Out of date MOT

KillerWatt

200888 wrote: »

what if you end up having an accident because your car is not roadworthy

What makes you think that a car is roadworthy just because it has a current MOT?

The ONLY thing the MOT test proves is that the TESTABLE items were functioning correctly at the EXACT moment in time the test was carried out.
The MOT certificate is not worth the paper it is written on, and it tells you that (in slightly nicer words) on the test certificate itself.

Paperwork aside, the driver has a legal obligation to ensure their vehicle is roadworthy EVERY single time they use it on a public road.

property.advert

Sign up for M&S online, not an account, just register as if you would for home shopping. They will send you an email for all your calendar dates and perhaps even SMS you as well. Certainly an email. I did it and forgot something and was reminded. Quite useful.

Kilty_2

property.advert wrote: »

Sign up for M&S online, not an account, just register as if you would for home shopping. They will send you an email for all your calendar dates and perhaps even SMS you as well. Certainly an email. I did it and forgot something and was reminded. Quite useful.

O2 Calendar does this (SMS alerts) if you're an O2 customer.

raskazz

ginnersinner wrote: »

You must also remember the difference between being criminally uninsured (ie no cover for the purposes of the Road Traffic Act) and unlikely to receive a payout in the event of an accident (civil/contract dispute)

The Road Traffic Act pretty much bars insurance companies from removing their minimum third-party cover obligation under the law for any reason - meaning that having no MOT doesn't mean you'll get a summons for no insurance - but if your T&Cs say you must have an MOT, then if you don't you'll get no payout in the event of an accident.

This is clearly to protect innocent parties from a situation where an insurance company could refuse to pay for that person's damages in cases of non-MOT'd drivers crashing into them where it's not the third party's fault.

So it depends on what you mean by 'invalidate' really.

Lack of MOT does not invalidate insurance but this is not due to the Road Traffic Act's requirements in terms of liabilities to third parties. The reason why a lack of MOT does not invalidate insurance is because:

FSA rules state that an insurer cannot (except in the case of fraud) reject a claim on grounds of breach of warranty or condition unless the circumstances of the loss are connected to the breach.

Thus an insurer cannot reject a claim due to lack of a MOT unless the lack of MOT caused or contributed to the loss. Clearly the lack of MOT itself has no bearing on the loss as the presence of an MOT does not guarantee roadworthiness - and in the same way, lack of an MOT dies not guarantee unroadworthiness.

To reject a claim in such circumstances then the insurer would have to show that:

1) The vehicle was unroadworthy, and
2) That this unroadworthiness caused or contributed to the loss.