could use the remainder to fix it up (in the process of getting some independent quotes on that)

Given we've driven the car and it seems okay, we were leaning towards keeping it, but I'm not fully clear of the implications of doing so, even having read Can you keep your car if it's been written off? | Finder UK
E.g. if we get it fully fixed up, will my insurance go up? Am I going to struggle with MOTs etc, overall am setting myself up for worried down the line... 

I wonder if anyone has any real life experience / advice of this that could feedback?

It's extremely frustrating that through no fault of my own I am one way or another going to be out of pocket as even if I bought like-for-like I would have to pay more

DullGreyGuy

vaderag said:

I wonder if I can get some advice....
We were in an accident the other week, which was not our fault. Another car drove into the side of ours. The damage did not seem extensive (we've used the car since), but we've just heard that the insurance assessors have deemed it not worth paying to repair (Category S)

We've been offered a (slightly low, but mostly reasonable) sum for the car, but the reality is that this sum wouldn't allow us to buy a replacement even in the same condition based on what is on what we can see on the market right now

Alternatively they have said if we kept it we would get roughly £1000 less in money, but we figure we could use the remainder to fix it up (in the process of getting some independent quotes on that)

Given we've driven the car and it seems okay, we were leaning towards keeping it, but I'm not fully clear of the implications of doing so, even having read Can you keep your car if it's been written off? | Finder UK
E.g. if we get it fully fixed up, will my insurance go up? Am I going to struggle with MOTs etc, overall am setting myself up for worried down the line... 

I wonder if anyone has any real life experience / advice of this that could feedback?

It's extremely frustrating that through no fault of my own I am one way or another going to be out of pocket as even if I bought like-for-like I would have to pay more

There are tons of cat N, S, D and C vehicles on the road, some may not even know theirs had been a cat N or D as the V5c isn't updated for those. 

The incident will have whatever impact the incident will have on your premiums and that won't be impacted by your decision on if to keep or surrender the vehicle. If anything technically the insurance would go down because the vehicle is worth less now as a previous cat S write off. 

If you think their offer is low then register a complaint, assuming your claiming directly from your own insurers, in principle you should be able to buy the identical car just having to pay the extra of the excess (and any warranties of stuff they manage to cross sell to you)

Mildly_Miffed

Cat S is structural damage. Not parts that just bolt on and off, but things on the bodyshell that need welding.

That might be cosmetically minor damage to something like a rear wing or outer sill, which requires the panel to be replaced to fix properly (but can be repaired almost as well by pulling and filling), or it may be hidden damage underneath to the floor.

Some insurers will refuse to cover previous write-offs.
Any future insurance pay-outs will pay you substantially less on the basis the car was worth less before than if it hadn't got that history.
Selling it may prove trickier.

But, apart from that, no - there's no issue at all. Your existing MOT is still valid. You don't need any other kind of check. The V5C will include a note that the car has been previously damaged, and any HPI-type check will flag it.

badmemory

Vehicles have become so expensive to repair at one of the places that the insurance companies send them to that they are writing off more & more.

vaderag

DullGreyGuy said:

If you think their offer is low then register a complaint, assuming your claiming directly from your own insurers, in principle you should be able to buy the identical car just having to pay the extra of the excess (and any warranties of stuff they manage to cross sell to you)

It's not via my insurers are i'm not at fault, the other vehicle is and it all needs approval from them

Mildly_Miffed said:

But, apart from that, no - there's no issue at all. Your existing MOT is still valid. You don't need any other kind of check. The V5C will include a note that the car has been previously damaged, and any HPI-type check will flag it.

I'm honestly not too bothered about selling it - I was going to run it until it died anyway... expected another 3-5 years as I only do 2000miles a year

What I am worried about is if it will affect next year's MOT or anything like that

Also it seems it need to be "off the road" once the S is agreed and closed, and per the above article it needs i need to re-register it etc - I presume that comes at cost and effort - not just a case of saying "I'm getting it repaired" 

DullGreyGuy

vaderag said:

DullGreyGuy said:

If you think their offer is low then register a complaint, assuming your claiming directly from your own insurers, in principle you should be able to buy the identical car just having to pay the extra of the excess (and any warranties of stuff they manage to cross sell to you)

It's not via my insurers are i'm not at fault, the other vehicle is and it all needs approval from them

Most non-fault people claim from their own insurance still, their insurers then counterclaim from the third party insurer.

So are you claiming directly from the third party insurer or are you using an accident management company?

Assuming the later, did you see the engineers report they commissioned for you before it was set to the third party insurer? Is the third party insurer paying what the engineer valued it at or less?

If the engineer you instructed via the AMC valued it at £10k and the third party insurer is paying £10k you'd then look a bit silly saying you think £10k was too little. If the engineer valued it at £10 and they are paying £8k then there are grounds for an argument

Arunmor

I have bought and run salvage fore years.  What is the offer/value of the car pre accident?  In the meantime get some rough quotes for the cost of repair using second hand parts.  Then you can work out the arithmetic.  You will probably end up with the car fixed and 50% in bank (give or take).  

Mildly_Miffed

vaderag said:

What I am worried about is if it will affect next year's MOT or anything like that

Also it seems it need to be "off the road" once the S is agreed and closed, and per the above article it needs i need to re-register it etc - I presume that comes at cost and effort - not just a case of saying "I'm getting it repaired" 

No MOT woes, so long as any unrepaired damage wouldn't itself fail - sharp edges.

No re-registration needed. There used to be an identity check for Cat C between 2003 and 2016, but that was discontinued. Cat S replaced Cat C in 2017.

Nobbie1967

I had similar with my 107 a couple of years ago with a frontal impact. Car was assessed a Cat S by the third party insurer who paid me out and I kept the car. No issue with insurance or MOT. When I stripped it down it was only the front crash bar that was bent. A new one bolted straight on. One thing odd did happen in that I didn’t receive a tax reminder and went a couple of months without tax until I realised. I taxed it and never heard anything about the missing two months. I think maybe the Cat S marker might have stopped the reminder going out, or it could just have been a coincidence.