Not every insurance write-off category means the same thing. Category S and Category N cars can be legally repaired and driven again. Category A and Category B are a different matter entirely — they're the two categories that should never end up back on the road, full stop.
Category A is the most severe: the vehicle must be crushed in its entirety. Nothing — not even parts — should be resold from it.
Category B means the body shell itself must be crushed, though some parts may legitimately be salvaged and resold separately for use in other vehicles.
Both categories exist because the damage or risk involved is severe enough that the vehicle is judged unsafe to ever be put back into use as a complete car — regardless of how good a repair job someone claims to have done.
Despite the rules, vehicles that should have been destroyed occasionally resurface — rebuilt, re-registered, or sold on with the history obscured, sometimes combined with a cloned identity from an unrelated clean vehicle (see our guide on cloned plates). This isn't common, but when it happens, it's about as serious a red flag as exists in the used car market: you'd potentially be looking at a vehicle that's both illegal to use and genuinely unsafe.
The reassuring news is that this is rare, and a proper check makes it straightforward to rule out. It's precisely because the consequences are so serious that it's worth never skipping this step, however clean a car looks in person.
Enter a registration and see exactly what's on record — official test history, mileage, ownership and more, from £2.99.
Check a registrationThis guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. See our Terms & conditions for what a Kleero report does and doesn't cover.