found this on the RAC forum, its a bit of a sorry tale

Bought new van and now find it's Cat B !!!! Help

Right now i know i was probably stupid but as i bought the van from a multi region vehicle rental company (i picked this van on purpose as it came from a company) i expected it to have a clean service history as it was rented to the public by them. So against my better judgement didn’t HPI check it

Top and bottom of it is i bought a 56 Plate Trafic from ebay, listed as used but working order and "family business defleeting older vans" so as above presumed was fine. Paid for van in full after test drive (£1000) of it on a credit card and price was plus vat (have vat receipt).
Seller also stated no known faults with the van, this is what i find suspect as DVLA records show it bought by them 15 months before from the only owner.

When i went to insure the car i get a call back after a week wanting the V5 and MOT, when i call to ask why they advise me it was written off CAT B in 2007 (vans 5 months old) - send them the 2 MOT's i have from the previous seller and the V5C (which states nothing about repaired, scrapped etc)

Right now i'm waiting on their replies but i have contacted the previous owner who freely gave me the details of the original owner (another hire firm) who i called today to chase the history. I am contacting them tomorrow to check to see if they sold this as a van or spares and repair and to ascertain knowledge of the write off it it exists.....

My problem here is where i stand, the Insurance records show this CAT B but the insurer who wrote off the van never completed this and the DVLA was never informed - surely if this is correct they hold liability as the van V5, MOT and most importantly Registration would have been destroyed had thay sent on the destruction notice as they have to do? Resulting on thier neglect that i end up buying a CAT B which should have been a cube and the reg not existing right now.

That or the previous owner, they must have had prior knowledge of the CAT B (if its not a mistake) as i cant see a hire company buying a 2/3 year old van and not HPI checking it for finance more than anything due to its age. Surely they have a responsibility to ensure all vehicles are structurally sound in order to hire them to the public for profit...

My main gripe certainly stands with the insurer, should this be true. As far as i have read they have the responsibility to ensure the vehicle is destroyed (with pictures) and once they are satisfied of this the inform the DVLA and VOSA who complete the removal of the vehicle - this was not completed and has set the train of event going ever since.

The odd thing is i have checked the van back to front, the vin plates add up and look untouched, the welds and i have checked everywhere look factory and baring the odd scratch or slight knock i cannot see any major work which has been undertaken.
My next move is to take this to a friend who can really look at it and see if he can find anything but in the mean time is just costing me money.

Anyway sorry for the rant but after spending £3500 on a van i'm kinda bricking it finding this out and would appreciate all the help i can get (yes i know i should have HPI'd it but what’s done is done)


:w all::wal l:

 

wow!
lots of inconsistencies with the what should have been done and what has been done, cant really comment because i dont know what the true coarse of action was that should have been followed, but i "feel" the guys whos just bought the van will be out of pocket one way or another.

 

im assuming that he can get his money back from the dealer who sold it to him, due to "not fit for purpose" or whatever the law is

 

cat b vehicles do not need to be crushed unless a destruction order has been placed against them, they can be repaired and put back on the road, the cat b marker is then usually downgraded to a c or d

 

Insurance write-off categories
In the UK well over 500,000 vehicles are deemed a total loss or write off by insurance companies every year. Many of these however can be safely repaired but many can end up being returned to the road in dangerous condition. The insurance loss categories are listed below and explain how they are indicated on a vehicle data check. If you have doubts or to be absolutely certain that a vehicle is in a good roadworthy condition, it may be worth considering having a vehicle inspection done by the AA or RAC or one of the other accredited providers. I will look into inspections and perhaps add a inspection compare link in the future.

Insurance Loss Categories - Quick reference
* Category A - Must be crushed. All of it.
* Category B - Vehicle may not be returned to road but parts may be sold.
* Category C - Repairable. Significant damage. Cost of the repair is more than book value of vehicle at dealer rates.
* Category D - Repairable. Probably non-structural damage. May have been economic to repair, but insurer doesn't want to.
* Category X - Repairable. Minor Damage

Insurance Loss Categories - In detail
Category AThe vehicle may not be resold it must be crushed. Severely damaged, total burnout or flood damage with no serviceable parts, or already a stripped out shell. DVLA will require a Notification of Destruction.
Category B The vehicle may not be resold. It will have been damaged beyond economical repair, usually with major structural damage. The DVLA will require Notification of Destruction but parts can be removed and sold on.
Category C Repairable salvage. Usually applies to vehicles with significant damage and where the cost of repairs exceeds the book value. It can be sold for repair but must have VIC(Vehicle Identity Check) inspection before returning to the road. V5 documents are returned to DVLA and recorded as category C vehicles. You can re-apply for registration on the original identity once the VIC inspection has been done. VIC inspection and re-registration removes the Category C classification, but evidence it was at one time Category C remains on the vehicle's record at the DVLA and so will appear on a vehicle data check.

 

those are just guidelines used in the salvage and insurance industrys,
a salvage yard is not allowed to sell a cat b vehicle complete, but a private person in possesion of a cat b vehicle can repair it, take it to a vic test and get it reclassified to cat c, all flood damage cars for example are automatically cat b but the majority are repaired, reclassified and resold, i myself have handled some of these and had them put back on the road, the vic test is a lot more involved than one for a classc or d vehicle
im pretty sure james at motorsport developments used to vic test class b's and will confirm what i am saying. or you could just contact your local vic centre and they will tell you all you need to know

 

Could just beca mistake by the insures. Had this on a old 206 which was actually hpi clear

 

does a van need to be vic tested?? sounds silly but something tells me not???? if im being silly i apologise lol

 

i was reading about this sort of thing on "honest john's" website, about a chap who bought a cat-b BMW Z3 with water damage (fresh water) and he is fighting to get the car reclassified because it has no structual or body damage, no electrical damage as such, no dirty water (sewage) all it needed was a new interior and to dry out

 

i may have missed the point here but if your insurance company has a duty to ensure the vehicle is disposed of surely the previous owners insurance would have known about it and had the same duty.

 

YES