help! caught with no mot, dealer at fault

Astronaughtwannabe

s_b wrote: »

i agreed the terms offered by my proposer so would expect them to use it against me if they needed to
another clause was they can inspect my vehicle at any reasonable time if they so wish
I have to add this is a motor trade policy with a large named insurer not an offshore scammer

Aye, but just because it's in the terms and conditions doesn't necessarily mean they can. Even in an unregulated industry, terms have to be reasonable (by way of example - a Hotelier stated that 'bad reviews on Tripadvisor will result in £100 charge'). Insurance is heavily regulated and I very much doubt that an insurer could levy those terms against you, without the UTCCR (or something of similar ilk) stopping them.

arcon5

That's because its not ops mistake - it's the dealers. It's perfectly reasonable for op to have made the assumption the car has been MOTed when that was part of the deal.

In the same way its reasonable it was free from finance if advertised as HPI checked.

And perfectly reasonable to trust the dealer is the legal owner or has a legal right to sell the vehicle they are advertising. And to assume a dealer has adequate insurance when offering a test drive.

Maybe ideal to double check paperwork post-purchase, but certainly doesn't mean op can now be blamed for the entire mess for taking the car in good faith.

Of course i'll accept the offence itself is absolute, that doesn't though mean the dealer can be excused in the slightest for putting op in this situation, certainly doesn't mitigate the dealers responsibility.

Of course, this type of topic is always going to cause controversy, especially since so many of its members walk around with halos around their heads.

Car_54

Babbawah wrote: »

I know people who have got off this charge.

Having no MOT on a vehicle is not an absolute offence and there are many scenario's where you might not be guilty.

I'd see a Solicitor.

Failing that, roll over and throw yourself at the mercy of the law.

And those scenarios are?

Are you seriously suggesting seeing a solicitor to dispute a £100 FPN?

robbies_gal

id ring up the dealer tomorrow and tell them wats happened

hopefully an honest place will sort it out for you

next time check all paperwork before you leave with a car-i would have checked it just to see if ther was any advisories or anything on it

Aretnap

Babbawah wrote: »

I'd see a Solicitor.

That would be fairly pointless given that a solicitor will charge significantly more than the £100 fixed penalty, and that even if the OP did successfully defend the charge she'd only be able to reclaim a fraction of her legal costs.

xHannahx

enfield_freddy wrote: »

ask MID , http://ownvehicle.askmid.com/ the insurance database , (same as the police use) this is handy if you have any problems with renewal , or after changing your car , if its not listed on there the police will stop/impound


more applicable in your situation MOT database https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-status


and finally the road tax one https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-tax

The not on askmid comment is scare mongering, just because it's not on there they won't impound if you actaully have cover. It takes up to 5 days to show. Tell them who your insured with, they phone that company and then send you on the way. Hubby got stopped 3 times in 4 days after buying his car.

This site shows both mot and tax all in one place. I check it everytime I drive a new car or one that isn't mine. A certain hire company tried hiring me an untaxed van a month or two ago! They didn't like being told the van had no tax.

https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk

~Linzi~

s_b wrote: »

hi ~Linzi~
i appreciate where you are coming from,i sell cars for a living and can see its entirely possible to have moted the wrong car by error as ive done it myself
if you came back to me i would be devastated i had let you drive round with no mot and i would go to court to plead your case for you if you wished or pay the fine put a fresh mot on it service it and send your wife? some flowers as a way of recompense, so please go see the dealer tomorrow but as said dont go in the car but do take your invoice showing full mot at point of sale

we all make errors ,i wouldnt let the doom ers on here put you down

thank you for your advice I have spoke to the dealer he was really nice and seemed as surprised as i was, he took my reg and told me he will look into it as its the place he takes all his cars for mot ect so should hear back from him today.

harveybobbles

Ring the dealer and explain the situation.. they should offer to MOT the car for you for free.

Be calm and dont start shouting at them.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

While technically guilty of the offence, given that the OP has paperwork that states it has been MOT'd and simply didn't spot that the MOT certificate applied to a different car then a court might well be prepared to give an absolute discharge.

An absolute discharge is where you are technically guilty but your actions or the actions of others make the court consider you not to be at fault.

So in this case, you would go to court, potentially plead guilty but ask for a "Newton Hearing" to get them simply to consider the evidence of your blameworthiness. It would not be worth employing a solicitor as the costs related to that would exceed any fine, or possibly even insurance premium increases (insurers might take a dim view of motorists who apparently are prepared to drive non-MOT'd cars under their insurance).

If you want sensible advice, you'd do better querying over at https://www.pepipoo.com where they have people who are solicitors and have proper experience of these matters.

Aretnap

While it's not impossible that the court would impose an absolute discharge in the circumstances, it's far from certain that they would. If the OP goes to court and finds them unsympathetic, the penalty will increase to:

A fine of 33% of her weekly income
Prosecution costs of circa £85
Victim surcharge of 10% of the fine or £20, whichever is higher
A day off work for the court appearance (win or lose)

Unlikely to be worth the risk for the sake of a £100 fixed penalty IMO. Pay the fixed penalty and see if you can get the dealer to reimburse you the cost. It's hardly the crime of the century.

There will be no impact on your insurance premium. Insurers don't care about non-endorseable offences - their online systems usually won't even let you tell them about them as there's no endorsement code.