Insurance write-off check
Cat S and Cat N cars are legal to buy — but they should sell for 20–40% less than a clean one. Check the write-off history before you agree a price.
An insurance write-off is the insurer's judgement that repair costs were more than the car was worth. That can be a scrape at low speed (Cat N) or serious structural damage that was later welded back together (Cat S). Either way, the market discounts the car — and if the repair was botched, safety systems and crash structures may not perform as designed.
The Full Buyer Protection Check flags all four historical categories (S, N, C, D) against the VIN, so you can either walk away or negotiate an honest price.
Cat S means structural damage that was repaired. Cat N means non-structural damage. Cat C and Cat D are the older equivalents used before October 2017 — Cat C is repairable damage that was uneconomic to repair, Cat D is lighter damage that still made the car uneconomic. Any category tells you the insurer decided the car was not worth fixing at some point.
Yes — repaired Cat S and Cat N cars can be re-registered with the DVLA and driven on the road. But they typically lose 20–40% of market value, insurance can cost more, and any hidden repair quality is on you as the new owner.
Yes. If the vehicle has an insurance write-off record, the report shows the exact category (S, N, C or D) and, where available, the date it was recorded.
Full Buyer Protection Check from £8.90 — finance, write-off and theft included.
See report packages