Confusing Insurance Problem

Hi all, i joined this forum after a mate of mine found it, and told me that it was full of information and it may help resolve my problem. I bought a Series 1 mk1 golf early 2004 and treated it to a small restoration, including a full respray. When i finally got time to it, i tried insuring the, which i did.

However after a week or so i got a phone call that my car had been written off nearly 10years ago. This resulting in the insurance company cancelling my insurance. So i was advised to do a check with AA for HPI etc which i did and it said the car was involved in a accident in 1997 CAT-B.

To my shock when I bought the car from its previous owner whos an old mate it was fine and it appeared to be in good shape nothing to say it was a CAT-B. However he only had the car for few months and he didnt insure it as it was on sorn. Now he told me that the previous owners (owners 1 and 2) were father and son, and at the time of 1997 it was in ownership of the second owner. I'm the forth and my mate was third.

Now my question is what has gone wrong?? I'v checked with DVLA by a visit. They claim the car is in perfect condition and they have never been notified in the past years of the car ever being written off. They told me that the DVLA system and Insurance system are 2 diffrent things. That the insurance company at that time are responsible for it.

So somewhere along the lines the 2nd owner has messed up. If he had an accident in 1997 and sold the car in running condition and Roadtax etc to my mate in 2004, what has he been doing with it in between the years?

Has anyone had this sort of problem before or am i the first lol? I'm stuck with a car restored that i cant drive.  

Who phoned you and said it was Cat B?

The insurance and DVLA databases aren't different - insurance companies 'buy' a data link to DLVA. Same as finance companies, and others who do HPI checks. Its possible that they may run an offline copy of the database, for cost reasons, but it will be updated every now and again, and if you ask for it you can have it rechecked. In any case, 2 offline copies (AA and insurance company) seem to agree on the status!

It sounds like the DVLA were notified of its Cat B but have lost the original notification - in other words, they've erroneously entered it as a Cat B a long time ago, and the letter/etc they were sent has fallen down the back of the DVLA sofa, or something.

You will need to submit your car for a VIC and apply for its reregistration on original details, also since Cat B will always be recorded on the system, you should also complain to DVLA and say it was put on in error and its marker be permanently removed/reversed.

Unless it was Cat B????????

hi paul, i was notified by the insurance company brokers HIC who did my insurance through chaucer. I rang AA up and they gave me details to the insurance company that made that statement of it being a Cat-B, that insurance cpmapny was called group ama?  :dontknow: Who i rang up for hours and hours while they put me on hold to talk to their bosses. They came to the conclution that the car was written off, they dont know how or what the damage was, as they have no information as it was nearly 10years ago. Their systems dont tell them anything.

The DVLA told me that the insurance company need to remove the Cat-B statement. I offered to have my car checked by dvla they looked at it and said theirs no point. Some one told me to do a VOSA check? would that help.

My worries are that i have spent loads on the car and I dont want the insurance company of 1997 called group ama, to send a letter to dvla claiming the car is a write off just to get me of their backs. As the guy i spoke to said that they could do that.  

DVLA just keep the data, they don't look at cars. VOSA look at cars but don't keep the data - they give give it to DVLA.

If a car is a Cat-C write off, it needs to undergo a VIC (by VOSA) before DVLA will reregister it. I've heard conflicting info around whether they'll reregister a Cat-B write off.  A good place to start would be VOSA.

do you have the log book? my mkiv is salvage i brought it from the auctions in 2002, it has been tax'd insured and mot'd since then and i have found out in the last month it's cat b so shouldn't of been sold, however it is on the road i have the log book its never been refused insurance, and a phone call to the salvage auction resulted in them saying we'll get it changed to cat c. i think you need to contact all the previous owners to find out if it has been a write off, then you need to contact the people who complie the register if they have made a mistake. if they will change mine to a c i can't see why they won't do yours, if one of the owners is awear it was writen off and they sold it then, the liability lies with them. and may need to go to court.

Hi mate yup i was sold the car with a log book, when i bought the car i put it on sorn for a year and abit so i never ever expected it to be a cat-b and didnt do a hpi check before i bought it as i'd have thought its a old car, the car had its original vin plate chasie stamp, and the number plates also looked like they were on the car for a very long time.

I'm unable to get hold of the 1st or 2nd owner and my mate can not find their address either, the insurance company say it would have been the 2nd owner but can not give information to me due to data protection act.

the dvla can give you the details you have to pay and have good reason, but i think you have.

I'm going to be writing to the dvla and also will request the name and address of the 1+2nd owner, and i'll see what happens. To be honest, i dont even know where to start, every phonecall i have made to AA, or previous insurance etc is just a circle.