Buying a Cat S or Cat N Insurance Write-Off Car Explained

Buying a Cat S or Cat N Insurance Write-Off Car Explained. Is Buying a Cat N or Cat S write-off a good idea? Are Damaged Repaired Cars bargain used cars or are they a nightmare?

UK Car insurance write-off categories changed in October 2017, with Cat N and Cat S classifications replacing the former Cat C and Cat D
A Cat S car (formerly Cat C) has had structural damage from a crash (suspension, chassis, roof). Whilst a Cat S can be repaired and put back on the road they must be re-registered with the DVLA.

Cat N (formerly Cat D) covers all non-structural damage, bodywork, bumpers, mirrors, interior etc). Cat N cars can be put back on the road and do not need to be re-registered.

In both cases, your insurance company needs to be informed that the car has been a Cat S/N and they may insist on a new MOT. Insurance can generally be a bit more difficult to find for previously written-off cars, with some companies charging higher premiums or not covering them at all.

We look at how the price of the cars can be significantly less than an alternative used an example of similar age, mileage, and spec, and how to spot them. We also look at some simple precautionary measures to take if you’re considering buying damaged repaired cars : -

• Get the car inspected by a decent mechanic
• Ask to see the original insurance assessor's report which should list all of the original accident damage when it was written off.
• Ask to see photos of the damage.
• Ask to see proof of repairs/bills etc.
• Don’t forget to ask for all the usual things you would want with any used car like service history, receipts/bills, 2 keys, check previous MOT’s and mileage on them etc.
• Always get a car history check done – they are quick and cheap in the UK and will give you more details on the car's history.

In the event that your car is written off your insurance company will often allow you to buy back the salvage vehicle, you can also buy these via companies like Copart UK who are well known for selling Cat S and Cat N insurance write-off's. You can then look to get the car repaired, possibly using second-hand parts / copy parts / junk yard parts at a fraction of the cost of the insurance company doing it (they would always use OEM parts wherever possible).

A write-off, or Total Loss, happens when a car is involved in an accident or is damaged some other way and is either declared unsafe to repair (Cat A or B) or uneconomical to repair (Cat S or Cat N). So what do you think about buying a write off? is a damaged repaired car for you or not? these damaged repaired cars can be very good value for money if you're careful and find a good one but you can also be unlucky. Also remember the rules for selling one of these previously sritten off cars, you saved a bunch buying it so the next owner probably will too!, you must also declare that it's a Cat S or Cat N used car in any advertising you do.

PLEASE don't forget to give me a big thumbs up and smash that LIKE button, whilst you're at it, click on the notification bell and hit SUBSCRIBE :) Thank you very much for your support.

00:00 Intro
00:36 Why do they get written off?
01:25 Write off categories explained
03:15 Things to be aware of
04:48 Buying a Cat S or Cat N car
06:45 Searching AutoTrader
07:48 Pricing Examples / Comparisons
12:36 Summary

------

Click through Amazon here :

Buy me a Coffee at :



This channel tries to deliver honest advice for real people. Remember that I am not a financial advisor or car finance professional and am therefore not qualified to give any kind of financial advice, views shown here are purely my own but you must make your own financial decisions. Always seek professional advice before entering a finance arrangement of any kind and seriously consider your financial position and the long-term affordability of any deal that you may enter into.

All music used in this video is written, recorded, and produced by me.

Please like and subscribe! ;)

[yorkshire_tea_innit]

Its funny seeing autotrader from 1 year ago cos the prices are insanely low compared to now.

[alanfurness]

As always a good clear and precise video to help people who do not understand the system of putting cars back on the road after write off damage. Keep up the good work in 22 Jim.

[ioanionut]

Just discovered your channel today, but all I can say is GREAT work mate👌 Definitely will keep an eye on your content 😎
Thank you for your tips.

[riplavabit]

Thanks, saved me a lot of time figuring things out for myself, good clarity and presentation.

