Written Off Vehicle Data
You can only reveal full written off vehicle information by purchasing a Silver or Gold vehicle history check.
Our write off data comes from a database known as MIAFTR (Motor Insurance Fraud and Theft Register) and includes a record of
UK vehicles that insurance companies have recorded as being 'written off'.
Pre 1st October 2017 Classifications
If a vehicle was written off before 1st October 2017 it will be classified as A, B, C or D.
Summary
- Category A - Total Loss (no salvageable parts)
- Category B - Total Loss (some salvageable parts)
- Category C - Vehicle damaged but repairable (more severe than Category D)
- Category D - Vehicle damaged but repairable
Detail
The definition of each category can be found in the table below:
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Category A |
Category B |
Category C |
Category D |
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What does this category mean?
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The vehicle has not been repaired following extreme damage. It was deemed too damaged to be repaired with little
or no salvageable parts.
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The vehicle has not been repaired following significant damage. It was deemed too damaged to be repaired but
has some salvageable parts.
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This vehicle was repairable, but the repair costs exceeded the vehicle value. The insurer chose not to repair
for economic reasons.
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This vehicle was repairable, but the repair costs were significant compared to the vehicle value. The insurer
chose not to repair for economic reasons.
|
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Why may the insurer not have repaired the vehicle?
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The inspecting engineer considered the vehicle extensively damaged and therefore unrepairable. It has little
or no salvageable parts.
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The inspecting engineer considered the vehicle too damaged to be repaired, however the spare parts are deemed safe to
reuse and hold value.
|
The inspecting engineer considered the vehicle repairable, however the costs exceeded the pre-accident value of
the vehicle. This marker is not an indication that a vehicle is un-roadworthy, but that the insurance company
involved in the claim has made the decision not to repair it purely for economic reasons.
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The inspecting engineer considered the vehicle repairable, however the costs were fairly significant (i.e. greater
than 50 % of the pre-accident value). This marker is not an indication that a vehicle is un-roadworthy, but that
the insurance company involved in the claim has made the decision not to repair it purely for economic reasons.
|
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What scale of damage may the vehicle have had?
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This vehicle would have had extreme damage e.g. burnt out, completely destroyed, extreme chassis or bodyshell/frame
damage or totally submerged in water. The insurer considered this vehicle to have NIL value.
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This vehicle would have had significant damage e.g. extensively damaged, bent chassis or bodyshell/frame or half
submerged in water. The insurer considered this vehicle to have some value as salvageable parts (e.g. greater
than £50).
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The damage level varies greatly for a Cat C vehicle. The damage may be quite extensive (but not structural) on
a fairly new car, however in contrast the damage may be very light on an old car. This vehicle may have been
submerged in water up to the floor level. This category simply states that the insurer chose to not repair the
vehicle for economic reasons.
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The damage level varies considerably for a Cat D vehicle. The damage may be quite significant on a fairly new car,
however in contrast the damage may be very light on an old car. This category is purely an economically constructed
total loss. It simply states that the insurer chose to not repair the vehicle for economic reasons.
|
Post 1st October 2017 Classifications
If a vehicle was written off after 1st October 2017 it will be classified as A, B, S or N.
Summary
- Category A - Total Loss (no salvageable parts)
- Category B - Total Loss (some salvageable parts)
- Category S - Vehicle has been damaged structurally, vehicle is repairable
- Category N - Vehicle has been damaged. The damage to the vehicle has been noted as non-structural and the vehicle is repairable
Detail
The definition of each category can be found in the below table:
|
Category A (SCRAP) |
Category B (BREAK) |
Category S (STRUCTURAL) |
Category N (NON STRUCTURAL) |
|
What does this category mean?
|
This vehicle has been inspected by an appropriately qualified person, declared unsuitable or beyond repair and has been
identified to be crushed in its entirety.
This vehicle is deemed not suitable to be repaired. Must be crushed without any parts being removed.
This vehicle will be classed as waste.
|
This vehicle has been inspected by an appropriately qualified person and declared unsuitable or beyond repair.
