How does Expired MOT affect insurance claim?

paddedjohn

Circumstances don't vary, the car either had an mot or it didn't an in both cases the insurance will pay out but they will reduce their offer due to lack of mot.

Kinsella_C

Hi guys, this is my first time posting on a thread so take it easy on me.

On Friday morning I had a head-on collision with a lorry on a "unsuitable for HGVs" road. You guys seem very clued up and I was wondering do I have an argument here? - (i.e. the lorry shouldn't be on the road as it was 26tonnes (HGV is anything over 7.5tonnes) ??)

More importantly; I made the mistake of totally forgetting my MOT had expired and I am worried my insurance will not pay out. The car is taxed and I have been paying my insurance every month - and I even got a full service done on the vehicle just before the MOT expired! I am covered by the partner company of "Quinn Direct" (Liberty Insurance) and they have pretty much identical Terms and Conditions; " make sure the vehicle is kept in a roadworthy condition and, if necessary, has a valid NCT certificate." - I read a post on here from a while back (2007) and a member (sho_me_da_money), who was with Quinn Direct, was in a similar predicament to myself and ended up (after writing a letter of appeal), receiving a full pay out minus 5% for not having an MOT.

Can anyone here help me out further? - I could really do with some good news this week!

Thank you for taking the time to read this

CK

forgotmyname

Unsuitable for HGV's is not a HGV's MUST NOT.

It will depend on the road and the truck itself. If the driver had a delivery and that was the only access and not prohibited then he wont have broken any law.

Its a notice that caution is needed. Which one of you were going too fast for the conditions?

Dont forget the truck will have a Tacho recording his speed.

The insurer is likely to pay out less, How much will depend on what your cars valued at without an MOT.

Maybe a little less, Maybe substantially less?

Kinsella_C

forgotmyname wrote: »

Unsuitable for HGV's is not a HGV's MUST NOT.

It will depend on the road and the truck itself. If the driver had a delivery and that was the only access and not prohibited then he wont have broken any law.

Its a notice that caution is needed. Which one of you were going too fast for the conditions?

Dont forget the truck will have a Tacho recording his speed.

The insurer is likely to pay out less, How much will depend on what your cars valued at without an MOT.

Maybe a little less, Maybe substantially less?

Thanks for this...appreciate the response. It wasn't that he nor I were going fast, we both went round a blind bend at pretty much the same time at (25-30mph) but his vehicle was taking up the majority of the road and due to wet conditions our vehicles hit each other. If I am honest I would accept at 50/50 decision as I do not hold him accountable (unless he was just taking a short cut - hard to prove).

I am more concerned on the insurances decision about the MOT, and want to be ready should they decide to not pay out on the basis of this. I can see from this post already that people have appealed decisions and won, could anyone give me advice about how I should go about appealing a such a decision?

Thank you once again

forgotmyname

Even is its a shortcut unsuitable doesnt mean prohibited.

You appeal by stating the fact the MOT expired had no bearing on the accident. Unless of course your vehicle was faulty. In which case it will be harder to appeal.

Quentin

Kinsella_C wrote: »

.... could anyone give me advice about how I should go about appealing a such a decision?

Thank you once again

Send in a formal complaint about their decision (follow their complaints procedure set out in the policy)


Then if you are unhappy with the reply or they ignore you for 8 weeks you can escalate to the FOS who will adjudicate in your favour (assuming the car was roadworthy prior to the incident)

bravodaman

Ok firstly I read most of the cases on this thread and it really did cheer me up at the fact that people have had their cases resolved.

I accidently crashed my car into the rear end of another car on the Motorway the other day. It was completely my fault and I take full responsibility for the crash. Spoke to my insurance and informed them of the accident. The damage to my car is pretty bad, front bumpers, headlights, bonnet and few internal things like coolant etc. However the damage to other car is pretty minimal – dent in the bumper, broken number plate and maybe a bent boot but that’s about it. No injuries to anyone as we were going at about 30 – 40mph I did brake just before I hit the car.

Anyway, thought I would go through my local reputable garage for the repairs. Insurers are fine with that as all they need is £150 if I decide not to do the work with their suggested garages.

This is where it gets bad. The guy at my local garage calls me up yesterday informing that my MOT ran out almost 4 months ago. I was absolutely shocked because I completely forgot about the MOT and usually I get reminders from the garage for my MOT (I know I shouldn’t rely on reminders from the Garage, but I have always had reminders from them).

Long story short – My car could have a potential repair cost of anywhere between £2500 - £5000 or even a write off! If the insurance turns round and says that they won’t pay for the repairs then I am completely screwed. Plus the cost of the others person's car I hit and if he decides to claim for injuries like whiplash etc.

From reading up on the past threads it’s clear that a car has to be roadworthy. I can guarantee this as the car is pretty new with only 25,000+ miles on the clock, looked after well, recently serviced and changed all tyres. I also looked on the previous MOT report and can guarantee there was no concerns over any issues with the car i.e. brake, lights etc.

I do understand anything can go wrong with the car the minute we get out the MOT centre, but can the insurance use this as a defence to not pay for the damages/write off ?

If anything how could I convince the insurers that my car was in fact roadworthy at the time of the accident and it didn’t contribute towards the cause of the accident ?

I am currently waiting on the garage to give me an estimate on the repairs or whether the car is a write off, will update you guys if I hear anything. The insurance company is still unaware of the expired MOT but surely they would check these things right ?

Your quick response with this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Quentin

If you have read the thread you know that no MOT is irrelevant.

Engineers will be able to show if anything not roadworthy has contributed to the crash - though you say it was recently serviced etc.

Don't worry

bravodaman

Thank you for your quick reply Quentin. I am a young driver and this is definitely going to affect my future insurance quotes which I can understand, however having the burden of paying for all the repairs, third party claims etc could potentially put a right dent in my pockets.

Anyway will see how the estimates come out and will keep you guys updated.

On a different note, anyone know why we don't get reminders for MOT's like we do for insurance or Road Tax? - The fact that I am going through this much pain over a £40 - £50 MOT is killing me. Once again I know MOT is the driver's responsibility but seems like it's a common accident that people forget about the MOT renewals!

glentoran99

bravodaman wrote: »

Thank you for your quick reply Quentin. I am a young driver and this is definitely going to affect my future insurance quotes which I can understand, however having the burden of paying for all the repairs, third party claims etc could potentially put a right dent in my pockets.

Anyway will see how the estimates come out and will keep you guys updated.

On a different note, anyone know why we don't get reminders for MOT's like we do for insurance or Road Tax? - The fact that I am going through this much pain over a £40 - £50 MOT is killing me. Once again I know MOT is the driver's responsibility but seems like it's a common accident that people forget about the MOT renewals!

I always get a reminder when MOT is up but maybe system is different in NI