I hit a motorbike that was parked on the road but it does not have a valid MOT

Myoung2003

Hi,

On July 30th I left my handbrake on and my car rolled into a mans bike,

Me and a couple of my colleagues got the bike back up and there didn't seem to be any damages, However I informed the guy of what I had done and he wasn't in so i posted my details through his letter box. A couple of days later he called me and said that he took it for a drive and there was some handling issues which would apparently cost about £200. He said its better not to go through the insurance which I found suspicious so he told me he would take it to the mechanic and see what he said and get a price.

6 WEEKS LATER! He called me to tell me that the mechanic had a look at the bike and to fix all the problems it would cost £344 (Still very sure on not going through the insurance). So I asked him for a copy of the quote and there is now loads of things on there which he didn't mention before. So I had a look today online and it turns out his MOT was due back in March 2021 and is Vehicles tax was due on the 1st of August which he hasn't completed. He also knows that I am 18 and newly driving so he is well aware that going through the insurance would bump my cost up next year.

My queries are does the fact his MOT is due means it wasn't legally allowed to be parked on the road and will that affect his insurance? What do you think is the best option for me.

Many Thanks,

Matt Young

PRAISETHESUN

The MOT (or lack thereof) is mostly irrelevant to your situation. You are at fault from what you say which means you will need to pay out for regardless if he has insurance or not. What happens to his insurance is his problem - in the event he was/is uninsured, he can deal with you directly or claim directly from your insurer.

It's up to you if you decide to make a claim through your insurance or not to cover your costs, but at the bare minimum you must let them know about the incident even if you don't ultimately make a claim - you might want to not make a claim if the repair bill is less than your excess for example. This will increase premiums in future years, but much less than having an at-fault claim on your records.

I'd also make sure that you get them to agree that any payment made is a "full and final settlement", in case he comes chasing you for more money down the line for something else he "forgot" to mention.

Car_54

PRAISETHESUN said:

The MOT (or lack thereof) is mostly irrelevant to your situation. You are at fault from what you say which means you will need to pay out for regardless if he has insurance or not. What happens to his insurance is his problem - in the event he was/is uninsured, he can deal with you directly or claim directly from your insurer.

It's up to you if you decide to make a claim through your insurance or not to cover your costs, but at the bare minimum you must let them know about the incident even if you don't ultimately make a claim - you might want to not make a claim if the repair bill is less than your excess for example. This will increase premiums in future years, but much less than having an at-fault claim on your records.

I'd also make sure that you get them to agree that any payment made is a "full and final settlement", in case he comes chasing you for more money down the line for something else he "forgot" to mention.

The OP's excess (almost certainly) does not apply to 3rd party claims.

Jenni_D

Car_54 said:
The OP's excess (almost certainly) does not apply to 3rd party claims.

Really? I've always thought that the excess applied to any claim against the insured party, not just claims for their own vehicle. Every day is a school day.  

(In my defence I've had a company car for several years which is insured through the company, so I've not had cause to look into this).

NBLondon

Myoung2003 said:

Hi,

On July 30th I left my handbrake on and my car rolled into a mans bike,

You left your handbrake off presumably?

However I informed the guy of what I had done and he wasn't in so i posted my details through his letter box. 

How did you inform him?  Was he standing there at the time?  Or is this a neighbour that you already knew so you could put a note through his letter box?

He also knows that I am 18 and newly driving so he is well aware that going through the insurance would bump my cost up next year.

That suggests it is someone you know and he knows you.  He might be trying to save you a big premium cost - or he might be trying to get a load of existing problems fixed at your expense.  Do you know him well enough to judge which of these applies?

As said before - you must notify your insurers, telling them clearly it is "for information only" even if you want to do a deal with this guy directly.

Sandtree

Jenni_D said:

Car_54 said:
The OP's excess (almost certainly) does not apply to 3rd party claims.

Really? I've always thought that the excess applied to any claim against the insured party, not just claims for their own vehicle. Every day is a school day.  

(In my defence I've had a company car for several years which is insured through the company, so I've not had cause to look into this).

There have been two insurers that I'm aware of that have ever tried to put an excess into third party claims but its complicated by the fact you have to be insured from the ground up for third party liability.

The only impact the lack of an MOT would have is that it'd make the bike less valuable and so more likely to be a total loss. Assuming you dont think the bike is worth less than £500 its irrelevant... you dont have the right to go round damaging other people's property even if it shouldn't be where it is and a static object is there to be seen and avoided.

Ant555

Although you are on the hook to repair the damage either from your pocket or insurance co, I wonder if he is insured.

There is a web site that you can easily check whether your own car is insured (google 'askmid') - it only tells you if its insured today.

Although the https://ownvehicle.askmid.com/ terms and conditions of use relating to GDPR on that site say its for checking your own vehicles, it wouldnt be unheard of for people to accidentally type in the wrong registration number.  I am also sure some people might be tempted to use this service if a strange car is parked outside their house for long periods of time for instance, just to see if its worth reporting.

This may be your only glimmer of hope in negotiating if he is taking the mickey - you might want to tell him that you want to play things by the book as you are a young driver and dont want any future inconsistencies and 'by the book' means you need to swap insurance details.  I think that its an offence for him to withhold his insurance details from you and also note that it 'might' also impact his insurance renewal if there is a claim or outstanding claim so he might not be keen to go official even if he turns out to be insured.

Grumpy_chap

Jenni_D said:

Really? I've always thought that the excess applied to any claim against the insured party, not just claims for their own vehicle. Every day is a school day.  

Sandtree said:

There have been two insurers that I'm aware of that have ever tried to put an excess into third party claims but its complicated by the fact you have to be insured from the ground up for third party liability.

I am sort of with Jenni on this, as I always understood that if there is a fault claim against my policy then I suffer the excess.  

In part, it is probably academic about the third party part when I have fully comp cover as any valid claim against me from a third party is also likely to have damaged my own car to an amount at least as much as the excess.

However, when I think back to recall my much younger years, I am sure there was an excess amount even though TPFT cover.  I am sure that excess was not only in the case of the "F" or "T" claim.

T.T.D

We all learn by our mistakes, don’t look for an out, you’ve damage a persons property, your have a responsibility to put them back in the same position pre collision, as you took no photos’ (lesson 1) there is no way to prove the damages were old or fresh and new (always take photos) 

It having a lack of mot and tax and even insurance, that is immaterial and unimportant to your situation, as said above you still have a legal obligation to put this back to its prior state pre collision, and its owner has got you by the Proverbial Balls to pay up. 

My advise is to approach this guy and negotiate fairly and write it down on paper that what you agree as pay him is a full and final settlement of the matter. (Lesson 2)

As for notifying your insurance, everyone here will recommend it, but if damage is very minor wouldn’t do that, they like me would not notify them of their little incident and keep it secret entirely down to you how you manage your obligations to your insurer. I know what I’d do (Lesson 3). 

Grey_Critic

You can check if a car is taxed or has a current MOT on the DVLA website so it does seem strange that you cannot check it is insured - following an incident a couple of years ago when the other part drove off the Police told me that it was insured. As it happened my car was ok but his had a nice scrape down the side.

AdrianC

You have a very simple choice.

1. Pay the man what he's asking for.
2. Give him your insurance details. You'll need to explain to them why you didn't tell them before.

Whether his bike should have been there or not is utterly irrelevant. Your negligence damaged his property.