Motor Insurance Category D Write-offs

A large number of motor vehicles that have been written off by many motor insurance companies are now slowly finding their way back again onto the second hand marketplace each year – and it’s all totally legitimate.

Write-offs that reappear again in this manner are classified as Category D vehicles under a voluntary rule of exercise authorized by a variety of organizations, which includes motor insurance corporations, salvage and repair companies and also the police force. The arrangement places accident-damaged vehicles into certainly one of four groups. Category D is which are more lightly damaged vehicles, or those that had been stolen and recovered as soon as the owner ended up being compensated by the insurance company.

The recognized description of the Category D vehicle is certainly one which has sustained car accident damage that is going to be less expensive to repair than it’s worth. But why would some insurance company write off a totally fixable vehicle? Surprisingly, according to motor industry specialists, the motor insurance organization can reduce its loss by doing this.

In the event the airbags have gone off, changing them can certainly put £2,000 on the repair costs, and options for example seat-belt tensioners or vehicle parking sensors increases it even more. With insurance companies in a position to claim as much as 65 per cent of your vehicle’s value from salvage firms, they are frequently in pocket by writing the vehicle off and making it possible for a completely independent garage with lower expenses to repair it.

Graham Threlfall, MD from the NAB (National Association of Body shops) claims the growing concentration on basic safety and luxury high end vehicles is partially responsible. “Ten yrs ago, if your vehicle was involved in a front end impact, the harm was restricted to the body-work, however with safety bags, belt tensioners and such things as self-leveling headlamps, it is a lot more expensive to restore them now. Insurance companies in many cases are satisfied to get rid of the liability,” he states.

Properly fixed Category D vehicles may be attractive to budget-conscious customers in the present economic crisis; there are pages of these over the internet. A general study of eBay one particular afternoon uncovered in excess of 300 offered at savings of as much as 25 % on regular second hand values.

The fear is the fact that a lot of prospective buyers might not know what Category D implies, and for that reason what they’re buying. Prior to placing any motor vehicle on sale, a car dealership ought to take “all realistic steps” to check on its background, which includes whether or not it’s been written off or crash damaged.

The ABI states that there’s been just a modest rise in the amount of Category D vehicles coming back in the marketplace since 2002, plus the typical age of them is in between 8-10 years. They’re documented on the Motor Insurance Anti Fraudulence and Theft Register (MIAFTR) and this information and facts are easily available via organizations including HPI, so there is absolutely no good reason why dealers or purchasers really should be trapped.

However the OFT is adequately concerned to have built the regulations of the used vehicle trade “an administration priority”, and just lately finished a report into each and every aspect of it. It discovered “a higher level of customer complaints” and it is now taking into consideration whether or not current customer options and laws is “sufficient and effective”.

For anybody enticed with what looks like it’s a bargain vehicle, there is a well-used saying that goes something like this, if anything appears to be way too good to be true, it generally is.