is it illegal to drive my car?

[chocolateshoes]

Last week someone drove into the back of my car. Great! Anyway the insurance say it is not economically worth repairing so it will be written off and they will make me an offer.

I thought it was ok to drive in that it drives fine! The main damage is to the boot & the rear bumper. However, the 2 little lights that light up the number plate don't work and I am wondering if it might be illegal to drive. It wouldn't be a problem during daylight but does this mean I can't drive at night until I can get it fixed?

Thanks!

You may not be insured either, if they have written it off

And yes, the number plate does have to be lit as I understand

Oh dear - thanls Fletch. Will I not be able to continue insuring it then do you think? This is such a pain! I did nothing wrong and I've got all the hassle!

This happened to me 2yrs ago. you will not be insured at the mo iirc.

if they payout, you will not have the car, obviously, but you do have the option of 'buying' it back from them, with a greatly reduced payout, and coughing up for the repair.

Depending on the level of damage it may need to be checked by vosa following repair before you can re-insure.

It is a real PITA, I was lucky, as the damage was just a corner of bumper and the light unit, but sourcing a replacement light unit took time, and I'm still trying to find a bumper in the same colour.

Would recommend requesting tjhe assessor comes to you, rather than they take the car. I did this, but still had probs with my insurers saying they had photos of the damages & the car was still at the brerakers yard( it had not left the drive and was behind 6' gates). If you plan on keeping the car it will stop them charging you for the breakers time.

oh my goodness! UI thought they'd offer me the value of the car and I'd keep the car thus using the money to contribute to repairs! This gets worse!

Assessor has already been (yesterday).

Its rare it ends up cost effective to put a car back on the road after its been declared an insurance write off.

You have to buy the car back, repair costs may go up if they discover problems, go through the DVLA etc to prove its roadworthy after repair and then some insurance companies wont cover the vehicle or will increase costs in order to do so. Cant remember of the top of my head what costs are involved re the DVLA inspections etc.

You need to see what they offer you and then work out all the costs and see if its worth it.

if it's not your fault you can ask the other persons insurance co (or get your legal co to ask for you) for a hire car for a bit while your money etc is sorted out.

you won't be insured on the car once it is declared a total loss i'm afraid

Thanks for the replies. They have said it is a roadworthy write-off. (Most of the damage had been done to the boot door.) They have offered me a price for salvage or less for having the car back. No one had mentioned DVLA inspection or it being uninsurable.