The vehicle is deemed not suitable to be repaired. Usable parts can be recycled. This vehicle will be classed as waste.
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This vehicle has been inspected by an appropriately qualified person and declared suitable for repair.
Repairable vehicle which has sustained damage to any part of the structural frame or chassis and the
insurer/ self-insured owner has decided not to repair the vehicle.
|
This vehicle has been inspected by an appropriately qualified person and declared suitable for repair.
Repairable vehicle which has not sustained damage to the structural frame or chassis and the
insurer/self-insured owner has decided not to repair the vehicle.
While the damage to the vehicle has been noted as non-structural,
there may still be some safety critical items that require replacement e.g. steering and suspension parts.
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Stolen/Recovered Vehicle Data
This data also comes from two sources:
-
The Police National Computer - the police database that records all vehicles reported to the police as stolen.
-
MIAFTR (Motor Insurance Fraud and Theft Register) - when an insurance firm becomes aware that
a vehicle is stolen they place a marker against the vehicle in the MIAFTR database. Similarly, if the vehicle is
recovered, but classified as a total loss (see above).
|
Theft/Stolen |
Recovered - Total Loss |
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What is this loss type?
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This vehicle was recorded with a theft marker on the date provided. It does not necessarily indicate that the
vehicle remains stolen.
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This vehicle was recorded as a theft and subsequently recovered on the date provided. The vehicle upon recovery
was deemed a total loss by the insurer. Please see category descriptions above for further information.
|
Outstanding Finance Data
Outstanding finance data confirms whether or not a vehicle has a current secured finance agreement registered
against it. If a vehicle has a financial agreement registered against it, such as Hire Purchase or Personal Contract Purchase (PCP).
We also provide the contact details of the lender providing the finance and information about the finance agreement itself so you
can contact the lender directly.
If a vehicle has outstanding finance you will need to ensure that the seller settles the finance before you consider buying the car.
If you buy a vehicle with outstanding finance you could run the risk of the lender repossessing it from you as legal owner.
Outstanding Finance Data is provided by Experian Ltd. Experian Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct
Authority. Experian Ltd is registered in England and Wales under company registration number 653331. Registered office
address: The Sir John Peace Building, Experian Way, NG2 Business Park, Nottingham, NG80 1ZZ.
Vehicle Specification Data
All of our vehicle specification data is derived from the
DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency).
Along with data about the vehicle itself the DVLA also provides insight into the history of the vehicle. It contains public sector
information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Some of the important data contained in this dataset includes:
- Imported
- Exported
- Scrapped
- Unscrapped
- Colour changes
- Plate changes
- V5C Issue Date
You can see a list of the full 47 data fields contained within this dataset by reading:
The DVLA bulk data-set information for vehicles buyers
CO2 Emissions and Fuel Economy Data
This data is supplied openly by the VCA and contains lots of useful information about the
CO2 emissions, fuel economy and running costs of a vehicle. It is shared as public sector information licensed under
the Open Government Licence v3.0.
We convert this data into a useful certificate that you can use to compare between vehicles.
(See example below)
Vehicle Safety Branch Recalls Data
This data is also supplied by the VCA and is again shared as public sector information
licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
If a fault is discovered in a vehicle make or model after manufacture it might be recalled. Safety recalls can be very serious and
ignoring them can lead to the issue getting worse and the vehicle becoming dangerous to drive. The data contains information on the
makes and models affected and descriptions of issue that has led to the safety recall.
Vehicle Crime Geo-Location Data
This data is supplied by the police forces of the UK via the Police.uk API.
We enable users of totalcarcheck.co.uk to enter a location on our free
Car Crime Map, which may be a post code, town or street name and then
we display them a map outlining the number of vehicle crimes that have been recorded in that area.
The data contains the following fields:
- Date of reported crime
- Street or location of reported crime
- Outcome Status
MOT Data
This data is supplied by the DVSA. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
This data reveals any historic and current MOT test data, it reveals MOT passes, failures and advisory notices. It also reveals
the mileage as recorded on the odometer at the time of the MOT test.
