As you are perusing car sales sites a pertinent question of the chap in the suit may be in order, the response and attitude to which will tell you whether to tarry awhile or make a sharp exit.

Not all seriously damaged cars appear on an HPI check.

Some large companies only insure their cars 3rd party.

Having thousands of cars they "self insure" for their own damage i.e. they pay for repairs where their employee is to blame. Where the car is more expensive to repair than the value of the car then the wreck is sold off - it has not been paid out for by an insurer and therefore will not appear on HPI checks - it can therefore be repaired and appear on a forecourt with a clean history.

Ok thanks all. Is it required to state in the description if the vehicle has had any Cat defects or repairs carried out.

The seller of a used car may not know, can't tell you unless informed by whoever he bought it from or has paid for a thorough history check

It's just one more possible issue which you risk when buying a used car.

Edited by galileo on 05/11/2020 at 16:37

It’s only worth buying a registered category accident car if you plan to keep it for its life expectancy. Future part ex value will be considerably low.

This will depend on when the accident damage occurred. If the car was fairly young damage would need to be substantial to cause write-off, but after 6 or 8 years, when the car's value has dwindled, it can easily be written off after quite superficial damage. So you need to find out some details to make a valid decision.

My own car was written off and repaired at 9 years old, and three years later is still running as well as before. Its residual value will be small, but there is nothing wrong with the car.