Car Write off - but no MOT - Please help!!!

masmas2001

Hello All,

I've read up about this on a few forums and get quite differing answers to the question. I was involved in an accident and it was my fault. Down to human error and nothing else, my car has been written off, as has the other parties. I'm gathering the documents to send to my insurance company to finish the claim as I have been made an offer for the write off by my insurance company. It is only today that I realised that my MOT was 7 days out of date when the accident happend, a genuine mistake on my part. Where do I stand? I'm going to inform my insurance company about this, but can anyone give me some info? The police were called to the scene of the accident, and because of this, the traffic police a couple of days later did a full inspection of the car and deemed that no mechanical faliure caused the accident. Someone please help with some advice!!!!!

vaio

masmas2001 wrote: »

Hello All,

I've read up about this on a few forums and get quite differing answers to the question. I was involved in an accident and it was my fault. Down to human error and nothing else, my car has been written off, as has the other parties. I'm gathering the documents to send to my insurance company to finish the claim as I have been made an offer for the write off by my insurance company. It is only today that I realised that my MOT was 7 days out of date when the accident happened, a genuine mistake on my part. Where do I stand? I'm going to inform my insurance company about this, but can anyone give me some info? The police were called to the scene of the accident, and because of this, the traffic police a couple of days later did a full inspection of the car and deemed that no mechanical failure caused the accident. Someone please help with some advice!!!!!

I wouldn’t worry, as long as the car was roadworthy you should still get paid abet a reduced amount to reflect the value of your car without an MOT

pompeyrich

Don't worry, you will be alright, the insurance company may adjust the value of your car, down, because of the MOT but thats about it. Ignore the "no MOT= no Insurance" brigade that will be here to worry you. It has been long established this isn't correct and the fact the Police have failed to find any defect will go in your favour too.

masmas2001

Thanks for putting my mind at ease. I'll reply back to let everyone know how I get on with this. Some replies I read to other posts really got me worried.

Conor_3

It depends on the insurers. Some use it as a get out to a payout.

pulliptears

I was always under the impression that no MOT makes insurance null and void, however, this appears to be the case for only a handful of insurers so you need to check the small print on your policy.

Added to this I was also led to believe that you could still be prosecuted, even though your car is written off. Have the police asked to see your documents yet?

jonathon

I understand the insurance will pay out and i am surprised I did hear thay might deduct the cost of the mot

cyclonebri1

pompeyrich wrote: »

Don't worry, you will be alright, the insurance company may adjust the value of your car, down, because of the MOT but thats about it. Ignore the "no MOT= no Insurance" brigade that will be here to worry you. It has been long established this isn't correct and the fact the Police have failed to find any defect will go in your favour too.

Yeah, I'd expect that to be the case too.

In answer to your first question there is nothing you can do,so don't worry. The insurers will have access I'm sure to the database, so will know the MOT/tax status You will just have to go with the result good or bad I'm afraid.
Best of luck:beer: and let us know the end result.

Rebob

This happened to us 2 years ago. The police warned Hubby to make sure his car was tested in future but acknowledged it was the first time. We told the broker and the insurance paid out.

Hope this sets your mind at rest....I know we paniced big time!!!

thescouselander

jonathon wrote: »

I understand the insurance will pay out and i am surprised I did hear thay might deduct the cost of the mot

Its not that they deduct the cost of the MOT - its that fact that if you buy a car without MOT then you would pay less for it therefore the value put on the car in question could be less.

Wig

There are one or two companies who do put a clause on MOT into their policy books, one such is Endsliegh (recently revealed on this forum).

What you need to do is either tell us who your insurer is, we can then check for you. or read your policy booklet and look under General exceptions/exclusions it's usually found near the back of the book.

If it says "We require you to keep your car in a roadworthy condition" Then that means they have no exclusion policy on missing MOTs

If it says, "We require you to keep your car in a roadworthy condition and except where regulations allow a valid MOT certificate maintained" That means they have tried to include an MOT requirement into the policy.


Nowthis is IMPORTANT, in EITHER case the insurance company may try to absolve themselves of any cover to your car, citing a lack of MOT. If your policy does not mention MOT, just tell them that you are not in breach of the policy as it is laid out in the booklet. If your policy does mention the MOT, then you can still argue that the clause is unfair, the lack of MOT is irrellevant to the condition of the vehicle, and therefore did not contribute to the accident. If you don't like their decision you can refer the case to the Insurance Ombudsman.

Good luck and don't be a stranger, we can only help people like you if you come back to help us understand exactly what happened in your claim. PLEASE COME BACK and update this thread (you will find this thread via your profile on MSE.) when the case is concluded.