81 replies to this topic

[Joshmini]

no but i changed now anyway.

[Jammy]

I think the DVLA's website is misleading (understatement! ). Cat A and B should always have their bodyshell's crushed. Cat A..... I'll just copy and paste from this website:

Category A
	A vehicle which should have been totally crushed, including all its spare parts. 
Category B
	A vehicle from which spare parts may be salvaged, but the bodyshell should have been crushed and the car should never return to the road. 
Category C
	An extensively damaged vehicle which the insurer has decided not to repair, but which could be repaired and returned to the road. 
Category D
	A damaged vehicle which the insurer has decided not to repair, but which could be repaired and returned to the road. 
Category F
	A vehicle damaged by fire, which the insurer has decided not to repair.

Whichever way you look at it, that Mini shouldn't be on the road.

WhitbyTom, have you reported this to the DVLA yet? If not, someone post up the garage details so it can be done...

[Joshmini]

Omg, why are you all so clever

[THE ANORAK]

top marks imabitnaughtyxx well done, 100 anorak points for you.

I'm thinking that a new topic should be created and pinned in FAQ stating all this info

[Jammy]

Wow! Very eye opening, and quite scary. I'll bow to your superior knowledge on this one IMBN!

And yes, an FAQ with this new found knowledge is a very good idea, none of the websites I've read about insurance write off's have ever mentioned this!

[Joshmini]

Wow! Very eye opening, and quite scary. I'll bow to your superior knowledge on this one IMBN!

And yes, an FAQ with this new found knowledge is a very good idea, none of the websites I've read about insurance write off's have ever mentioned this!

no they dont, they dont mingle the 2 problems VIC and insurance write off cats.

I can write an FAQ on this if you like, like i say ive done some research and this wont apply to every car as some will be dodgy of course.
what many people dont know is about VIC, tests and markers.

Go Mrs.naughty!

[Jammy]

That would be cool if you could write that, thanks.

[Joshmini]

Edited by Joshmini, 30 June 2008 - 09:26 AM.

[whitbytom]

This is all very interesting indeed. I had always believed A and B could never go back on the road, and this was confirmed to me by my father in law who has been in motor insurance for 25 years!

The interesting part is this:

Car is ONLY crushed if it goes to salvage. not if you carry out repairs yourself or the new owner.
That car for some reason did not have a VIC mark assigned when the cat B was issued. Probably because the owner resold it.

The HPi report for the car states clearly that the car was crushed in 2002, which means that someone has reported it as crushed, presumably a salvage agent, and instead passed it back into the trade.

[whitbytom]

I'm sorry but I'm only stating what I read on a printed HPi certificate carried out by Experian. The HPi report has there in black and white 'crushed' and I took that as read.

Presumably the insurance company put that on the HPi to cover their own backs, not always knowing that this has happened. Also what I don't understand is if a car is classed as a Cat B by an insurer, why have they not put a VIC marker against it?

Also to clarify what I stated earlier in the thread, my friend bought the car in good faith and undamaged privately (not knowing about the car's history on HPi) and used it for some time. It was only when he came to sell (with minor panel damage, undeclared to the insurers) that the 'specialist' would only take the car off him at scrap value, on the basis of what the HPI report said.



I wouldn't say case closed by any means, although fair enough we have established roughly which loophole has allowed this car to remain on the road.

The fact is this car is still for sale, and the seller is prepared to mislead and lie to whomever tries to buy the car, in order to get it off his hands and make a quick buck.

This is the whole reason I started this thread in the first place.

Edited by whitbytom, 01 July 2008 - 02:36 PM.

[midridge2]

just been reading this thread, i dont know this garage or owner but if you go over the facts i dont think its as bad as it reads.
1, if the seller was informed by the garage that it was showing up as scrapped why did he sell it to the garage and not go back to the person he bought it off as it looked like a ringer.
2, if the garage new it had been scrapped (as thought) why did they buy it as it could have been a ringer.
3, the garage may have bought it at first as spares but after doing a few check the same as missnaughty they would know it was kosher and put it back on the road and would you contact the seller and give him some more money? i dont think so.
4, if the hpi showed it as scrapped then think why did the dvla issue tax discs for it afterwards, this is maybe what the garage thought and did more checks.
5, if you were given the chance of buying it for £150 for spare and found it was legal how much would you sell it for.
6, i think there was errors on both sides but everyone has slammed the garage but no one has slammed the seller for his mistakes.
opinions please.

[whitbytom]

Don't get me wrong, I can see where everyone is coming from in light of the facts.

The fact remains that the seller is not being up front with the history of the car, whether it is legit or not. There's also more than one other person on this forum that has been stitched up by this 'specialist'

Would you be happy to pay 3 and a half grand for a car and then find out that it has been a high category write off, and also not had a VIC check to confirm its identity, bearing in mind the knock on effect it could have on resale?

[Jammy]

I don't think fault can lie entirely at the feet of the buyer if you unknowingly buy a Cat B car from a dealer/trade. I'm pretty sure the trader has to legally inform you off things like that when you buy.

[Dan]

Only if you ask.

[Ethel]

I think the seller would still be on dodgy ground if they didn't disclose a material fact. That may well depend on: a) their knowing it had been written off b) being asked by the buyer.

Very interesting info on write off categories. It seems insurance companies may be a little bit liberal in their interpretation of the rules and their own powers. My understanding was that they wouldn't allow buy back on Cat B's.

That begs the question how a Cat B can get back on the road- can a salvage company repair or sell on the complete vehicle for repair; did the owner refuse the insurance settlement and fix it themselves? If it's the latter, what claim would the owner have against his insurers?

All in all it's yet another example of fudged legislation through involving the private sector: you can't make a shepherd of a wolf.