[mciznsr]

This was really helpful, thank you so much. I'm looking at cheap cars to buy just for commuting and found a nice Cat S car.
But watching this video and looking at the pictures from the listing it looks like the front has had some damage. Think I'll avoid the car on this occasion.
Thanks for the video!

[johnroberts]

I would be happy to take a relatively lightly damaged Cat N car. After all, on a car that's a few years old, something as minor as a bashed wing or a crushed bumper will make it uneconomic to repair and end up being written off. With Cat S I would be much more wary. It's all down to the extent of the damage and the skills (or lack thereof!) of the people doing the repairs.
Happy New Year Jim 😁.

[guskingarthur]

Nice and well explained video thank you 😅

[steveegginton]

Good point about how long you are going to keep a car may be a deciding factor. For me I think it would be the value of the car - on a more expensive car not sure I would go for a cat car, but on say a sub 5K car then probably yes. A lower value car would probably be written of for quite minor damage say a wing or a bumper due to repair costs. I have read that a lot of insurance companies are willing to insure Cat cars but if they have to make a pay out it will be lower due to the cat status which is to be expected.

[roland]

BE WARNED I just found out private sellers DO NOT have to declare if a car has been previously written off. So basically if they say no log book then this is why

[ryanhogg]

Wow I bought a Audi A4 back in 2017 and I've still got it and work good and I've just check the history for the first time and the check says cat c wow it's good to know this info and I was thinking about selling the car as I don't really drive it much now because of work .thanks for the video mate

[garydouglas]

Thinking about a cat n! You have just made everything clearer, cheers mate🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍

[alastairc]

Happy New Year Jim to you and the family and all your subscribers 🤞for 2022..🙂👍👍👍

[mirola]

Much appreciated, comparing cat s and 'undamaged' cars now..

[gerard]

Love your videos, 44 years a mechanic, I've seen so many crooks in the game, I've been to fisticuffs with lying cheating bastards, keep up the videos, 👍.

[garethshaw]

I’m currently considering a CAT N purely because of the savings, Great video and very helpful

[damiantuttle]

Superbly well presented video, clear and concise.
There aren't many fellas talking cars on YouTube that I take to, most are highly irritating, and annoying either like hyper active excitable teenagers, especially Americans, or complete dowdy uncharismaic mood hoovers .
So thumbs up Son 👍

[lonleypics]

Excellent video. Relevant. Amazing work. Keep the good work.
Waiting to buy a car in June and still confused to go for CaT or not 😂

[malcolmkirk]

I saved 10k on my low mileage cat s Mercedes E63 and checked everything on the inspection and test drive and was a great car. I done this before I got the pictures of the damage as I didn't want to just look at what I already would of known. I would not of been able to of afforded a non cat s so I'm really happy with my cat s registered car.

[TrevMnkey]

I've currently got an X5 which was a CAT (can't remember which one)... but it doesn't bother me as 'write off' and write off categories' are insurance terms.
If two identical cars crashed head on causing identical damage, one could go to the insurance company and be deemed a write off and should never see the road again, whereas the other could be recovered to a garage, put back together and sold on as though nothing happened.
When you're looking at cars; you could end up paying full price that's had an accident damage repair that didn't go through the insurance; but refuse to look at the car that's 30% cheaper even though it may have had less damage. the same with inspecting a cat car, you're potentially doing extra checks than you would on a car that's been repaired without going through the insurance.
About twenty years ago I had a Celica GT and somebody pulled out in front of me. I hit them but went through a claims management company who went direct to the other insurance company. The claims management company sent them a quote for the repair, the insurance company decided it wasn't worth it and made me an offer. I took the offer but they weren't interested in the car so I kept that as well without buying it back. I sold it on as it was, but would that have gone down as a write off as the insurance company had no interest in it?

[h.bsfaithfulservant]

Thanks Jim, another helpful video 👍. You’re right that any of the ‘cats’ put off some buyers, myself included.