CookieM Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Last year I had an accident and my car was written off by my insurance company. I realised the car was still connected to my Fordpass app and I could see it's location and was interested as to where it would end up. It turned up in a copart yard and so I managed to find it on their website and see the damage in a bit more detail than I'd been able to after the accident. More recently I found it fixed up and looking brand new up for sale, but at the same price as all other equivalents and no insurance write off category. Is this explainable, or likely something dodgy has gone on here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remington guy Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Keep us upto date, wonder what an HPI check would turn up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turvey Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Would it depend on what category write-off it was? https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/know-how/what-is-an-insurance-write-off/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CookieM Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 Auto trader shows it as not stolen, scrapped, written off etc in its basic check 🤔 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CookieM Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 13 minutes ago, Turvey said: Would it depend on what category write-off it was? https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/know-how/what-is-an-insurance-write-off/ I don't really know what category it would have been, but i assumed it would have one and would remain with the car? That link is a little contradictory. It says Quote No notifications are made to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) or VOSA when a car is written off in a Category N situation. which would suggest perhaps this wouldn't show up in a check, but then what's the point in having it? but then says Quote Some sellers try to pass off Category S or Category N cars as non-damaged motors by hiding their past. If the buyer does not carry out a vehicle history check, they might not be aware the car has previously been damaged and so could pay over the odds for an insurance write-off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney871 Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Dodgy.Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonro2009 Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Cat S & N replaced the old C & D. Cat S being the worse of the two due to the car having had structural, but repairable damage. Cat N is non structural but repairable. Both should be noted by a seller but only a Cat S needs to be reregistered with the DVLA. If the car isn't listed as having an insurance write off in its past then I'd suggest the seller is be less than honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney871 Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 If they classed your car as written off as not economical to repair but someone has done so I'd be concerned that they have fixed it cheaply and badly.I'd pose as a potential buyer and ask some very pointed questions, if they blatantly lie then report them to DVLA & Trading Standards. Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Was it actually written off? It's perfectly legal to buy and repair 'unrecorded' salvage which is very common...but usually that's done outside of insurance. Really annoys me that my car is worthless because of it's cat N status when I've repaired much worse on unrecorded cars!! What's the reg/ad of the car in question? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 If the insurance Company wrote it off then it should have been recorded as such and that would have filtered through to where the car ended up and should not have been repaired and offered for resale. It seems to me that someone in your insurance Company is not very honest and possibly doing a bit of vehicle 'filtering', writing them off to the policy holder, not recording it as such and having them fixed and selling on. I would immediately do as Stoney871 suggests and also take the insurance Company to task about it, it does appear to be very suspicious. The insurance Co, if they did their job properly, should have offered you to buy back the vehicle for 10% of what you were paid out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CookieM Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 2 hours ago, TomsFocus said: Was it actually written off? It's perfectly legal to buy and repair 'unrecorded' salvage which is very common...but usually that's done outside of insurance. Really annoys me that my car is worthless because of it's cat N status when I've repaired much worse on unrecorded cars!! What's the reg/ad of the car in question? All i know is that the insurance company took the car off my hands, and paid me out the market value for it. I did managed to find this https://www.gov.uk/written-off-vehicle which suggests that i should have notified the DVLA about the vehicle being written off. I'm not sure whether or not i did this. The insurance company just told me to send the V5 and the spare key directly to them, and i did it immediately to prevent any delays in the process. Not long after i got a letter to say that i was no longer the registered keeper. Perhaps i've dropped the ball here? I'm a bit worried to contact the DVLA and this end up coming back on me but also feel bad for someone buying this car without knowing it's true history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 3 minutes ago, CookieM said: All i know is that the insurance company took the car off my hands, and paid me out the market value for it. I did managed to find this https://www.gov.uk/written-off-vehicle which suggests that i should have notified the DVLA about the vehicle being written off. I'm not sure whether or not i did this. The insurance company just told me to send the V5 and the spare key directly to them, and i did it immediately to prevent any delays in the process. Not long after i got a letter