Car written off in mot centre !!

elaine373

I am sat here in shock as my car was put in for its mot this morning. When the tester drove the car onto the ramp, somehow he hit the accelerator too hard and ended up smahing the car into the wall. The airbag came out,the building wall is cracked and the car is a write off.My husband was there when it happened and he says its fortunate no-one was killed.We know the people who run the mot test centre and they are looking into giving me another car, maybe one of higher value but expect us to make up the difference.I went to see what had happened and asked about insurance etc. They are very laid back people,but i would like to know legally what are my rights. It was only a p reg astra but it was a good runner and all that i had.All anwsers gratefully received.Thanks.

vaio

Legally they have to put you back in the position you were in before they destroyed your car including any other costs (hire car etc) you incur because of the accident.

If they are willing to give you a newer car it is reasonable you pay the difference but equally you can just take the money for your car and go else where to get your new one.

I would have thought that embarrassment would mean they’d do you a really good deal but if you put all the details on here people will advise

Ebe_Scrooge

That sounds nasty !

A couple of things spring to mind. Firstly, the garage must have insurance to cover this - public liability insurance at the very least. Really it's up to them to sort this out. If they offer to give you a higher value car in replacement, fair enough, but you shouldn't have to pay anything.

The problem with insurance is, you'll usually receive a sum based on the market value of your car, which may well be a lot less than the car is actually worth to you personally.

Do you have legal cover on your own insurance policy ? If you do I would strongly suggest you give your own insurance a call, explain the situation and ask them for advice.

Ultimately the least stressful way for you will be if you can sort it out amicably with the garage, but if they start being obstructive then you'll have to involve your own insurance company. I'm tempted to say call your own insurance anyway, just to make sure that everything you do is above board, then there can be no comeback on you.

dacouch

vaio wrote: »

Legally they have to put you back in the position you were in before they destroyed your car including any other costs (hire car etc) you incur because of the accident.

If they are willing to give you a newer car it is reasonable you pay the difference but equally you can just take the money for your car and go else where to get your new one.

I would have thought that embarrassment would mean they’d do you a really good deal but if you put all the details on here people will advise

The only problem with Motor Trade Insurance is the Insurers normally exclude paying for the costs of credit hire vehicles. The credit hire companies know this and will check if there is cover in place for this. If there is not cover for hire vehicles the credit hire company won't hire the car. The option then is to hire a car personally and then try and sue the garage for it which can be difficult.

I have seen a few of these cases and the garage will generally arrange a courtesy car (Normally not a great car) to tide you over. The chances are they will pay for a P reg car themselves rather than go through the Insurance and pay their excess and their premium go up.

vaio

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

That sounds nasty !

A couple of things spring to mind. Firstly, the garage must have insurance to cover this - public liability insurance at the very least. Really it's up to them to sort this out. If they offer to give you a higher value car in replacement, fair enough, but you shouldn't have to pay anything..

Wrong, google "betterment"

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

....The problem with insurance is, you'll usually receive a sum based on the market value of your car, which may well be a lot less than the car is actually worth to you personally.

Do you have legal cover on your own insurance policy ? If you do I would strongly suggest you give your own insurance a call, explain the situation and ask them for advice.

Ultimately the least stressful way for you will be if you can sort it out amicably with the garage, but if they start being obstructive then you'll have to involve your own insurance company. I'm tempted to say call your own insurance anyway, just to make sure that everything you do is above board, then there can be no comeback on you.

As for the rest, I’d put off involving your insurance company and see what the garage offer.

I think there might be something special about accidents whilst the car is in the care and control of a garage (Dacouch will be along soon and he’ll know)

vaio

dacouch wrote: »

The only problem with Motor Trade Insurance is the Insurers normally exclude paying for the costs of credit hire vehicles. The credit hire companies know this and will check if there is cover in place for this. If there is not cover for hire vehicles the credit hire company won't hire the car. The option then is to hire a car personally and then try and sue the garage for it which can be difficult..

but this doesn't alter the fact that they will be liable for hire car costs, assuming they don't provide a courtesy car.

dacouch wrote: »

....I have seen a few of these cases and the garage will generally arrange a courtesy car (Normally not a great car) to tide you over. The chances are they will pay for a P reg car themselves rather than go through the Insurance and pay their excess and their premium go up.

I suppose it depends on the sort of insurance and the damage to the building, paying for a P reg car is one thing, paying a £10k rebuilding cost is different.

Is there something special about accidents "whilst in the care and control of a garage"? I seem to remember this being speciffically mentioned in my policy but can't remember the details

rev_henry

vaio wrote: »

Is there something special about accidents "whilst in the care and control of a garage"? I seem to remember this being speciffically mentioned in my policy but can't remember the details

I think you might be referring to the clause which insures you to drive a courtesy car given to you by a garage whilst your own car is in the care and control of said garage.

McKneff

I wouldn't ring your insurance company up yet, even for advice.
It will go down as a nil£ claim on your file even if you havent claimed and your policy premium will go up regardless. Just wait and see for the moment.

dacouch

vaio wrote: »

but this doesn't alter the fact that they will be liable for hire car costs, assuming they don't provide a courtesy car.



I suppose it depends on the sort of insurance and the damage to the building, paying for a P reg car is one thing, paying a £10k rebuilding cost is different.

Is there something special about accidents "whilst in the care and control of a garage"? I seem to remember this being speciffically mentioned in my policy but can't remember the details

It does not affect their liability for car hire costs, but they will struggle to find a credit hire company that will loan them a car as they only hire out cars when they know they can recover it from an Insurance company. They won't hire a car where they have to sue an individual or a company eg the motortrader for the costs. I've seen quite a few of these cases and have not seen a credit hire vehicle arranged once.

The only Motor Trade Insurer I know who include Loss of Use of customers cars is Aviva and its subject to the garage replacing or repairing the vehicle as soon as is reasonably possible

As you said the garage are technically liable for a hire car (Providing one is needed) so the OP can hire one themselves and try and recover the costs from the garage but they have the chance of ending up out of pocket.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

McKneff wrote: »

I wouldn't ring your insurance company up yet, even for advice.
It will go down as a nil£ claim on your file even if you havent claimed and your policy premium will go up regardless. Just wait and see for the moment.

Not always. Mine didn't.