Some say you can remove HPI classifications (cat C/D etc)

[Dracoro]

cdrx said:

If the car is roadworthy (plenty of older cars are cat-c from being keyed, for example) you can just drive it away. Existing tax and MOT are valid.

In which case, why was it not a cat-d? Must be a lot of keying (unless a car worth very little).

cdrx said:

If the car isn't roadworthy, you need to repair it so it is. Then you can drive it as before. Existing tax and MOT still valid.

Who says whether a car is roadworthy or not?

[AndrewW-G]

Dracoro said:

Who says whether a car is roadworthy or not?

VOSA

[paoloh]

kambites said:

Oh OK. When a friend of mine had his prelude written off (cat-C) a few months ago, he was told that he couldn't drive it on the road until something or other had been done - I thought it was the VIC check.

It was a VIC check.

[Dracoro]

AndrewW-G said:

Dracoro said:

Who says whether a car is roadworthy or not?

VOSA

In other words you cannot drive a cat-c away without the vosa (I assume VIC) check being made. The post I was repyling to appeared to imply that if it was just keyed (or suchlike), you can just drive it away as long as it has mot/tax........

[paoloh]

AndrewW-G said:

Dracoro said:

Who says whether a car is roadworthy or not?

VOSA

But there are no checks on written off cars.

Apart from an MOT for Cat C's.

[Dracoro]

paoloh said:

AndrewW-G said:

Dracoro said:

Who says whether a car is roadworthy or not?

VOSA

But there are no checks on written off cars.

Apart from an MOT for Cat C's.

And a VIC check: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSell...

[cdrx]

Dracoro said:

cdrx said:

If the car is roadworthy (plenty of older cars are cat-c from being keyed, for example) you can just drive it away. Existing tax and MOT are valid.

In which case, why was it not a cat-d? Must be a lot of keying (unless a car worth very little).

If your car was worth £3k and somebody keyed every panel, its very likely the insurance company will write it off as cat-c. Repair is going to be a total respray, which will cost more than the value of the car, therefore its a total loss.

If the insurance company has other costs to consider (like they are paying for you to drive a rental car), and all of the costs are above the value of the car, then its a cat-d. Cat c / d don't really mean anything about the damage itself, just about the cost of repairs against the value of the car.

Dracoro said:

cdrx said:

If the car isn't roadworthy, you need to repair it so it is. Then you can drive it as before. Existing tax and MOT still valid.

Who says whether a car is roadworthy or not?

As said, VOSA.

Dracoro said:

In other words you cannot drive a cat-c away without the vosa (I assume VIC) check being made. The post I was repyling to appeared to imply that if it was just keyed (or suchlike), you can just drive it away as long as it has mot/tax........

You can. All the VOSA VIC check is, is to make sure the car isn't stolen or a ringer. Nothing to do with if the car is roadworthy. The VIC check is needed if the car is a total loss, but only to tax it. If you have 11 months tax you can drive it for 11 months before you need to get it done.

ETA: fix quoting

Edited by cdrx on Monday 15th February 10:03

[Orb the Impaler]

I've had a Cat "Inspected" car - the car was stolen to order and recovered some months later - obviously it was then a cat D.

It had to have an Autolign inspection to change the cat D. They are very thorough, even checking stuff like the undertrays have the correct number of clips and stuff - from what the chap there told me on the phone the cars have to be pretty well perfect. My report stated "no accident damage"; I didn't sell the car very expensively so I don't know if it made any difference to the sale price.

The thing with older cat D stuff is that it can be meaningless - there will be plenty of stuff out there which has been far worse damaged, or stolen and recovered before a payout has been made so won't show on any HPI check.

[cdrx]

paoloh said:

Apart from an MOT for Cat C's.

If you have an MOT, you don't need a fresh one if your car is written off as a cat-c (though some insurance companies will ask for it).

[paoloh]

Dracoro said:

paoloh said:

AndrewW-G said:

Dracoro said:

Who says whether a car is roadworthy or not?

VOSA

But there are no checks on written off cars.

Apart from an MOT for Cat C's.

And a VIC check: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSell...

Checking a vehicle’s identity
The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) carries out the VIC. It’s designed to confirm the car’s identity and help ensure that the genuine car is returned to the road.

The VIC takes around 20 minutes to complete and involves comparing the details on the DVLA vehicle record against the car presented. The VIC is a check of identity, it doesn’t look at the quality of the repair or confirm roadworthiness. If you have any concerns regarding these aspects, you should seek the opinion of an independent expert.

[Russ35]

My TVR was a CAT-C. The guy I bought it off had bought the car and repaired it. It then had an Autolign inspection back in (2001). Just checking the HPI (hpicheck.com) from when I bought it back in 2005, it doesn't mention CAT C on it, but it does say

.....
Stolen Vehicles - Not Recorded
Theft Vehicles - Not Recorded
Condition alert - Not Recorded
Condition Inspected - 1 Recorded
Plate Transfer - Not Recorded
Security Alert - Not Recorded
......

Then on the 2nd page of the 'Certificate of Confirmation' it has

Condition Inspected - This vehicle has passed a Vehicle Inspection with : Autolign Doncaster

[kambites]

So would anyone actually pay more for a car with "inspected" on the record than with "cat-D" or "cat-C"? I certainly wouldn't.

[paoloh]

kambites said:

So would anyone actually pay more for a car with "inspected" on the record than with "cat-D" or "cat-C"? I certainly wouldn't.

Yes

[Atheer313]

Yes you can remove both categories C and D, i used this company, removecategory.co.uk and they done the job well, the only problem is the price, it would only be worth it if you have a car worth £7500 and above.

[Meep Meep]

https://www.autolign.co.uk/
Inspection company website here