I've been looking into Cat D write off insurance as I currently have one sitting on my drive which is currently uninsured and SORN'd.

There are varying debates on whether you declare it to your insurance company, the implications and costs of a Cat D insurance policy. Some people say that the comparison sites don't ask you, so you don't give it up. If you do that and you have an accident and they find out, they will no doubt not pay up.

Others have said they have got quotes, when phoning to confirm and they mention it, they have been refused insurance. Someone mentioned that LV and Admiral insure Cat Ds. As I took out a home insurance policy yesterday with Admiral I thought I'de call them and ask.

The answer was: "As long as the car has a valid MoT that was done after the repair work was done then it makes no difference whatsoever, it doesn't even warrant a note on the file, it doesn't make any difference to the premium".

The only problem I can foresee is a reduced amount of companies that will cover you.

Others say, and I tend to agree, if they don't ask you, you can't tell them. If an insurer doesn't ask specific questions, i.e. was your car a write off, then you are not obliged to tell them. This is basic consumer law.

I for one, will go through the normal comparison sites and then start phoning, if they say no, they say no.

Hope this is of some interest to those thinking about buying a Cat D.

typecastboy said:

I've been looking into Cat D write off insurance as I currently have one sitting on my drive which is currently uninsured and SORN'd.

There are varying debates on whether you declare it to your insurance company, the implications and costs of a Cat D insurance policy. Some people say that the comparison sites don't ask you, so you don't give it up. If you do that and you have an accident and they find out, they will no doubt not pay up.

Others have said they have got quotes, when phoning to confirm and they mention it, they have been refused insurance. Someone mentioned that LV and Admiral insure Cat Ds. As I took out a home insurance policy yesterday with Admiral I thought I'de call them and ask.

The answer was: "As long as the car has a valid MoT that was done after the repair work was done then it makes no difference whatsoever, it doesn't even warrant a note on the file, it doesn't make any difference to the premium".

The only problem I can foresee is a reduced amount of companies that will cover you.

Others say, and I tend to agree, if they don't ask you, you can't tell them. If an insurer doesn't ask specific questions, i.e. was your car a write off, then you are not obliged to tell them. This is basic consumer law.

I for one, will go through the normal comparison sites and then start phoning, if they say no, they say no.

Hope this is of some interest to those thinking about buying a Cat D.

Click to expand...

i believe if the car is MOT'd after repair work it is considered roadworthy so the insurance comapnies cannot not cover you. if i have a road legal car i most certainly dont have to declare its history. what happens if someone buys a repaired car that was cat d but is now road worthy and did not check it. they would know no better so obviously they wouldnt tell insurance its a cat d because they did not know it was in the first place!

if i repaired a cat d and made it roadworthy and passed its mot meaning its legal for the road, i would not say anything.

Well done so far, T/Boy, you've worked hard at your resto and have been kind enough to share with us your progress. Look forward to seeing the end product!

As far as insurance goes, unless things have changed drastically since my days at an insurance company, there is something called, I believe, utmost good faith. It means that, even if not directly asked, you should declare any info that might be relevant.

That is where these online sites mislead people - they think that simply by responding to asked questions, they have done enough. Come, heaven forbid, claim time and they find the insurance co. wriggle out of payment due to undeclared info. You, to your credit, have already acknowledged this.

Hope this helps you in your final decision! Good luck.

Will you give us an overall cost breakdown? I'd be intrigued to see where it comes out (obviously excluding your time costs).

I believe a CAT D/C would be permanently recorded on the V5?
If this is the case, the insurance company could refer you to this point and create a wriggle out?

Common sense indicates that you do not withhold any information that MIGHT materially affect the outcome. This also happens to be the law, and wherever an insurance company can find wiggle room to enable it to reduce its risk exposure - by refusing to pay out - it will undoubtedly do so.
Your approach is admirable, in that you are declaring your car's known history at the point of getting a quote. As you rightly say, if they say NO then they say NO. You will end up with insurance that will - as far as Cat D is concerned - give you peace of mind.

I didn't ask about if you didn't know and it comes to light after a claim, but from some of the reports I've read, people have been stitched up by the insurance company who have refused to pay out. They can look up on a database that would show it as a Cat D. Why they don't do this at the time of quoting I don't know. Presumably there is a cost implication. When the police do a PNC check of your vehicle at the road side, when they check whether you have insurance, the Police get billed for this check.

It is a bit of a grey area, but for peace of mind, I would disclose it to the insurance company and will do with mine before I sell it on. I would not be happy driving a car which potentially could not be covered in the event of an accident. And if another vehicle was involved, then you could be sued by the other party.

Interestingly, when selling a car a trader has to declare it, but a private seller does not unless you are specifically asked. I would always declare it to the buyer and advertise it as so. Do unto others etc.

The log book does not show that the car was written off. The car is now registered in my name and no mention of Cat D is on it. I believe that possibly Cat C is mentioned.

