If your car is damaged but repairable, or has been written off by an insurer, it is usually worth more as salvage than as scrap. Salvage means the vehicle or its parts are sold on for reuse. Scrap means it is destroyed for its metal. The difference in what you are paid can be substantial.
Salvage or scrap? The difference matters
| Salvage | Scrap |
|---|
| What happens | Vehicle or parts sold on for reuse or repair | Vehicle destroyed and recycled for metal |
| Best for | Damaged but repairable, written off, low mileage, desirable model | End of life, uneconomic to repair, no resale demand |
| Certificate of Destruction | Not issued if the car is repaired and resold | Always issued |
| Typical value | Depends on the model and what is reusable | Weight and metal market, currently £226 on average |
Which is yours?
A few honest questions usually settle it.
Has an insurer written it off? Then it has a salvage category, and that category largely determines what happens next. See below.
Is the damage cosmetic or to one area? A car with front-end damage but a sound engine and gearbox is worth more to a salvage buyer than a scrap yard, because the undamaged parts have a market.
Is it a common model still on the road in numbers? Parts demand is what creates salvage value. A ten-year-old Ford Focus has a large parts market. A twenty-five-year-old model with few survivors does not.
Does it still run and drive? A running car with an MOT failure it is not worth fixing may still sell as salvage rather than scrap.
If the answer to all of those is no, it is a scrap car, and what scrap cars are currently paying will tell you roughly what to expect.
Insurance write-off categories
If an insurer has written your car off, it will have been given a category. These determine whether it can legally return to the road.
| Category | What it means | Back on the road? |
|---|
| Cat A | Scrap only. The entire vehicle must be crushed, including parts. | No |
| Cat B | Body shell must be crushed, but parts may be salvaged and reused. | No |
| Cat S | Structural damage, repairable. | Yes, once properly repaired |
| Cat N | Non-structural damage, repairable. | Yes, once properly repaired |
Cat S and Cat N replaced the older Cat C and Cat D in 2017. Older vehicles may still carry the previous markers.
Cat A and Cat B vehicles cannot be returned to the road, so their value is in parts and metal. Cat S and Cat N can be repaired and re-registered, which is why they generally hold the most value.
Selling a salvage vehicle
Three routes, and they suit different situations.
Keep the salvage from your insurer. If your car is written off, you can often buy back the salvage rather than let the insurer keep it. Your payout is reduced by the salvage value. This makes sense only if you intend to repair it or you know what the parts are worth.
Sell to a salvage buyer. Specialist buyers price on what the vehicle is worth broken or repaired, which for a repairable car is usually more than any scrap yard will offer.
Scrap it. If nothing on it has resale value, this is the simplest route, and the vehicle is handled through an Authorised Treatment Facility with a Certificate of Destruction issued.
One thing to get right before you sellWhichever route you take, make sure the DVLA is told and you know which document you will receive. A vehicle sold for salvage and repaired does not get a Certificate of Destruction, because it has not been destroyed. If you are told a car is being scrapped, you should receive one. If the paperwork does not match what you were told would happen, ask why before the vehicle leaves.
Common questions
Is salvage always worth more than scrap?
No. Salvage value comes from demand for the parts or the repaired vehicle. An old, common car with no parts demand and significant damage may be worth no more than its metal. The main exceptions are a working engine or an intact catalytic converter, which carry value in their own right.
Can I sell a Cat A or Cat B car?
Yes, but not for road use. A Cat A must be crushed entire. A Cat B can have parts removed before the shell is crushed. Both must go to an Authorised Treatment Facility.
Do I have to tell the DVLA if my car is written off?
Your insurer normally notifies the DVLA when they take ownership of a written-off vehicle. If you keep the salvage, the responsibility stays with you. Check rather than assume.
Does a write-off marker stay on the car forever?
Yes. It appears on the vehicle's record permanently and will show on any history check, which affects resale value even after a proper repair.
What if my car was damaged but never claimed on insurance?
Then it has no write-off category and is simply a damaged car. It can be sold, repaired or scrapped like any other vehicle.
Can you collect a car that has been in an accident?
Yes. Damaged and non-running vehicles are collected on a flatbed at no extra cost, anywhere in the UK.
Not sure whether yours is salvage or scrap?
Enter your registration for a guaranteed price, with free collection anywhere in the UK. Damaged and non-running vehicles included.
Get my priceWrite-off categories are set by the insurance industry under the ABI Code of Practice for the Categorisation of Motor Vehicle Salvage. Categories S and N replaced C and D in October 2017. Scrap payment figures cover 11,412 vehicles collected between 20 May and 20 August 2026. See also Certificate of Destruction, scrap car prices and where we collect.
