[sweetice2007]

guys im looking at buying a mini cooper thats a cat d. its in working order now but concerned about the insurance. ive rang my current insurer (lloyds tsb which are underwritten by churchill) and they said since im a excisting customer they wiuld require for me to provide them with a VRD (independant engineer report to say the car is roadworthy? ) so i told this to the dealer and hes sorting it for me so that the insurer will continu insurance on it. i was planning to switch insurers in july but i rang a few places asking whether they insure cat d vehicles, i dont kno whether im wording it wrong or they are misunderstanding it, i explained the car is bck on the road etc but they say they dont cover cat d vehicles.

can anyone help? i asked lloyds whether they would continue covering me after this policy is up since il have provided them with a cert to say the car is roadworthy (assuming it is since its up to date with mot tests etc) and they said yeah since il have shown them the certificate etc.

has anyone had similiar problem or does anyone know whether its gona be a pain to resinsure in the future should i wish to switch insurance providers?

the preious owners apparantly didnt declare it as a cat d, surely on the insurers system it would pop on the screen to say its been taken off but redone and roadworthy again? they din have any issues reinsuring apparantly.

any info would be greatly appreciated

thanks in advance for any response

p.s last thin i want is to spend £5,500 on a car and find it cant be insured

[supa-dupa-cooper]

I personally wouldnt want to buy a car thats been in an accident, repaired or not..

[sweetice2007]

whys that? ive heard many cat d's turn out to be well. it drives very well and has all docs with it.

[airbusA346]

Quote: Originally Posted by sweetice2007 (original)

whys that? ive heard many cat d's turn out to be well. it drives very well and has all docs with it.

Some Cat D's that have been repaired aren't always as good as they should be if you get what I mean.

And some people might think: "This cars be shunted (for example) once, can it withstand a second one"

[sweetice2007]

hm yeah suppose there is that..

[neilobe]

Theres plenty of second hand Mini Coopers around, and can get a good deal, i wouldnt buy a Cat D one either..
Try car auctions like BCA who hold regular BMW sales of trade ins and fianance repossions of cars that passed age to sell on forecourt , youll get better deal there...

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

How much is your life worth?

I would not want to be driving a car that "may" protect me in an accident..
I don't see how any structure that has taken a substantial impact can ever be considered "as new".

At the point when you find out that all is not well it will be too late........

Plenty of excellent used examples about - grab one of those and enjoy the piece of mind.

Cheers, Geoff.

[sweetice2007]

ok thanks for your opinions anyway!

[Rakey]

Quote: Originally Posted by sweetice2007 (original)

whys that? ive heard many cat d's turn out to be well. it drives very well and has all docs with it.

You've answered your own question 'many turn out to be alright', its the others that aren't that make it not worth the risk

Also consider when you decide you want to change cars, its not going to be that easy to sell on to someone else

[mab01uk]

Category A Insurance Write Off - the vehicle must scrapped and no parts or components can be sold other than for scrap. Amounts vary but the scrap value rarely covers the cost of recovery and delivery to a scrap yard.

Category B Insurance Write Off - the vehicle must not be used again but non- structural and roadworthy parts and components may be recovered for use in other vehicles. Care must be taken to ensure that they are not critical components with important safety functions.

Category C Insurance Write Off - the vehicle is repairable but the parts and labour would exceed the value of the car. This is a tricky situation as there are plenty of amateur and professional mechanics who could use second hand parts to repair these vehicles at much lower prices than the list costs for parts and labour.

Category D Insurance Write Off - the vehicle is economically repairable but other factors are involved that cause the insurer to declare the vehicle a write off. Perhaps the replacement car hire is too costly or it will take too long for a specialist part to be delivered.

Category X Insurance Write Off - the vehicle is easily repairable and may even be still roadworthy.

Unrecorded Insurance Write Off - the vehicle damage was not reported to the insurer or the driver was uninsured. The most common example is drivers who only have third party insurance but have had an accident that was their fault (usually not involving anyone else).



Cat D can be just a stolen recovered or vandalised. etc, with no safety structural damage issues so in the end it all comes down to what you can find out about the cars history and the size of the price to buy saving bearing in mind any insurance hassles and the future sale value and HPI checks, etc.