Write-offs
Insurance write-offs: Category A, B, S and N
If an insurer has written your car off, the category they assigned decides what can legally happen to it next. Two of the four mean the vehicle can never be driven again, whoever owns it.
- All four categories accepted: A, B, S and N
- Tell us the category when you ring — it decides how we handle the vehicle
- Kept your car after a settlement and never repaired it? Normal, and we will take it
- Certificate of Destruction issued, DVLA notified
What's it worth?
Registration and postcode. We'll ring back with a firm figure.
What the categories mean
Category A is the most severe: the entire vehicle must be crushed, including every part. Nothing at all may be salvaged from it. Category B means the body shell must be destroyed, but serviceable parts may be removed first — and it can never return to the road.
Category S is structural damage that is economically repairable — chassis, crumple zones, suspension mounts. Category N is non-structural: electrics, cosmetics, sometimes fairly serious mechanical faults. Both can legally go back on the road once properly repaired, and the marker stays on the record for good.
Why the category matters to us
Because it changes what we are legally allowed to do with the vehicle. A Category A car cannot be broken for parts under any circumstances. Telling us the category up front means the paperwork matches the vehicle and nothing goes wrong later.
If you kept the car after a Cat S or N settlement — a lot of people do, meaning to repair it, and then do not — we will take it. That is a very common call.
Straight answers
Questions we get about this
Can I scrap a car I kept after an insurance settlement?
Yes, as long as you are the registered keeper. Have the paperwork from the insurer to hand if you still have it, and tell us which category was applied.
Does a write-off category reduce what I get?
Not on its own. We price on weight and what is fitted. Fire and flood damage do affect it, because of how those vehicles have to be handled.
The insurer took the car away already. Can you still help?
No — if the insurer has taken possession, it is theirs to dispose of. If it is still with you, it is still yours to sell.
Sat on your drive doing nothing?
Give us the registration. We'll tell you what it's worth and, if you're happy, have it gone tomorrow.