Had an accident and MOT has run out. - update!

[OrmRenewed]

DH and I decided not to claim for the costs of our car damage yesterday because we had no MOT. But we've been told it's going to cost between £1200 and £1500 and we have plenty of things we'd rather spend it on.

So what are the likely risks of claiming under the circumstances?

1. They refuse to pay up.
2. The only pay part of it.
3. They refuse to reinsure us and it will be impossible to get insured elsewhere?

Was quite chuffed when the mechanic told me that in all his years of rallying he'd never manage to break a steering rack . He also reckoned the other car must have been going way too fast to have done that much damage (which I thought at the time)

Advice please. Pretty please.

Orm - I saw this yesterday and felt for you. The only thing I wonder is when you say "He also reckoned the other car must have been going way too fast to have done that much damage (which I thought at the time)"

Could that be evidence? I remember you saying the other woman was sure you had pulled out, but you weren't. Why aren't you as sure she was going too fast? And did you think she had whiplash? If so, sure as eggs is eggs that will be mentioned in her claim... Can the mechanic detail the damage?

(As for the amount, well I've never owned a car worth more than 2 grand, so I would probably be buying a new one!)

It could be merrylegs. I really don't want it to get nasty though. I don't care which insurance company pays up TBH. I just don't want to lose my right to insurance.

I think they'd either pay or not pay. I'm sure you could argue that your lack of MOT was not a causual factor in the accident. When did MOT run out?

I don't think they would refuse to reinsure you. If I were you I'd ring them and ask them. Be honest about the MOT. They're

only likely to refuse to reinsure you if you try to claim and not tell them about the MOT, if they then found out and thought you were pulling a swift one they may not be happy. You could always claim ignorence I suppose, pretend you still hadn't realised? Do insurance companies ask for proof of MOT, etc if you claim? Or are they linked to the DVLA and would know if you had an MOT?

Would be a shame if they didn't pay up because of this when you've been paying your premiums in good faith.

Thanks spotty. We won't be attempting to lie to them, just not claim. But it's a bit more than we expected! They would know we don't have an MOT if they bothered to check as it's computerised now.

DH is more worried about it than I am TBH. I think the worst that will happen is they will refuse to pay.

It ran out on 3rd March. And no problems with the car. In good nick as far a I know.

Won't there have to be a claim for the damager to her car/person anyway?

The worst that can happen is that they say you were uninsured, as having a vaild MOT is a condition of the insurance and then you can be charged with driving without insurance, but I don't know if they'll check, or whether they have some sort of exceptions agreement if it's only a few days.

What does your policy say?

There might be lisbey. Although as it wasn't my 'fault' as such they might claim on their own. Apparently not having an MOT does not invalidate insurance neccessarily - as long as the car is road-worthy.

The penalty for driving a vehicle on the road with an expired MOT certificate is a fixed penalty notice from the police, currently £60, or a court fine up to a maximum of a £1,000.

Probably not what you want to hear...

Well I think I got away with it. I presented all my docs to the police yesterday and nothing happened. From what I've seen on t'internet it's discretionary.

The thing is it's not up to you between you to decide who is at fault. It's the insurance companies decision and they'll need to talk to each other if either of you claim.
At a guess I wouldnt have thought much would happen as people must make these mistakes all the time.

How can you claim on insurance you don't have?

Eh? I do have insurance fab. I just don't have a current MOT certificate. It lapsed at the beginning of the month.

But isn't a condition of your insurance having valid current MOT certificate?

The Certificate of Motor Insurance which provides evidence that you have taken out insurance as required by law and in the event of a claim shows that you were legally entitled to drive the car at the time and location of the incident.

You are not legally entitled to drive a car without valid MOT

Well that seems to be debatable clarice. You have to have a roadworthy car - but your car can have an MOT and then develop a problem which makes it unroadworthy. But I know I will only know the answer if I ask the insurers

I thought no MOT invalidated your insurance?

Good info here;

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=417682

Well I'll go and argue with the police officer at the station then

i wouldnt be to sure that you have got away with it. the officer said something along the lines of 'is this the only one you have' didnt they?.

this to me means they noticed it is out of date and you will be given whatever penalty it is due im afraid.

okay

Yes I saw that too:

"This thread was of great help to me so i thought i'd post my story so others can learn from it.

The answer is NO! An expired MOT does NOT invalidate your insurance even if your car is a write off. As previously mentioned earlier in this thread, under FSA rules an insurer cannot refuse to pay out because of an expired MOT unless they can prove that:

a fault exists that an MOT would have picked up AND
that fault contributed to the crash
I noticed after writing my car off that my MOT was 11 days out of date. Panic ensued, but after reading this thread i was cheered. I phoned my insurance company who said that in the worst case scenario, they would drop my settlement amount by 20%. That's WORST case, so not so bad. But because it was only 11 days, they said that amount would be negotiable.

Do not panic. An insurer cannot refuse to pay out because of an expired MOT. Just tell them the moment you realise and you can still get a decent settlement."

I am hoping this is still true.

Is it possible to put the car through an MOT now, or is there too much damage? My reasoning is that if it passes an MOT, then you could say that it was an administrative type error, and the car was road worthy at the time of the accident?

It's being MOTed now whilst the accident damage is being fixed. But not sure that will work. I think fessing up (or not claiming ) are the only options.

I quoted directly from my insurance policy.

Whilst the MOT certificate does not ensure the road worthiness of the car at the time of the accident it is a legal requirement that you have a valid one - ie one that last a year. You do not have a valid MOT certificate - immaterial if your car is roadworthy or not.

Is the car driveable? take it to garage for MOT and say accident happened on the way there