Is it legal to drive a Fiesta when the boot won't open?

kirsteenSK9

My son was rear-ended last night by a taxi.

He phoned his insurance company immediately and was told that even though the car was drive-able he shouldn't do so and they would arrange a hire-car. The hire-car hasn't arrived and he really needs to get to work.

Does anyone know if it is illegal to drive his car in the meantime please?

Thanks
kirsteen

agrinnall

If the only problem is that the boot won't open then I can't see any reason why driving with that would be illegal.

TehJumpingJawa

Insurance company just says that to avoid the potential complication if a 2nd accident occurred before the 1st was repaired.

mikey72

Usually it's so they can give you a very expensive credit hire car, and get a nice referral fee for the tip off to the hire company.

datostar

With most modern cars the boot floor and surrounding area is part of the rear impact crumple zone and forces can be transferred quite some way forward from the point of impact, causing distortion which can affect suspension and wheel alignment.

colino

Its not illegal, but why bother driving it when theres a straightforward insurance claim in motion?

molerat

colino wrote: »

Its not illegal, but why bother driving it when theres a straightforward insurance claim in motion?

kirsteenSK9 wrote: »

The hire-car hasn't arrived and he really needs to get to work.

OP, providing the car is safe then there is no problem. Last year I had to drive mine for a month waiting for it to get into the repair shop.

paddedjohn

Are the lights ok?

sarahg1969

colino wrote: »

Its not illegal, but why bother driving it when theres a straightforward insurance claim in motion?

Because the other driver's insurers may take issue with the hire claim if the vehicle is driveable, leaving the OP's son liable for the hie charges.

paddedjohn

sarahg1969 wrote: »

Because the other driver's insurers may take issue with the hire claim if the vehicle is driveable, leaving the OP's son liable for the hie charges.

The real answer is that the OP is waiting for a hire car but needs to get to work.

maninthestreet

If the boot won't open, it's likely the boot floor has suffered distortion in the accident. This happened to me in an accident many years ago - I eventually managed to get the boot lid open, but there was a crease across the boot floor, and the boot lid could no longer be closed.