MOT failure and using car until repairs are done

vaio

yep, that applies to third party claims, they won't even get away with denying your claim on MOT grounds.

They can avoid an own damage claim if the car was unroadworthy and that fault "caused or significantly contributed to the accident.

Aretnap

swiftnick wrote: »

Playing Devils advocate here. I've got 4 bald tyres, faulty brakes and a smashed headlamp.

As long as I'm booked in for a MoT I am still legal to drive on the road?

No. But you would not be legal to drive even if you had a valid MOT. It's the condition of the car which makes it illegal to drive in that situation, not the lack of an MOT.

If the condition of the car is that bad you either repair it where it is or call a tow truck to take it to the garage. If it has a broken tail light you should in theory do the same... but that's where you hope the police will apply a little of that elusive quality known as "common sense".

Joe_Horner

jaybeetoo wrote: »

https://www.gov.uk/getting-an-mot/after-the-test


"If your vehicle fails the test you’ll get a ‘notification of failure’ from the test centre. The failure will be recorded in the secure central MOT database.

Until it passes a retest, you can only drive your vehicle:

- to a pre-arranged appointment at a garage to have the repairs done
- to a pre-arranged MOT test appointment

Your vehicle should be retested at the same test centre which did the original test."

My insurance policy says I must keep my car in a "roadworthy condition".

Unfortunately, gov.uk is NOT the law, and frequently get things either wrong or over-simplified.

The law regarding MOT exemptions related to getting a test is regulation 6(2)(a)(i) and (iii) of the Motor Vehicles (test) regulations 1981:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1981/1694/regulation/6/made

(2) Pursuant to section 44(6) the Secretary of State hereby exempts from section 44(1) I]which is[/I] [I]the requirement for a valid MOT[/I the use of a vehicle—

(a)(i)for the purpose of submitting it by previous arrangement for, or bringing it away from, an examination, or

(ii)[...], or

(iii)where a test certificate is refused on an examination—
(A)for the purpose of delivering it by previous arrangement at, or bringing it away from, a place where work is to be or has been done on it to remedy for a further examination the defects on the ground of which the test certificate was refused;

So, you don't need an MOT to drive home from a failed test because that is "bringing it away from" the test.

You also don't need one to take it to "a place where work is to be done" to rectify failure points.

That "place" does NOT have to be a garage - it can just as well be your mate who's got a welder in the next town, or any other "place" where work's going to be done to rectify points it's failed on. You can also drive home from that place once the work is done because that's "bringing it away from" which is included in the exemption.

You're also completely free to take it for retest at any test station you want, not just the one that originally tested it. If you take it elsewhere then you won't be entitled to a free or partial retest, so it would normally make sense to take it to the same one but there's no "should" about it - it's entirely your choice!

Finally, your insurance can say what it likes. The RTA is very specific that condition of the vehicle (or driver) will not affect the legally required cover.

You can crash into a bus stop at twice the speed limit, drunk, going the wrong way up a one-way system, on bare rims with no doors and the roof chopped off with a chainsaw. They still have to cover you against 3rd party liabilities - although they can sue you afterwards for any payout they've made.