Is owner informed if car is made Cat C ?

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Wed 31 Dec 2008 22:19
Is owner informed if car is made Cat C ? - astrabob
Just over 3 years ago, my wife bought a fairly old Citroen ZX from a friend. We received a vehicle registration document (V5) after a couple of weeks.

Because it was a cheap car, she only got third party, fire & theft insurance.

A few months later, someone drove into the back of it. We claimed against the other driver's insurers, and received a sum of money. Because the damage was cosmetic, we kept the car.

When it was time to renew the tax disc, we did not receive a reminder. (At the time, I asked if she had seen it, but she couldn't remember). I renewed the tax at the post office anyway. A year later, we again did not receive a reminder.

When we sold the car, we obviously handed the appropriate part of the V5 to the new owner, and sent the correct part to the DVLA. We did not receive a letter from the DVLA saying that we had sold it. We did telephone the DVLA, who confirmed that my wife was listed as a previous owner.

Subsequently, the replacement to the ZX was written off. In this case, because we decided to keep it, we received some documentation from our own insurers. It stated that because it was listed as 'Cat C' we would need to carry out a VIC check. (Vehicle Identity Check). I also now understand that if a car is 'Cat C', you don't automatically get a tax reminder.

This made me think that the original third party insurers had made by wife's Citroen ZX a 'Cat C' write off.

Surely, if an insurer declares a vehicle a 'Cat C' write off, they have a responsibility to write to the owner / registered keeper to tell them?

Surely, the DVLA should also write.

Why do the DVLA not send tax reminders to the keeper of a 'Cat C' car, but you can renew the tax anyway?

It seems an odd system, given that ideally when your car is declared 'Cat C', you should have a VIC check carried out.
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Thu 1 Jan 2009 07:55
Is owner informed if car is made Cat C ? - oldnotbold
Can a third party's insurers declare your vehicle a Cat C, and without your knowledge? I doubt it. Your own insurers can, as they take ownership of the car, hence the expression "buy it back".

Perhaps your car was a victim of a DVLA computer gremlin. I can't imagine that all Cat C cars drop off the tax disc reminder system.
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Thu 1 Jan 2009 09:10
Is owner informed if car is made Cat C ? - martint123
Can a third party's insurers declare your vehicle a Cat C, and without your knowledge

If they pay out then they can. You will have to have a proper read of the documents that came with the payout.
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