Getting a Cat C back on the road!

[TONKA2]

I'm hoping someone in the know can give me a definitive answer on this one. Briefly my daughter crashed her K12 Micra, into another car unfortunately so insurance were involved. It needs a new bumper, wing and washer bottle but due to the age and value the insurance company has totalled it as a Cat C. They've paid out double what I paid for the car and given us it back FOC. New parts have cost me £100. So its a no brainer. Only thing is I can't seem to get a straight answer on what I need to do once I've repaired it. Insurance company have just said MOT it, and I know the VIC has been abolished. Oddly her insurance company have also said the policy is still in place but if the car isn't back on the road for 20/09/2017 the policy will be cancelled?

[nxi20]

There's nothing special about Cat C; all it indicates is that the insurance company thinks the cost of repair exceeds the market value of the vehicle. It in no way is condemning a car as unsafe to be returned to the road, that's what Cat A & B are for. Insurance companies don't even want to know if the car has a Cat C or D marker. Repair & carry on as before.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/know-how/what-d...

[Twig62]

Insurance companies don't even want to know if the car has a Cat C or D marker.



You sure about that ?

[MitchT]

nxi20 said:

Insurance companies don't even want to know if the car has a Cat C or D marker.

Is that really true? I've read in other discussions on here that it can be difficult getting a previously written-off car insured again. That said, I've never been asked, when buying insurance, if the car I was insuring had previously been written off. There doesn't seem to be an opportunity to declare this information so maybe you're right.

[TONKA2]

nxi20 said:

There's nothing special about Cat C; all it indicates is that the insurance company thinks the cost of repair exceeds the market value of the vehicle. It in no way is condemning a car as unsafe to be returned to the road, that's what Cat A & B are for. Insurance companies don't even want to know if the car has a Cat C or D marker. Repair & carry on as before.

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/know-how/what-d...

I fully understand how the categories work, that wasn't my question. I was double checking what I needed to do before I put it back on the road. Your advice of carry on as before is also incorrect as the insurance company have finally contacted me today. I have thirty days from the day it was declared a total loss to repair it, put a new MOT on it and supply them with a copy of the certificate. That's is apparently. They will do the rest. Happy days.

[anonymous-user]

I think the 30 days is because a car insurance policy cannot be active on a written off car after the claim is settled and therefore will be cancelled.

They have given you 30 days to sort this out by either getting the car fixed and road legal or transfering the policy to a replacement vehicle. The alternative is to 'cancel' the policy, I believe any remaining ncd if applicable can survive for 2 years.

[DuraAce]

The 30 day rule is only because you want to continue with an existing policy with your current insurer. If you were wanting to reinsure elsewhere then you can take as long as you like to repair and get it mot'd.

[strain]

When my fiesta was wrote off (2009) I bought it back, had it repaired, MOT'd and VIC'd within a month and carried on using it, never even applied for a log book as i had the old one.

It's literally just MOT and keep using now, when I sold my fiesta to my brother a few years ago it didn't even say 'substantially damaged' on the V5 like I have saw on others

[Aretnap]

Twig62 said:

Insurance companies don't even want to know if the car has a Cat C or D marker.

You sure about that ?

It depends on the insurer - the majority don't ask, but a few (eg eSure, from memory) do and/or mention it in their assumptions. So read the questions and assumptions carefully.

Apart from the fact that a few insurers might not offer cover, the main difference the marker makes is that if the car gets written off again, the payout would be reduced to reflect the fact that the market value of a Cat C car is lower than that of a similar car which has never been written off.