If you are still confused about any of the categories A, B, S or N that you see in car ads, we explain you all the details you should know.

From October 2017, new insurance write-off categories were launched - Cat N and Cat S, aimed to replace the existing before that moment Category C and Category D. The change was made after a review by the ABI (Association of British Insurers) to focus on structural issues that can affect the safety of a vehicle on the road.

What is an insurance write-off?

A write-off is a method of classification, by the insurance company of a car which is too expensive to repair or unsafe to return to the road after an accident, flood or fire. The insurance company usually appoints a vehicle assessor to inspect the car and calculate the cost to repair. If the cost is more than 60% of the car’s value on the market, then the insurance company is considering the car as too expensive to repair. As an outcome the insurance company should agree to pay the car's owner for the damage. After that the insurer can keep the car for the disposal. Until October 2017, cars were classified as Category A, B, C or D write offs, based on the extent of the damage.

Category A (Scrap) - this vehicle has been inspected by an appropriately qualified person, declared unsuitable or beyond repair and has been identified to be crushed in its entirety.

Category B (Break) - the vehicle is deemed not suitable to be repaired but some usable parts can be removed and kept.

Category S (Repairable Structural) - repairable vehicle which has sustained damage to any part of the structural frame or chassis and the insurer/self-insured owner has decided not to repair the vehicle.

Category N (Repairable Non- Structural) - repairable vehicle which has not sustained damage to the structural frame or chassis and the insurer/self-insured owner has decided not to repair the vehicle.

Dealing with the DVLA

It is the responsibility of the registered keeper to notify DVLA when a vehicle is passed to an insurer/ self-insurer following the full and final settlement of a claim. If your car has been declared as Cat S, DVLA will send you a new V5C (vehicle log book) with a special mark to show that the car has been written off to protect next buyers against unsuspecting buying a car that was a write-off in the past.

Buying a repaired write-off

The most important thing to remember here is that just category S and N could be fixed up and sold. These cars can look very attractive but let's not forget that written off reduces substantially a car’s value. If you decided to buy such car we would recommend you to do a little more homework and to use an online service such as HPI to check the car’s history. It is critical to remember that you have to focus not only on visible damages when looking at Cat S and N cars. Ask an engineer for a report with a schedule of work and with photos of the things that should be done so you can compare afterwards if all the works were made properly.

Insuring a write-off?

Some insurers won't cover a written-off car while those insurance companies that will agree to cover could ask for an engineer’s report and usually will charge you more.