I'm getting it back on Monday as a Cat B. Once its repaired they'll send out their engineer to reclassify it as a Cat C if he deems the repairs sufficient. Regards Vertical

Thanks for the very interesting reply I'll have to look into being able to repair a Cat B as an individual. I've very recently seen a Cat B vehicle on sale on Ebay and thought it very dodgy at the time. Do you have an idea what engineers reports cost? I'm interested in taking it further as its Tescos and I'd like to do anything I can to chip into their profits (Besides not insuring with them as cheapest at the time) A reply by me to someone asking why I thought I was more qualified than the engineer "I base it on the fact that his reasoning is due to the corrosion/damage at the hinges. (They are actually hanging on only one hinge each. The remaining hinge also has corrosion the extra weight on this has damaged this hinge from within the door). He states that this reason and this reason alone is sufficient for it to be deemed too dangerous to go back on the road. My argument against this is that some vans have roller shutter doors, some are even open backed i.e. milkfloats, flatbeds etc. therefore The structural integrity of that area should not be of such significance to justify it being deemed too dangerous to go back on the road. I have considered the options of installing a roller shutter or welding up the two rear doors entirely (using the two side doors) but it will probably be quicker, easier and cheaper to just fix the doors and hinges probably with fabricating new hinges and at different mounting points where there is no corrosion." Vertical

It seems odd to me also that it needs to be looked at by an engineer to be reclassified after being repaired. As far as I'm aware, if its a cat B I shouldn't get it back because its break only and I don't have the correct license waste/breakers license. The original engineer said he wouldn't change it back and that he had't changed one in over 20 years. I appealed against this and was then told I could have it back but that I'd have to get it repaired and then checked, if the repairs were sufficient then it would be reclassified as a cat C. Vertical

Hi all. I was involved in an accident in March where whilst I was stopped at traffic lights a lady drove into me. Causing minor damage although the door hinges/area were allready suffering from corrosion, which when lifted by the accident snapped the remaining metal on the lower hinges. A cheap fix for me would have been knocking the bumper back into shape and repairing the hinges. Anyway they wrote it off as a "category B" which means it can never go back on the road and can only be bought by people with the breakers license. I wanted to be able to buy it back which I could have done if they had done it to a category C. I spoke to the engineer who was a @#$%, he said he thought it was too dangerous to put back on the road because of the doors. I told him it was ridiculous blah blah blah, he said he'd never recategorised a vehicle in 20 years. Anyway I've appealed and now they are saying I can buy it back. Once I get it back I'll need to get it repaired, call the insurers back up where an engineer can assess the repairs and then reclassify the van as a category C if they think the repairs are to a sufficient standard? Can they do this? Shouldn't they just give it me back as a Category C, as cars/vans are sold as cat c's without any conditions? Regards Vertical