Accident with no MOT
I recently had a little accident where I have collided with another vehicle. I was the one at fault but my car didn't have mot at the time. Does anyone know what the result will be if I am only 3rd party f&t covered?
14 Replies
If you read your car insurance policy documents, you will find a section that says that your car needs to be roadworthy for your insurance to be valid. Without a valid MOT certificate, your car is not roadworthy and the insurance company have grounds to invalidate your insurance policy. This means that you can be prosecuted for driving without insurance and because your insurance policy will be considered void, damages to the other vehicle will not be covered as it would be regarded as if you were driving uninsured.
As you probably know, damages to your own car are not covered with third party, fire and theft car insurance (if your policy was valid that is) as it only covers third party losses. So overall, you could be fined for driving with no insurance and be liable for damages to the third party.
Update Following @Trabotski answer, an insurer cannot refuse paying for a claim just because the vehicle did not have MOT. They are allowed to reject the claim only if they can prove the accident was caused by the vehicle being unfit to be driven (not roadworthy). However they can reduce the payout if they can gather evidence that the vehicle would have failed an MOT. Check this clause on the Financial Ombudsman website.
My partner's van was crashed into by a third party who have accepted full liability, however, his own insurance company have asked for documents including MOT certificate which it has come to light expired a while ago. There is a clause in his insurance policy stating vehicle must have MOT certificate. Based on the fact that it is a non-fault claim and the other insurer will be paying do you think he will be alright or will his insurance be void thus making the claim non-existent?
Non Fault accident with expired MOT
I had a no fault accident a couple of years ago (another car went off course and crashed into me). My car was written off and the insurance paid out. Thought that was the end of it however, fast forward a few years and I have been informed by my insurers that the at fault insurers are refusing to pay for the courtesy car I had after the accident as my MOT had expired. I honestly thought it was in date as the month before I had a full service with new pads, tyres etc and requested an MOT as well (so was roadworthy). My partner sorted this as I was detached overseas and I just paid the bill. Of course I forget to double check on my return and had the accident before it came to light.
Realise this is my mistake but annoyed at insurers as well as I paid extra on my insurance for a courtesy car but as soon as they realised it was no fault gave me a hire car instead! Now transpires I may have to go to court to claim the money on behalf of my insurers as the at fault insurers refuse to pay out because of the MOT.
Concerned at the implications of this. Anybody had a similar situation and can offer any advice? Thank you
Oh crap. I don't think you're got a leg to stand on if your car did not have MOT at the time of impact. From the insurer's point of view, you should not even be driving but honest mistakes like this happens and you would think the insurance company would check all the details are correct before getting you a courtesy car and proceeding with the claim but no the law seems to be in their favour and you then have to fork the bill.
What's the sum they are claiming back from you?
Hi at least 2k for the smallest, cheapest hire car you could find. Only 20 days hire as well. Let's hope theres no legal fees on top!
Will my insurance pay out to someone who did not have MOT on their car?
I have had an accident with another car but their mot had run out so will my insurance pay out to him for any damages on his motor or any injuries to him or his passangers.
MOT expired but test was booked and had an accident, where do I stand?
My friend had her car booked into to have its MOT in a few days. Although it had expired a few days ago, she had tried to get it booked in sooner but there was no spaces until this week. The unfortunate thing is that she had an accident and someone crashed into her car. Is the insurance valid in an accident if the MOT has expired, althought it was booked in for one?
If a car does not have a valid MOT certificate, it means the car is not roadworthy. You can argue that there's nothing wrong with the car but having an MOT is a legal requirement and there's a clause in every car insurance policy which states that your car must be roadworthy to be insured. So technically speaking, your friend was driving an uninsured car as the insurance company could invalidate her insurance because her MOT had expired. She could be left paying for the damages herself and also be prosecuted for driving without mot and driving without insurance.
A while back, insurers did not check whether your MOT was up to date but nowadays they tend to check everything before processing your claim and paying out. If luck is on your friend's side, then she could get away with her insurer not finding out about the MOT thing.
Thank you for your help. I think my friend is going to take a chance that her insurance co won't check, she feels she has nothing to lose, I suppose they will tell on that, I personally think she should be honest with them just to deal with the consequences of her mistake!!
MOT expired and was involved in accident, will insurance pay out for damages?
My son was involved in a minor accident and the other driver later decided to contact the police. I have now been asked to produce all documents and I have just noticed my mot is 3 weeks out of date but all other documents are alright, what will happen? What will the police do and will my insurance pay for the other car's damages? I am willing to pay for my own damages.
Some car insurance companies have strict rules stipulating that you need to have valid MOT on your car to be insured. This may or may not be the case with your current insurer. However not all insurers will check your MOT when you make a claim. The best thing you can do is take your car for an MOT test straight away and produce all your documents at the police station afterwards. If you don't need to show the MOT certificate to the police, then don't bring it - only bring what you've been asked to bring.
If your son was driving the car without valid mot, then you could get into problems and will have to pay a fine for doing so. Otherwise you should be fine.
As far as the insurance is concerned, just put in your claim as normal and don't mention anything about the expired mot. The mot tests are computerised now anyway, so if the insurance company wants to know about it, they don't need any proof from you. A lot of people who have been in the same situation have been able to get their claims paid out, so I hope it works out for you as well.
Let me know it goes for you.
Who was at fault for the accident. If it was not your son it should be ok, if not I'm sorry to say he will not be covered.
The reply from gices is incorrect. I know this is a bit late for you now but hopefully it will help anyone else searching for this information. They cannot refuse to pay a claim simply because a car does not have an MOT, the Ombudsman is very clear on this matter. If the accident was caused or substantially caused by the car being "unroadworthy", then they can refuse your own damage claim providing they can prove it was unroadworthy and the damage was caused or substantially caused by it being unroadworthy.
See section 13 of this link for evidence of this http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk Also see 15, 16 and 19 which you will find helpful.
That's an interesting find Trabotski. Although my answer was based on the fact that in "all" cases which I've looked at, the insurance company would nullify the policy for not complying with the "roadworthiness" part of the car insurance policy, I suppose you could take it to the Financial Ombudsman if the insurer refuse to pay provided you believe you've got grounds to stand on.
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