I will do a break down once my car is finished and take some photographs too, and show you the before shots.

At present, the bumper is waiting to be picked up by the supplier as it was painted in the wrong colour. He's going to repaint and return it. Then it just needs an MoT, valeting and a crease taken out of the boot lid as well as the bonnet re-aligned. Then it's all done.

This was an experiment really to see if I could make some money on it. I bought the car for £3,300 + £85 delivery. I have so far spent about £500 on it, with hopefully no more than a couple of hundred left to spend, so I'll just be tipping the £4k mark. It's a 61 plate Lounge with only 20,500 miles on it.

Can't wait to start driving it!!!

On proposal forms don't they ask has the car been a total loss,so if cat D then it has.

auditt said:

On proposal forms don't they ask has the car been a total loss,so if cat D then it has.

Click to expand...

Not on any comparison sites they don't. I went direct to Direct Line too, and they didn't ask.

I think it's good practice to tell them, as they quite likely wouldn't pay out if you claimed.

typecastboy said:

Not on any comparison sites they don't. I went direct to Direct Line too, and they didn't ask.

I think it's good practice to tell them, as they quite likely wouldn't pay out if you claimed.

Click to expand...

if they dont ask and the car is roadworthy they cannot deny you. they will try their best to not pay but you can sue them and win. the law is on your side

ahmett said:

if they dont ask and the car is roadworthy they cannot deny you. they will try their best to not pay but you can sue them and win. the law is on your side

Click to expand...

I'm not sure I would want to take the chance TBH

ahmett said:

if they dont ask and the car is roadworthy they cannot deny you. they will try their best to not pay but you can sue them and win. the law is on your side

Click to expand...

Nice to think so, but regrettably not in practice.
Insurers are not risk-takers - although that sounds contradictory.
They are in business for profit in the same way as any other legitimate business, so wherever they see a possibility of minimising their exposure they will take it.
Often in the small print you will find a sentence to the effect that if you have not disclosed (for 'disclosed' read 'volunteered') any fact that might have a bearing on the cover you have purchased, they have the right to cut their losses.
Have you heard of anyone who has successfully sued an insurer because they're grieved when payout has been refused because of non-disclosure?

Sweetsixteen said:

Nice to think so, but regrettably not in practice.
Insurers are not risk-takers - although that sounds contradictory.
They are in business for profit in the same way as any other legitimate business, so wherever they see a possibility of minimising their exposure they will take it.
Often in the small print you will find a sentence to the effect that if you have not disclosed (for 'disclosed' read 'volunteered') any fact that might have a bearing on the cover you have purchased, they have the right to cut their losses.
Have you heard of anyone who has successfully sued an insurer because they're grieved when payout has been refused because of non-disclosure?

Click to expand...

Good point, but do you think that a road worthy car with an MoT, just because it has been previously damaged has a bearing?

I still wouldn't take the chance though!!

Reckon you've just answered your own question!

One thing you may need to be aware of is that you should declare it, and the insurance company may ask 'how it was repaired' or even proof of the repairs such as an invoice, some insurance companies might not cover you're diy job, essentially they are insuring the car to be repaired back to the condition it left the factory. Your car obviously isn't in this condition, it may effect any future claims because the first thing that may get reported by a repair company following another accident is that the car handnt need previously repaired properly.

I would when declaring it use the words 'had previously been a category D' and hope they don't ask anything else, if they do you will have to be honest

AndyRKett said:

One thing you may need to be aware of is that you should declare it, and the insurance company may ask 'how it was repaired' or even proof of the repairs such as an invoice, some insurance companies might not cover you're diy job, essentially they are insuring the car to be repaired back to the condition it left the factory. Your car obviously isn't in this condition, it may effect any future claims because the first thing that may get reported by a repair company following another accident is that the car handnt need previously repaired properly.

I would when declaring it use the words 'had previously been a category D' and hope they don't ask anything else, if they do you will have to be honest

Click to expand...

As I have researched this before my original post it seems that companies don't routinely ask the question and according to Admiral, it is of no consequence to them whatsoever. As long as it has an MoT that was done after the work was completed, then the car is road legal, safe and of no significance that it was once written off. (Their words, not mine)

The insurance company are more concerned with pay out, a CAT D will be worth less than a non recorded car. So if you need a pay out then it will be adjusted for that.

I don't believe that they are worried about whether it is road worthy as that is part of the standard terms of the insurance, something along the lines "you must maintain your car in a roadworthy condition ......"

poggy said:

The insurance company are more concerned with pay out, a CAT D will be worth less than a non recorded car. So if you need a pay out then it will be adjusted for that.

I don't believe that they are worried about whether it is road worthy as that is part of the standard terms of the insurance, something along the lines "you must maintain your car in a roadworthy condition ......"

Click to expand...

Yes, the value would be taken into consideration as always. It's just the naivety of some insurers that won't cover you.