Ahemmmmm

Insurance Loss Categories - Quick reference
* Category A - Must be crushed. All of it.
* Category B - Vehicle may not be returned to road but parts may be sold.
* Category C - Repairable. Significant damage. Cost of the repair is more than book value of vehicle at dealer rates.
* Category D - Repairable. Probably non-structural damage. May have been economic to repair, but insurer doesn't want to.
* Category X - Repairable. Minor Damage

Insurance Loss Categories - In detail
Category AThe vehicle may not be resold it must be crushed. Severely damaged, total burnout or flood damage with no serviceable parts, or already a stripped out shell. DVLA will require a Notification of Destruction.
Category B The vehicle may not be resold. It will have been damaged beyond economical repair, usually with major structural damage. The DVLA will require Notification of Destruction but parts can be removed and sold on.
Category C Repairable salvage. Usually applies to vehicles with significant damage and where the cost of repairs exceeds the book value. It can be sold for repair but must have VIC(Vehicle Identity Check) inspection before returning to the road. V5 documents are returned to DVLA and recorded as category C vehicles. You can re-apply for registration on the original identity once the VIC inspection has been done. VIC inspection and re-registration removes the Category C classification, but evidence it was at one time Category C remains on the vehicle's record at the DVLA and so will appear on a vehicle data check.
What is a Vehicle Identity Check and how does it work?(taken from the VOSA's site) The Vehicle Identity Check (VIC) has been introduced to help reduce car crime. It is intended to deter criminals from disguising stolen cars with the identity of written off ones. When an insurance company ‘writes off’ a car, (Category A, B or C) they notify DVLA and a VIC marker is placed on the DVLA record. DVLA will not issue a Registration Certificate (V5C) or a Vehicle Licence Reminder (V11) to a car with a VIC marker against it. In order to remove the VIC marker the car needs to be inspected by VOSA to confirm its identity. When the car passes the VIC, the marker is removed. The VIC will be carried out by VOSA. It will involve comparing the car against information held by DVLA, such as the vehicle identification number, make, model, colour and engine number. The VIC will also compare the record of previous accident damage with evidence of damage repair as well as checking other components to confirm the age and identity of the car.
Will the VIC confirm that the vehicle is roadworthy? No. The VIC is designed to confirm the identity of the car and does not assess the quality of the repair. You should seek independent expert opinion as to whether the car is roadworthy. If whilst carrying out the check the inspector notices a serious defect which would make the car dangerous to drive, then they will issue a notice which prohibits the car being used. Once it has been made roadworthy the prohibition can be removed.
Note: I understand motorbikes falling into this category do not have to undergo a VIC inspection so will warrant close investigation and clarification of identity.
Category D Repairable salvage. Minimal damage, probably not structural, but insurer does not want to repair, even though it might be economic to do so. Often stolen and recovered after claim has been paid. Or it maybe a vehicle where parts are difficult to obtain so a quick repair is unlikely. Does not need VIC inspection to return to road. Notification will appear in your vehicle history check
Category X has been the subject of a claim but minor or very lightly damaged and required minimal repair work. It would not be recorded with the DVLA so would not appear in any Vehicle Data Check
not recorded - Not an official category, it simply means that there has not been an insurance claim, possibly only had third party insurance and damaged the vehicle themselves or don't know who caused the damaged so can not make a claim or may not even been insured, either way the DVLA will not know in these cases so will not be recorded and will not show on any Vehicle History Check

Good info Mike thats probably worth putting in a sticky somewhere for future reference +++

I think those rules are just for certified vehicle breaker yards. If insurance company leaves car to you to or sells it back to you or you are a breaker without certification you can do whatever you like with it. Or maybe it's just a guideline, not the law.

