Insuring a Cat D

[seatdriver]

Hi all,

Hoping someone can help with my insurance issue ...

I bought a 2003 Passat 1.9TDi Sport recently which was subject to an insurance claim last year. It was written off as a Cat D and needed a repair to a rear door and wing. The repair was done and as its a cat D there was no VIC check needed.

This all happened before I bought the car and it was fully repaired privately back then. I bought it repaired and MOTd, etc. But with no receipt for the work (didn't seem important at the time, given it was just a wing and door) and no VIC report as it hasn't needed one.

When I went to insure it I told my insurance about it being a Cat D. They said I would have to provide the following:
- Current MOT certificate copy
- VIC check report copy
- A copy of the receipt for the repairs

I said I didn't have the last two and had no way of getting hold of them. So they advised me to cancel my policy (I'm through Adrian Flux) and take out another one with another company (Highway) who they said only required a copy of my MOT.

I sent off the copy and today have recieed an email from Highway saying that they still require a Vic check report and a receipt for the repairs to the car, neither of which I have or can get.

My car doesn't show as a Cat D on the V5 but it does come up on the HPI history as being previously damaged. The car is just what I want and its in great condition, I knew about it being a Cat D when I bought it but didn't expect this problem.

It would seem I have an almost insurable car, but there are so many Cat D cars, they can't all have this problem.

So I'm after a bit of advice please, what I should do or any companies which don't require these impossible hoops to be jumped through in order to insure a perfectly roadworthy car.

Thanks.

Edited by seatdriver on Monday 16th June 20:46

[phPaddy]

Might be easier to get a VIC done, do you know who did the repairs? or can you do some digging and find out? sure they would have a copy of the receipt or reproduce one for you.

[eltax91]

Weird. I have my CAT C mx5 with flux and they didn't ask the question or mention it from their checks

[seatdriver]

Thanks for the replies.

I could get a VIC check but have no idea of who did the repairs, so that still leaves me short a piece of paper.

They didn't ask me if it was a Cat D and I don't think insurance companies HPI check a vehicle unless they are paying out for it. But I chose to do the honest thing and tell them it was a Cat D, which has now provided no end of trouble for me.

And for Adrian Flux to sell me a policy on the understanding that all they needed was an MOT, for them then to say they need the documents that I stated originally I didn't have, is not fair.

[rallycross]

Vic check is irrelevant it's only for cat C and has nothing to do with the standard of repair, it simply checks to see if it's the same car ( ie not a ringer / dodgy re-shell).

Most people driving cat D cars do not know they are cat D.
Most insurers do not ask or need to know if the car is a cat D - the only point it becomes relevant is if you have an accident that writes off your cat D car, the insurer will only pay out to the value of a cat D .

There is (usually) no question about whether or not the car is cat D when applying for insurance - shop around for another insurer.

The VIC check has nothing to do with a cat D.

I have had a couple of cat D cars it had no impact on insurance.

[jamesh764]

Swiftcover wouldn't insure our car once it was a Cat C, but Quotemehappy.com did.