Help - Car Insurance Claim - MOT Expired after Accident Repair

Ivenofinmoney

Can anyone clarify things for me.

My OH was involved in a car accident on 5th January,

The other driver admitted responsibility, and they decided we were entitled to a courtesy car, but it was a little Renault scenic (to replace a grand voyager) so it was about as useful as a chocolate teapot

On the 21st January the MOT expired on the accident damaged car.

There was a lot of mucking about whether they were going to repair or write off the car, the damage from the accident meant it would not have passed an MOT so I couldn;t get it done then.

We have 3 kids under 4, with drop offs at various nursery's and grandparents who don't drive, so we can't afford to be without a family car, so I bought a new car and took out a temporary insurance in my name.

On 1st February the insurance expired on the accident damaged car.

At this point they still hadn't confirmed what they were doing with the car, so I canceled the insurance in my name on the new car and took out a new policy in the OH name for that car using her no claims bonus.

On 5th February they decided they were going to fix the car. They asked us to bring it in, but we told them the MOT had since expired and insurance had lapsed so they agreed to come and collect it.

They have called today and told us the car will be ready for collection on Friday, I have told them that as the MOT has expired I am not legally allowed to drive the vehicle on the road unless I am driving it to or from an MOT test station. (not least the fact that it's not currently insured but I can deal with that problem!)

They have said they will not deliver it back to my house, the only suggestion they have offered, is that I pay them to perform an MOT, however I know it will fail on at least one thing as part of the accident the tracking was knocked out quite badly and the tyres got badly scrubbed between the 5th and the 21st, and they refused to repair the tyre for damage caused after the accident.

They will only provide a free retest if they do the repairs, and the garage I normally use allows me a free retest up to 2 weeks after the initial test.

So do I spend the £50+ just so I am legally allowed to drive the vehicle home after a failure knowing I'm going to have to fork out another £50 for a retest or can I demand that the insurance company pay for it to be delivered back to my address, at which point I can take the tyre off & get that fixed, check anything else and book it in at the usual place where I know I wont get stung ??

Any help or advice on this would be much appreciated !!

Thanks

IvenoFinMoney

jfdi

Could your 'normal' MOT test place pick it up for you & drive it under Trade Plates to theirs? Or to yours for you to fix the tyres?

I'm sure they'd consider it if distance not too far. Or at least - ours would!

A
xx

Ivenofinmoney

They would but at a recovery cost ...

Sponge

As far as the MOT problem - can you not collect the car yourself and drive it straight to your preferred MOT testing station? If you need to do some work on it first, is it work that can be completed on the same day as the MOT appointment?

Hypothetically speaking, what if you book the MOT for the pm. Collect your car in the am. Drive it home. If you get stopped (and it's a big if), say you're on your way to an MOT (you have an appointment, so can prove it) then re-route to the MOT station. If you don't get stopped, get yourself home, do the work and then take it to the MOT station in the pm. At all times you're on the road, you can prove you're on your way to an MOT appointment.

Having said all that, I would argue the point with the garage, or insurance company. They set a precedent by collecting the car, so in my book they should deliver it home. Furthermore, don't many insurance companys usually offer some sort of 'we collect, fix and deliver your car' service? Does yours not?

Ivenofinmoney

Sponge Thanks !!

If I was in a hurry to get the car back I would have done that, but I'm not and I would prefer to have a couple of days, when I can have half a chance of the weather being good enough if I have to spend some time crawling underneath the thing !!

But for some reason, I got so worked up about this garage saying that they wouldn't return it I forgot to look at the insurance policy to see what it covered.

From the Policy Wording::

We will pay the reasonable costs of:

protecting your car and removing it to the nearest approved repairers;

and

delivering your car back to your address in the British Isles after the repairs have been carried out.

I shall be on to them tomorrow (Typically the reapair has been delayed as they are still waiting on a part !!)

Thanks