Mot

[Bazile]

 

If a car's MOT has expired . Will the insurance still be valid if you drive it to a pre arranged MOT at a garage ?

Is my car insurance still valid if i drive it to a pre arranged MOT test 

[ladybirder]

I'm pretty sure the answer is Yes.  But not 100% sure so hopefully someone else will answer shortly.

[THECORBYLOON]

A car with an expired MOT can be driven to a pre-arranged MOT but only if the car is also insured.

 

If the policy requires a current MOT, the car would not be insured and cannot be driven to the garage.

[Buenchico]

This, from a firm of solicitors, suggests that you should read the small print in the policy:
https://www.nockolds.co.uk/if-my-mot-has-expired-will-this-invalidate-my-car-insurance/

However my understanding is that an insurer can't void the (legally required) third party bit of your cover under such circumstances but can, depending upon the wording of the policy, refuse to pay out under the rest of your cover.

[New Judge]

Is my car insurance still valid if i drive it to a pre arranged MOT test 

Of course it is. If the answer was "no" then no vehicle with an expired MoT could be driven. But the law specifically provides for a vehicle with no MoT to be driven to a pre-arranged test.

As 'chico says, an insurer cannot void cover requireed under the RTA for having no MoT. As well as that, if it tried to void non-mandatory cover it would have to show that the lack of MoT actually increases their risk (or, in th eevent of an accident, contributed to the accident). A vehicle where the MoT expires does not become more of a risk simply because the MoT has lapsed and the insurer would have to show that it had a fault or condirion which increaed their risk or contributed to an accident. There are a number of rulings by the Insurance Ombudsman supporting this.

[THECORBYLOON]

NJ, 'If the answer was "no" then no vehicle with an expired MoT could be driven.'

 

If the policy did not require a current MOT then why could it not be driven to a pre-arranged MOT appointment?

[Peter Pedant]

the case is here

Decision Reference DRN1899923 (financial-ombudsman.org.uk)

 

[THECORBYLOON]

PP, I'm not sure thst decision helps.

 

"Mr A not having a valid MOT Our approach in cases like this is to consider whether the insurer’s acted in line with the terms and conditions of the policy and fairly and reasonably. 

 

I’ve seen a copy of the terms and conditions for this policy. These state that there is an exclusion from cover if the car doesn’t have an MOT. But, like the investigator, I don’t think it would be fair or reasonable to reject the claim for theft just because there wasn’t a valid MOT. 

 

This is because the purpose of this exclusion is to make sure the car is roadworthy and it lowers the risk of the car being involved in a claim following an accident.

 

But Mr A’s car was stolen – the car having a valid MOT wouldn’t have made a difference. So, I’m not satisfied the lack of MOT is a fair reason to decline the claim."

[Bazile]

NJ - just to clarify  - are you saying that the insurance policy is still valid and remains in force , while arrangements are made for the car to be have the MOT done ?

Does the insurance company needs to be informed that the MOT has expired ?

[ToraToraTora]

The insurance is not invalidated by no MOT anyway. It just means they'll use it as a stick to beat you with if there is an incident. It's a common myth that motoring offences void insurance if they did every prosecution for everthing would be accompanied by one for no insurance.

[ToraToraTora]

09:13 yes and no.

[New Judge]

If the policy did not require a current MOT then why could it not be driven to a pre-arranged MOT appointment?

Because Baz did not mention that his policy did or did not prevent driving with no MoT and there is a widely held belief that all policies prevent it.

In fact, as above, no policies can prevent it. If they did it would mean that a car with an expired MoT could not be driven to a pre-arranged test unless an alternative policy was taken out, and that's ridiculous. The law permits a car to be driven in such circumstances and insurers cannot repudiate  the cover required by the RTA (either in those cirrcumstances or any other). 

[THECORBYLOON]

From West Yorkshird Police,

 

"If your vehicle doesn't have a current MOT certificate, you can only drive it to or from a pre-arranged MOT appointment or to or from a pre-arranged repair appointment to have defects remedied that were discovered on a previous test. You can also drive your vehicle on a road without road tax in these circumstances too but your vehicle must be insured. However, not having an MOT may have implications for the validity of your insurance - you would need to check this with your insurer."

[New Judge]

However, not having an MOT may have implications for the validity of your insurance - 

Leaving aside that the police are the very last people you should rely on for legal advice, their statement says that having no MoT "may have implications" for the validity of your insurance. It does not say your insurance would be invalid.

The law provides very few reasons which allow insurers to repudiate the "Third Party" cover required under the Road Traffic Act, and having no MoT is not one of them. The implications which lack of MoT may have is therefore on discretionary cover, such as comprehensive cover which pays for damage to the policyholder's own vehicle. The insurer may repudiate such cover due to lack of MoT (if their Ts&Cs permit it). But they would have to show that the lack of MoT contributed towards the damage they are being asked to pay for. They would have to show that the vehicle was unsafe or unroadworthy and that an MoT test would have uncovered that fact.

An otherwise roadworthy and safe car does not suddenly become unroadworthy or unsafe at midnight on the day its MoT expires. Conversely, a car passing its MoT test does not necessarily remain roadworthy for twelve months. It can develop a fault on the drive back from the MoT testing station. An MoT test is therefore an administrative exercise which examines the car's condition on the day it is tested. Drivers have an obligation to ensure a valid test certificate is in force, but they also have a duty to ensure that any vehicle they drive is roadworthy.