Austin 7 values

[Zetomagneto]

Hi Emma

Thanks for your clarification of these important matters.

Re salvage retention, “repairable within DVLA guidlines” no problem with cat S or N but
cat A or B are not allowed to be retained , what happens when in that case?
Would the unfortunate claimant be allowed to dismantle the car so that the salvage yard only collected the chassis?

You can retain the registration number off a total loss car if the number is transferable, and the car has a
current MOT so for those partial to the registration it would be a good idea to keep the car MOT’d.
We all hope we won’t find ourselves in this position, but accidents do happen.

Best Wishes Gene

[RH Insurance]

Hi Emma

Thanks for your clarification of these important matters.

Re salvage retention, “repairable within DVLA guidlines” no problem with cat S or N but
cat A or B are not allowed to be retained , what happens when in that case?
Would the unfortunate claimant be allowed to dismantle the car so that the salvage yard only collected the chassis?

You can retain the registration number off a total loss car if the number is transferable, and the car has a
current MOT so for those partial to the registration it would be a good idea to keep the car MOT’d.
We all hope we won’t find ourselves in this position, but accidents do happen.

Best Wishes Gene

Hi Gene (Zetomagneto),

You're welcome.

In answer to your queries - 1 and 2 above:

1) Re salvage retention, repairable within DVLA guidelines” no problem with cat S or N but cat A or B are not allowed to be retained , what happens when in that case?
Would the unfortunate claimant be allowed to dismantle the car so that the salvage yard only collected the chassis?

"Category A salvage: scrap only. For cars so badly damaged they should be crushed and never re-appear on the road. Even salvageable parts must be destroyed.

Category B salvage: must be disposed of by a registered waste carrier. The vehicles are subject to a decontamination process and only useable parts can be retained. The decision about the parts that are useable can also only be decided by someone with a registered waste carriers licence. The engineer who categorises a vehicle is responsible for ensuring that it poses no danger to the policyholder & the general public. If RH (or any other insurer) were to allow customers to decide what parts are useable and one of those parts that goes back in to circulation and is unsafe to do so, there is a possibility that the part could fail and cause damage/injury or worse. The engineer that placed the category on the vehicle originally is the person that would be prosecuted for allowing the part to go back in to the market".

2) You can retain the registration number off a total loss car if the number is transferable, and the car has a
current MOT so for those partial to the registration it would be a good idea to keep the car MOT’d.
We all hope we won’t find ourselves in this position, but accidents do happen.

"The retention of the registration plate is mostly at the discretion of the DVLA. Usually this is fine, and the process can be completed online or by sending part of the V5C to the DVLA - notifying of your intention to retain the plate. As insurers, we (RH) never have any interest in the plate itself, merely the vehicle it is registered to. Therefore, if there was ever any issue we are more than happy to confirm in writing that we have no interest in the vehicle registration plate. This is very rarely required however".


I trust this answers your immediate queries, Gene. However, if you do have any other queries relating to motor insurance, you're welcome to contact me direct.

Emma Airey, Head of RH Insurance
emma.airey@hiscox.com

For general underwriting queries, the RH Underwriting team can be reached on: 0333 043 3911 / rh@ers.com.