For some of us we may assume that once our car has been involved in an accident and our insurance company has decided it is beyond economical repair and so pays out on the claim to replace the vehicle, that your old car would be transported to that old scrap yard in the sky, never to be seen again.

Well for some cars, that is exactly what happens, but there is a huge amount of vehicles, that are offered back out to the trade to be repaired and put back on the road. So when is an "insurance write off", actually deemed as uneconomical to repair? Surely if it was not economical to repair as an insurance payout, why is it offered out to trade at a later date, as if it is?

The answer lies within the margins to repair cars. In better words, if you are in the trade, already have the required equipment, have the knowledge and the tools, it is very possible to repair insurance write offs and make a profit. However, if you are a private individual and take your accident damaged car to a dealer, who expects to make a good profit from the insurance company for the repair, then this is another matter.

Most insurance companies' auction off their insurance write offs, but not just to anyone, only to the trade. In many cases, these cars are in fact dismantled and taken off the road, by the licensed breakers who buy them. But it is also true, that some vehicles are bought, repaired and then sold on as a safe car. These cars remain on the insurance write off register, to state at some time they were off the road, to protect future owners, some X category cars, do not and no one would ever know they had at one time, been part of an insurance claim.

These X category cars, are the best to buy if you can get a hold of one cheap, because they have the least amount of damage to them and in some cases no damage at all. Often these cars have been stolen and recovered after the insurance claim was paid out. So if you are looking for that insurance write off to buy and do up yourself, be aware that these cars are no always cheap.

Unless you are in the trade, you are unlikely to be able to buy a insurance write off car direct. It is most likely, that you will need to buy the car from a licensed breaker, who has bought the car first and then added his margin of profit.

You will then need to ask yourself, why this person in the trade has chosen not to put the car on the road himself; after all he could make good profit from it. You should also consider the amount of time it will take to repair the car, and how that vehicle will be deprecating in value throughout. It may hold a good profit now, but will it in 6 months, if the only time you are working on the car is spare weekends.

The truth is, there are some people who make good money, fixing up insurance write offs, but most people do not make their money back, when they consider the tools, parts, electricity and incidentals they had not planned for.