Insurance Cat D write off!

Buying a ‘5 and Insurance advice Insurance Advice
2

Ok so long story but looks as though my pride & joy may be beyond economic repair and so a Cat D.

It has a good guaranteed value and only needs new n.s wing, bumper cover, side light and a coat of paint, which I am prepared to sort.

I wish to keep the car, so my question is, ‘How difficult is it to get a Cat D car re insured?’

I understand that future value will be reduced which is not a problem as I do not intend to sell the car but assume that a guaranteed value will probably not be an option.

Anyone been down this route, any tips/advice gratefully accepted.

R

Dave

3

I was in a similar situation with a Peugeot 405 estate. The car was hit by an uninsured driver and, cutting a long story short, the insurers said it was uneconomical to repair even though the damage was minor. The garage who were undertaking the repair managed to source some second hand parts (rear lights and bumper) and bring the price down to a level that the insurers would accept. The car was repaired and because it was not written off re insuring was not a problem. Maybe you could come to some sort of similar agreement if you are going to repair the car anyway. Hope this helps  Good luck.

4

I had to replace a n/s wing on my mk1 recently after being assaulted by a rampant volvo, £82 for awing [ pattern] 100 squid to paint and u/seal 50 to fit add a pre used bumper cover of e bay job done for under £400 quid It was only 4 days out of the paint shop for a complete respray ,was more than a little miffed

5

Thanks guys, yes 2nd hand parts are an option, but new genuine parts are not that expensive, and yes mine looked as thought it had just rolled of the paint line, which it had last October. What I need to know before some one starts ringing me is how difficult/expensive is it to get it reinsured?

6

A few years ago my Eunos was written off by a white van man. it was also deemed "uneconomical to repair"
I bought it back off the insurance co after a haggle over the value, fitted new front wing, s/hand front bumper & 1 headlight unit with motor. (pics on my photobucket)

after respray I ended up with a profit of about £300 or so. 

the Ins co had no qualms about re-insuring it plus there was no penalty price ramp up at the next renewal.

talk to your insurer.

7

Thanks Joe, that’s what I wanted to hear. Early days yet, although the other party’s insurance has admitted liability and I have, hopefully, a guaranteed value. It may be repaired but I am beginning to doubt it the more I read and after having seen the estimate. Still just want to get my head round the facts in advance.

8

Ask if you can have a cash-in-lieu settlement instead. It avoids a write-off / CAT D car. Not all insurers will do this though.

9

Thanks not heard of this before, would need to weigh the settlement figure against the guaranteed value less any insurance renewal penalty. Something else to consider, wouldn’t life be much simpler if other drivers looked where they were going?

10

In my experience the only thing that changes is the value of the car, the cost and ease of insurance is not changed.

I recently bought my first MX5 at a great price which in the past had been a Cat D and repaired, it doesn’t show on the log book only on an HPI check.

11

+1 ^

 

Mine was a cat D back in 2012 I believe, but didn’t stop me buying it.  Insurance aren’t interested, only future buyers and actual condition is more important than whatever happened to it in the past imo.

12

Thanks everyone for the advice, other insurance has been in touch this afternoon and the engineer is coming next Thursday, could go either way! Time will tell.

13

A couple of ins cos ask the question & will decline (swiftcover is one) but never had a problem with a Cat C Porsche 944 which is a much higher grouping than an MX5

14

ask your current insurance company - despite what most car forums posters will tell you they do actually want to help. SO ask them directly if you have the car repaired to a roadworthy condition will they re-insure the vehicle.

 

Additionally may of the other good things to ask have be scattered through the posts: ask if they have a repairer that will repair it with secondhand parts, also if its a non-fault claims they maybe more willing to push the edges of economic to repair as they will recover the costs from the third party.

 

 

15

Hi,

If anyone needs any help with insurance at all for category C or D written off vehicles then please feel free to drop me a line. The vast majority of our insurance schemes have no issues with these types of vehicles.

Thanks,

Dan.