Insurance Claim - MOT

[MMI]

I have recently had a car accident caused by me having a seizure behind the wheel. The date of the accident was 30th August but my car should have had it's first MOT on 18th August. Can the insurance company refuse to pay out on my claim? I have not told them about the MOT and they have not yet asked me about it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[cazzaswfc]

Firstly I don't work in claims therefore don't quote me on this, 2nd it may differ from co - co

Basically yes, they could argue that you have no proof your car was legally road worthy and just settle any third party claims.

or if they choose to pay you they could reduce the costs you will recieve (if woff)

like I said don't quote me.

[Goldlady]

They might not ask about it.

[cazzaswfc]

however some will ask for it!

[MMI]

I've had a look into it and I have been told that the car must be road worthy. An MOT does not prove that the car is road worthy because you could have an MOT one day and a few weeks later the brakes could fail for example. I've also been told that an MOT makes the car road legal and not road worthy.

I'm still no clearer though. Any advise from someone that deals with motor claims would be great.

[GoldyR]

I used to work as a Motor Claims Team Manager, & when settling claims on a total loss basis, we always asked for the V5 & current MOT certificate before sending the settlement cheque. Without a valid MOT certificate, the insurer can dispute the claim - however, they need to prove that it was material to the loss, & the fact that you had a seizure, thus causing the crash, would mean that this is not material to the loss.

If it is a simple repair, they won't ask for sight of the MOT certificate, so you should be ok. They may ask you whether the vehicle has a valid MOT cert though, and you are then duty bound to be honest about this. My experience in Motor was a few years ago so things may have changed now, but I wouldn't imagine that they would be able to throw the claim out on the basis that the proximate cause of the incident was your seizure. If the brakes had failed for example, that would be a different matter! I hope this helps & you are ok now

[Darkangelsdelite]

Part of your insurance terms and conditions will state that you are obligated to keep the car Taxed and MOT'd and in a roadworthy condition. So potentially, yes, they could repudiate the claim on this basis.
However, I agree with Goldy above in that as this didn't affect the claim (you could have had a seizure the day after you got your MOT or 6 months after) then its unlikely you will be asked for it, but if you are, you need to be upfront about it as previously mentioned.

DA

[craigwalton]

From my experience in Motor Claims, if the vehicle is classed as a write off, they would deduct 10% of the cost of the car. If it is repairable then they would not ask for the MOT.

Regards

[MMI]

Thank you everyone for your replies.

I have had a call from the insurance assessor today and the first thing he said to me was "did I want the car repaired?" I thought this was a really strange as I thought it was him that was supposed to tell me whether the car was to be repaired or a total loss. I told him that as I had had a seizure and I couldn't drive for a year, there was no point in me paying £211 per month for a car that I couldn't drive. He then said that he will look for more damage and do everything he could to write the car off! I don't get this at all as I thought the assessor would have the best interests of the insurance company rather than me?

Anyhow, I'll keep you all posted as my claim progresses. If my car is written off, I've got to go through the same thing with my gap insurance too.

[shudder]

Originally Posted by MMI

If my car is written off, I've got to go through the same thing with my gap insurance too.

At least you had the forethought to take out gap cover, many dont and then have the misery of paying for a car they dont even have.