Skip to main content

Write-off & salvage check by VIN

Reveal whether the used car you're considering has ever been declared an insurance write-off, marked salvage, or carried major structural damage on the official record.

47+ country registries

900M+ inspection records cross-checked

What the write-off check tells you

There is no single pan-EU write-off database — each country handles totalled vehicles differently. Carlytics combines what is available: damage flags from cross-border inspection records, salvage-status entries in registries that publish them, structural-failure notes from periodic technical inspection, insurance write-off categorisations where exposed, and registry status codes that some countries assign to vehicles returning from total-loss settlement. For UK-history cars the report includes the Category A/B/N/S taxonomy in full: Category A means the vehicle is scrap-only and must be crushed entirely (not even parts may be recovered); Category B means parts may be salvaged but the structural shell must be destroyed; Category S indicates structural damage that has been or can be repaired with a proper engineering assessment; Category N covers non-structural damage repairable through standard bodywork. For continental cars the report surfaces the equivalent signals — German 'wirtschaftlicher Totalschaden' settlements, Italian 'perdita totale' insurance flags, Dutch 'WOK / wrak' classifications, Polish 'szkoda całkowita' marks, French 'véhicule économiquement irréparable' (VEI) entries — including registration-status changes that frequently follow a write-off settlement.

Why it matters for buyers

A previously written-off car may look immaculate but carry repaired structural damage that compromises crash performance and lowers resale value by 25-40%. Not every write-off is a deal-breaker, however: many sophisticated buyers deliberately seek out properly disclosed Category N or repaired Category S cars because they trade at a steep discount to clean-history equivalents and can be inspected before purchase. The principle is transparency — a disclosed repair at the correct price is a fair trade; an undisclosed repair at clean-history money is fraud. Write-off status also has ripple effects you may not expect. Most insurers charge 20-40% higher premiums on previously written-off cars; some refuse comprehensive cover altogether. Finance companies routinely decline loans on category S/N vehicles, forcing cash-only purchases. Trade-in valuations from franchised dealers can drop by half. And resale liquidity collapses — when you go to sell, only the same buyer profile that bought from you will buy from you. Honest disclosure of write-off history is a legal obligation on the seller in nearly every EU jurisdiction — failing to disclose is grounds for rescission within two years. If your VIN comes back write-off-flagged, the practical playbook is: ask the seller for the repair invoices and the engineering sign-off; have your own inspector examine the chassis rails, the airbag module status and the structural welds; renegotiate the price down by at least 25%; or walk away. The flag is a negotiation lever, not always an automatic disqualifier.

How Carlytics differs

carVertical surfaces some write-off data in its premium tier (EUR 24.99). Carlytics returns the same cross-registry write-off signals plus the UK Category taxonomy for EUR 8.90, with a plain-language explanation of what each signal means for safety, insurance, finance and resale value. Where the underlying data is thin we say so honestly rather than implying a clean history we cannot verify — better to admit an unknown than fabricate certainty. The report is delivered as a downloadable PDF you keep forever, no subscription, no time-boxed online-only access. We pull from 47+ country registries and cross-check against 900M+ inspection records.

Run a write-off check now

Enter the 17-character VIN. The full Carlytics report is EUR 8.90 — no subscription.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is every write-off recorded somewhere public in the EU?
No. Some EU countries publish write-off categorisations (UK, Netherlands, parts of Germany via insurer settlement registries), others handle settlement entirely inside the insurance industry without any public record. Carlytics tells you what data exists for the specific VIN, and is explicit when the registration country does not publish a categorisation.
What are UK Category A, B, N and S?
Category A is scrap only — the entire vehicle including parts must be crushed; nothing may be recovered. Category B can be broken for parts but the shell must be scrapped. Category N is non-structural damage, repairable through normal bodywork and re-registerable. Category S is structural damage, repairable but requires a documented engineering assessment before the car can return to the road. Cat N and S vehicles can legally be sold and driven; Cat A and B cannot.
Can a previously written-off car be safe to drive?
If it was Category N or properly repaired Category S, yes — but repair quality matters enormously. A well-repaired light write-off with documented bodywork may be perfectly safe and represent good value. A poorly repaired structural write-off with hidden filler and unwelded reinforcement panels is dangerous in any subsequent collision. Always have an independent inspection on a known write-off before purchase.
Does the seller have to declare a previous write-off?
In nearly every EU jurisdiction yes — non-disclosure of significant past damage is a material misrepresentation under consumer-sales law. The buyer typically has two years to rescind the contract and recover the purchase price. In the UK specifically, dealers must declare any Cat A/B/S/N history; in Germany the seller must disclose any 'erheblicher Mangel' which case law has held to include past total-loss settlement; equivalent obligations exist in France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland.
How big is the resale-value hit on a written-off car?
Typically 25-40% versus the same car with clean history, even after proper repair — and the gap widens with age because trade dealers will not stock written-off stock. Some informed buyers deliberately seek the discount; the trick is paying the discounted price, not the clean-history price.
What if no write-off data exists for the car?
The report says so honestly. Absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence — some countries do not publish write-off records at all, and a car last registered in those jurisdictions may have a clean visible record while still carrying undisclosed damage. We recommend backing the report up with a physical pre-purchase inspection in any cross-border purchase.
Are EV write-offs more risky than petrol/diesel?
Yes. EV write-offs often involve battery damage, which is hidden, expensive, and a fire risk. A bent battery pack can take months to develop a thermal event and post-collision battery integrity is poorly served by visual inspection. The report applies extra scrutiny to EV cases and we recommend never buying a previously written-off EV without a manufacturer-certified battery health report and current battery state-of-health verified at the dealer.

Related checks

Write-off / Salvage Check by VIN — Damage History | Carlytics