If your car or van has been involved in an accident recently you may have been surprised to find out how even quite minor damage can deem your vehicle a write-off. But what constitutes a write-off and did you know that there are different categories of write-off?
In fact, there are four categories of write-off: A, B, S and N. The last two categories changed on 1 October from C and D respectively. On that date, as a result of an ABI review, the focus shifted from simply looking at the cost of a repair to structural damage that affects the safety of the vehicle.
What do each of the categories mean?
Category A
This category hasn’t changed and means the vehicle should be scrapped. Damage is so bad, the whole vehicle needs to be crushed and there are no salvageable parts.
Category B
This category hasn’t changed. The body shell needs to be crushed but, although there is significant damage, there may be some salvageable parts which could be used in other road worthy vehicles.
Category S
This has changed from Category C and means the vehicle has sustained structural damage. Examples of damage that fall into this category include a chassis that has been twisted or bent, or a crumple zone that has collapsed on the impact of an accident.
As well as being classified as a Category C write-off after an accident, vehicles are often written off in the same way if they have suffered flood or fire damage. Often, although the vehicle is repairable, it is simply uneconomical to do so.
Category N
This has changed from Category D. Vehicles written off under Category N may only have light damage. Certainly they won’t have structural damage; but it could be cosmetic or electrical faults that are simply too expensive to repair.
What should you do if you have an accident?
At Anthony Jones we believe that the sooner you can tell us that you need to make a claim, the sooner we can help to sort it out and get you back on the road.
This is why we have introduced a new claims notification tool that allows you to alert us of an accident, simply and quickly – as soon as it happens. And we’ll be with you every step of the way, to make sure it is as stress and hassle-free as possible.
