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category C, D, insurance,

graystoke4

graystoke4

pfm Member
has anybody here bought a car with category C or D damage, write off, how easy is it to get insured and i hear you need a VIC certificate and do you get this from the people who fixed it, or do you have to get one yourself,,or is it just a huge problem waiting to trip you up,
 
Have both bought previously Cat C/D vehicles, and returned one of my vehicles to the road when Enid's insurance company decided to write it off after she didn't look where she was going and drove into the back of me.

All the ones I have bought the seller had already had the VIC done and had the certificate, but they were all bought from a reputable mechanic who had already put them right. I don't think there is a hard and fast rule, if the car has been repaired I would kind of expect it, and if the insurance company had destroyed the v5 I would expect the seller to get a new v5 which I believe would require them to get the VIC done...so unless I was buying the vehicle still written off to repair myself and they had sufficient other documentation to prove ownership I can't see myself buying a previously 'written off' car without one.

Never had any issue with insurance whatsoever, safety/reliability wise I would certainly want to understand the circumstances under which it was written off and what had been done to put it right and by whom - but not significantly different from usual due dilligence with a used vehicle!
 
Cat D is neither here nor there, it is reserved for cars that have no structural damage but are beyond economic repair. I can render my old car Cat D by keying the side. Or I could if anyone would notice one extra scratch. I don't think that you need a VIC to put it back on the road, after all it has had no structural damage.

Cat C *does* need a VIC, but once obtained you can re-register the vehicle and you are in business, you don't need another. You do have to declare a Cat C as such every time you sell it, which will depress the value and make it harder to sell. I'd therefore suggest that you factor this in when buying. If you plan to keep it for a long time then this isn't a problem as it will be worthless by then in any case.

The only other caution I would advise is to check the quality of the repair. Many years ago I had a Fiesta that I damaged, the insurers had a new front end put on and they didn't bother with any real rustproofing. I had to spend the next 3 or 4 years patching up the paintwork on the front, when I tried to claim on the paint warranty they refused it because it had been repaired outside the Ford network. Many insurance repairs are not completed to the same standard as the original maufacture.
 
Personally I'd stay away from Cat C cars. Seen too many issues with them being repaired, but not to a standard I'd insist on and then seeing them become worthless day by day...

Cat D cars I've owned a few. Some great cars to be had out there on this basis, just have to realise that insurance will only cover them for a low price, so best to work that out in the first instance before you buy the car.
 
I bought a Cat D no issues at all, it was a cat D as it had two cracked bumpers, bloke bodged them and painted them
 
winchman said:
I bought a Cat D no issues at all, it was a cat D as it had two cracked bumpers, bloke bodged them and painted them
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and so undermine the ability of the bumper to absorb energy in the event of further collisions (at best with another vehicle, and at worst risking a worse injury to a pedestrian than you might normally expect)
 
gintonic said:
and so undermine the ability of the bumper to absorb energy in the event of further collisions (at best with another vehicle, and at worst risking a worse injury to a pedestrian than you might normally expect)
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That all depends on the area damaged and how the repair is done.
It was a 1991 4x4 with two scuffs in the plastic. I believe its now common practice to repair bumpers etc due to the cost of new ones. from memory the bumper was just a plastic cover so would offer little in the way of protection it wasn't like a modern one with foam panels to absorb energy
 
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