I did know car have been cat B write-off before buying it and did my own research on the internet. There is plenty of cat B cars that have been put back on road, I have not come across any cat A but in theory you can put that back on road as well. Just to be sure I called DVLA, first operator did not know for sure, said as far as he knows only C and D can be put back on road, then he transferred me to somebody else who knows better and I was told they do not care what category write-off it has been as long as identity can be confirmed. If chassis have been changed they might choose to give new identity and new registration mark if they feel that there is not enough left of original vehicle.

After buying car I got a letter from DVLA saying that car have been written -off, that I have been registered as keeper but that I need to pass VIC test to get V5. I was not bothered about V5 so did not go for VIC test. I transferred my existing insurance, next year I changed to another insurance company and year later again to another. This time I got letter form insurance company saying that I need to pass VIC test and send them certificate within 14 days or they will cancel insurance. Test station was too busy so I could not get test done in time, I contacted insurance giving them booked VIC test date and they agreed to wait, sent VIC test certificate and they were happy, never had problems after that.

Have not had any problems with MOT's or road tax.

I does say on V5: Substantially repaired and/or accident damaged; identity checked on 28 07 2010. After car passes MOT for 3 years after VIC test I can request them to issue me new V5 without this note.

My friend had E36 BMW 316 or 318 cat B and he only found out when he wanted to give it as part exchange to used car dealer who did HPI check. Turned out it has been cat B write-off long time ago, don't recall exactly but think it was around 2000 and there was nothing on V5.

Sometimes You can pick up pretty nice cat B cars cheaply that has been put on cat B by mistake or flood damaged because most people think they cannot be put back on road.

If somebody is in the trade and wants they can run HPI check on my car to confirm that it is cat B write-off, I have not been bothered to do it. Reg number is R96UKX.
I have also included scan of V5 to show that it has been put back on road.

I did a HPI check myself and it says it was cat B write-off in 2007 and scrapped but not destroyed. Still I have current V5 in my name, MOT, tax and insurance so this should be proof enough that You can put cat B back on road.

I don't understand. Always beleived a CAT B was to be broken and sold for parts.......:Confused:

Here is an interesting thread from the RAC website. Seems the confusion is widespread! :Confused:

Ok, so curiosty was killing me, so I've done an HPI check, attached.

Note the over-use of the word 'should' +++


Apart from removing my personal stuff its 'as is' and I dont believe there is anything that ainarssems would rather wasnt published, but happy to remove if requested for any reason.... +++

There is plenty of similar threads out there and plenty of cat B cars on the road and many owners do not even know it because note have been removed from V5 after passing MOT for 3 years after VIC test and then sold on.I believe cat A can be put back on road as well but have not seen any.

Most flood damaged cars are cat B and many of them does not need any work apart from drying to be roadworthy again. It's just cat B because water damage can cause problems in future like hidden corrosion on chassis from inside or affect electrical safety systems like ABS, ESP and airbags.

Many cat B cars are exported and sold abroad as well

That's fine by me, I have already posted registration and chassis number so nothing to hide there.
I also had number plates stolen last year and reported to police so if anybody does something I will just say it was the plate steelers.

I wonder if I can get out of speeding fines claiming it was not me but the blokes who stole the plates not that I have any pending fines

One thing you can always guarantee with DVLA/insurers/MOT stations/insurers is that one can never be assumed to be acting in the interests of any one of the others - as an example, I can see an insurance company taking your money for a car that they may not pay out on IF it turns out it should not be on the road at all. An MOT station will MOT any car, so long as the reg number pulls up a record from DVLA. DVLA will only remove a record if SOMEONE informs them that said vehicle has been destroyed/exported.

For any of the rules/guidance to work, it requires organisations to act in a coordinated manner - put frankly, that rarely happens in the above cases.

It may be worth talking to Thatcham or MIB (Motor Insurance Bureau, not the film!) to ascertain whether the above are legal requirements or not, in the absence of any clear info. Also worth a look at direct.gov site as this has replaced all the various govt web sites run by different agencies and should carry up to date information.

Adrian