Advice Needed for MOT Please

NurseMoneySaver1122

Joe_Horner wrote: »

As a very general rule, cat C is repairable and may or may not include "structural" damage (technically, all damage is structural on a monocoque shell but some is more structural than others).

It doesn't automatically mean that it's dangerous in its current state - the ONLY thing you can definitely say with a cat C decision is that they've decided it's not economic to fully repair it at their standard labour and parts rates. It may be economic using different repairers and / or saving on details (such as salvaging rather than replacing the tailgate)

Cat D is for stuff that they've decided not to repair for other reasons - such as parts not available or will take so long to source that hire car charges are likely to get too high.

If it was dangerous to drive in its current condition then the assessor should have advised you.

DVLA won't require an MOT following a cat C, but they will require a VIC check. This is NOT a check of the condition of the car or standard of repairs. All they check is that the car really is the one you say it is and not one that you've stolen and transferred the number plates etc to.

If your insurers require an MOT then one that's been passed after the damage should be fine for them even if it's before they've notified DVLA of the write-off. Note that an MOT will NOT check that the car is still "straight" - distortion has to be really bad, really obvious, and generally within 30cm of a suspension mount to fail an MOT, so it's a pretty pointless requirement for insurers to make, but they do anyway!

Thanks for your reply. That's reassuring. I'm going to call my insurance company and confirm this with them, but glad to hear people agree that the upcoming MOT should be valid when they write my car off.
I had read about the VIC test requirement.

You stated:
"Note that an MOT will NOT check that the car is still "straight" - distortion has to be really bad, really obvious, and generally within 30cm of a suspension mount to fail an MOT".
Would that mean then I would really need to book my car in to a garage for them to look it over properly for structural damage/distortion?

Thanks

Joe_Horner

NurseMoneySaver1122 wrote: »

You stated:
"Note that an MOT will NOT check that the car is still "straight" - distortion has to be really bad, really obvious, and generally within 30cm of a suspension mount to fail an MOT".
Would that mean then I would really need to book my car in to a garage for them to look it over properly for structural damage/distortion?

Thanks

Not necessarily. Testers have pretty specific rules on what they can, and cannot, fail a car for during an MOT.

Damage and distortion and outside the "prescribed areas" (basically anywhere within 30 cm of a suspension / steering / brake component / seat belt or tow bar mounting) can't be failed unless it's so bad that it's likely to adversly effect the steering or braking of the car.

They don't (normally) do a test drive during the MOT, so they have no way of knowing that unless it's so bad that the wheels are literally pointing in different directions - in which case you'd already know it was bad if you've driven it anywhere!

But a (good) tester will be able to tell from experience whether distortion of, say, the boot floor is likely to be a problem, or just cosmetic so should be able to advise you whether or not it needs looking at further after the test. This is where small, independant, testers with good local reputations are worth their weight in gold!

Glad to see that you've read up on the VIC - too many people think that passing one gives a car a clean bill of health in terms of how any repairs have been done!

NurseMoneySaver1122

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Not necessarily. Testers have pretty specific rules on what they can, and cannot, fail a car for during an MOT.

Damage and distortion and outside the "prescribed areas" (basically anywhere within 30 cm of a suspension / steering / brake component / seat belt or tow bar mounting) can't be failed unless it's so bad that it's likely to adversly effect the steering or braking of the car.

They don't (normally) do a test drive during the MOT, so they have no way of knowing that unless it's so bad that the wheels are literally pointing in different directions - in which case you'd already know it was bad if you've driven it anywhere!

But a (good) tester will be able to tell from experience whether distortion of, say, the boot floor is likely to be a problem, or just cosmetic so should be able to advise you whether or not it needs looking at further after the test. This is where small, independant, testers with good local reputations are worth their weight in gold!

Glad to see that you've read up on the VIC - too many people think that passing one gives a car a clean bill of health in terms of how any repairs have been done!

Ok great! In that case, I'm just going to do a once-over on the car as usual and get it booked in for its MOT. Fingers crossed my insurance company agree that an additional MOT won't be required.

To complicate things further, I'm about to take my car valuation dispute to the FOS as my car insurance company won't budge on valuation. That alone creates a million questions. But yes, I certainly have tried to do my research so thank you for noticing

However, watch this space. I'm sure ill be back with more questions lol

Thanks for all your help...you've been very informative!!