to say that i was no longer the registered keeper. Perhaps i've dropped the ball here? I'm a bit worried to contact the DVLA and this end up coming back on me but also feel bad for someone buying this car without knowing it's true history. It hasn't been scrapped so you don't/didn't need to do anything. They obviously knew it was going to be repaired & sold if they asked for the spare key. If you give us the reg or ad I'll check if it was categorised or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CookieM Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 29 minutes ago, TomsFocus said: It hasn't been scrapped so you don't/didn't need to do anything. They obviously knew it was going to be repaired & sold if they asked for the spare key. If you give us the reg or ad I'll check if it was categorised or not. Ah yeah.. i didn't notice it says written off AND scrapped. Here is the advert https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202002117209081 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 4 minutes ago, CookieM said: Ah yeah.. i didn't notice it says written off AND scrapped. Here is the advert https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202002117209081 Yep, it wasn't categorised so will have been sold as unrecorded salvage. It's perfectly legal to fix and sell without mentioning the damage at all. I know that seems bad though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CookieM Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 1 minute ago, TomsFocus said: Yep, it wasn't categorised so will have been sold as unrecorded salvage. It's perfectly legal to fix and sell without mentioning the damage at all. I know that seems bad though! I thought just by the fact the insurance company had been involved at all meant it had to get some sort of category. Is this not the case then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 47 minutes ago, CookieM said: I thought just by the fact the insurance company had been involved at all meant it had to get some sort of category. Is this not the case then? I'm not sure tbh, I understood it that they are essentially 'buying' the car from you and can do what they like with it... Any write-offs should be recorded on the database but I'm not even sure if that's a legal requirement or just an 'obligation'. Do you not get any report or paperwork along with your payout? I've bought a few damaged cars, both recorded and unrecorded, but never had a car written off myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milkman Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Being written off by the Insurance Company it should have been catagorised as such. The insurance Company had no right or duristiction to request you to send them the V5C or the spare key, it is your responsibility to send the V5C direct to DVLA and fill out the appropriate forms, read this. https://www.gov.uk/scrapped-and-written-off-vehicles Seems to me that the insurance Company did not conduct their actions correctly here, smacks of a fraud to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CookieM Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 16 minutes ago, TomsFocus said: I'm not sure tbh, I understood it that they are essentially 'buying' the car from you and can do what they like with it... Any write-offs should be recorded on the database but I'm not even sure if that's a legal requirement or just an 'obligation'. Do you not get any report or paperwork along with your payout? I've bought a few damaged cars, both recorded and unrecorded, but never had a car written off myself. Nope, no paperwork. The entire payout went directly to the finance company, and i stupidly had not sorted out GAP insurance so had to pay the reminder. Luckily was only ~£300. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zain611 Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 On 2/21/2020 at 12:54 PM, TomsFocus said: Yep, it wasn't categorised so will have been sold as unrecorded salvage. It's perfectly legal to fix and sell without mentioning the damage at all. I know that seems bad though! Is it possible seeing if a car had been involved in an accident without it being categorised? Have to say the car does look mint after getting fixed up but a buyer such as myself would like to know some history like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 2 hours ago, zain611 said: Is it possible seeing if a car had been involved in an accident without it being categorised? Have to say the car does look mint after getting fixed up but a buyer such as myself would like to know some history like this. Nope, most people would never know which is why unrecorded salvage is so popular, can still expect the full market value once it's been fixed, compared to at least 25% loss of value with a Cat N or S status. Only way you could check is by physically looking for damage, bent chassis legs etc, there is no way to ever know for definite though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zain611 Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 5 minutes ago, TomsFocus said: Nope, most people would never know which is why unrecorded salvage is so popular, can still expect the full market value once it's been fixed, compared to at least 25% loss of value with a Cat N or S status. Only way you could check is by physically looking for damage, bent chassis legs etc, there is no way to ever know for definite though. When me and dad was changing the clutch on my Peugeot I noticed the front crash bar was bent in slightly from the middle. The bumper itself was good so never know if it had a knock in its life 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted February 23, 2020 Share Posted February 23, 2020 1 hour ago, zain611 said: When me and dad was changing the clutch on my Peugeot I noticed the front crash bar was bent in slightly from the middle. The bumper itself was good so never know if it had a knock in its life Yeah, I reckon most used cars have had a bump or scrape in the past tbh. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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