Had an accident with no MOT!! Panicking

Ljones15

Hi

I was involved in a motorcycle accident yesterday which has left me with my my beloved Vespa written off! Unbelievably have ended up with only minor injuries and was incredibly lucky to come out of it unscathed. It was the drivers fault and im confident they will hold there hands up howeverrrr my MOT had expired in july! And you've probably heard it all before but i was actually en route to my friends garage when the crash occurred!! Will this effect putting in a claim? My policy is Third party fire and theft with highway insurance. I'm taxed and insured but my mum and dad are panicking over the MOT saying this will invlidate your insurance and you could end up paying for the drivers car damage?!?! Is this true??? If someone can enlighten me this would be hugely appreciated

Regards

whitewing

Did you actually have a confirmed appointment at your friend's garage for the MOT, with some proof of the appointment eg a letter dated before today? Or are you just relying in your friend to say that you were on your way to the MOT?

verityboo

I was under the impression that they cannot refuse a claim simply for having no MOT (but you might have to fight) as long as the vehicle/bike is roadworthy etc. They can take it into account in valuing a vehicle if written off

Buellguy

Ljones15 wrote: »

Hi

I was involved in a motorcycle accident yesterday which has left me with my my beloved Vespa written off! Unbelievably have ended up with only minor injuries and was incredibly lucky to come out of it unscathed. It was the drivers fault and im confident they will hold there hands up howeverrrr my MOT had expired in july! And you've probably heard it all before but i was actually en route to my friends garage when the crash occurred!! Will this effect putting in a claim? My policy is Third party fire and theft with highway insurance. I'm taxed and insured but my mum and dad are panicking over the MOT saying this will invlidate your insurance and you could end up paying for the drivers car damage?!?! Is this true??? If someone can enlighten me this would be hugely appreciated

Regards

You are permitted to drive with no MOT if you are on the way to a pre-booked MOT test - If the friend can confirm this then you are OK - no problems. If you want some more reassurance, try

http://forums.pepipoo.com

And glad to hear you are OK

verityboo

Found the thread I was thinking of here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/4784884#Comment_4784884

Ljones15

Thanks for the feedback. My friend was fixing a few minor problems with the bike etc electric start before he was taking it to the MOT centre. I'm sure if he gets an appointment card showing the date and name this will obviously help. Anyone dealt with highway insurance before?

forgotmyname

Im guessing he cannot now simply say he he had an appointment. Because it was not pre-booked onto the MOT system.

So if thats not a true statement. It was pre-booked in. Then dont go that way.

You were on your way but not pre-booked.

Telling lies wont help. More likely to hinder and for them to offer you £20 as a full and final settlement.

Ljones15

Just gunna tell them up front that its expired, don't even think the 'going to garage' will make any difference whatsoever. From what I've heard the worst case scenario would be getting a settlement reduced by 20%

Ad86

Ive always been under the impressive that in the terms of your insurance policy is the vehicle must be road worthy and have a valid mot...
So in effect your insurance is invalid as you werent going to a pre-booked mot and any damages/cost you would be personally liable for?

colino

If you were on your way to an arranged MOT, no problem. There is no requirement to show a copy of an electronic or paper-trail regarding MOTs, people requiring such evidence from the test centre would be politely told where to go.

thenudeone

Ad86 wrote: »

Ive always been under the impressive that in the terms of your insurance policy is the vehicle must be road worthy and have a valid mot...
So in effect your insurance is invalid as you werent going to a pre-booked mot and any damages/cost you would be personally liable for?

Any such terms would almost certainly be unenforceable in court.

It would be like saying - "we won't cover you for your liability to third parties if you drive dangerously, go through a red light, fail to give way", or whatever.

If insurers were permitted to put clauses in which limited their liability to circumstances where the policyholder hadn't done anything wrong and wasn't at fault, they would never ever pay out, would they?

Not having a valid MOT doesn't prove unroadworthiness or cause an accident.

A purely administrative breach like not having an current MOT or a current photo on the driving licence would never have contributed to an accident.

If a policy is in place they will ALWAYS have to pay out to third parties (except in very exceptional circumstances such as fraud). They would then have to take the policyholder to court and convince the court that they only had to pay out because of the policyholder's breach of the terms, and that those terms were reasonable (UCTA 1977 and UTCCR 1999).

Since a motor policy is specifically designed to pay out to third parties when the policyholder is at deemed to be at fault in some way, saying that it wouldn't pay out because the policyholder is at fault, is clearly ridiculous.