Category A — Cat A, for short — is a level of damage used by insurance companies to describe vehicles they have written off. Cat A is the most severe level of damage and should under no circumstances end up back on the road. The majority of Cat A vehicle are destroyed and classed as end of life.
Category B — Cat B, for short — is a level of damage used by insurance companies to describe vehicles they have written off. Cat B is the second most serious level of damage and like Cat A should under no circumstances end up back on the road. The majority of Cat B vehicle are destroyed and classed as end of life.
Category C — Cat C, for short — is a level of damage used by insurance companies to describe vehicles they have written off. A Cat C vehicle will have suffered some form of significant damage in the past, however the insurance company decided that repairing this vehicle would have been more expensive than replacing it. This is called a Beyond an economical repair. Cat C vehicles are normally sold on to salvage dealers who either strip for parts or repair and put back on the road.
If a vehicle has been classed as a Cat C, it’s worth requesting an engineer’s report to ensure that the repairs meet industry standards and that the vehicle has been safely repaired.
Value wise, a Cat C Vehicle is worth considerably less than an identical vehicle that has never been written off. Normal depreciation percentage would be approximately 20% depending on the quality of the repairs.
Category D — Cat D, for short — is a level of damage used by insurance companies to describe vehicles they have written off. A Cat D vehicle will have suffered some form of damage in the past, however the insurance company decided that repairing this vehicle would have been more expensive than replacing it. This is called a Beyond an economical repair. Cat D vehicles are normally sold on to salvage dealers who either strip for parts or repair and put back on the road.
If a vehicle has been classed as a Cat D, request an engineer’s report to ensure that the repairs meet industry standards and that the vehicle has been safely repaired.