Was in a car accident whilst on the way to garage to get tyres changed and....?

Question

I was involved in an car accident some weeks back.

The mot had ran out in December and I was driving to a tyre garage, the car was booked in to get new tyres fitted and then the car was booked in at another garage an hour later to have the mot done.

do you guyz think the insurance well payup as they have put the claim on hold and stated that their engineer has inspected the vehicle and both tyres were below the legal requirement.

Both my appointments were pre-booked,,,

But im worried because at the time of calling the insurance company i was still in a bit of shock and when they asked where was I travelling,,.. i said to take kids to school... the kids were with me and I was gonna walk them to school once car was dropped of at tyre garage as its 5 minutes walk..

what dyou think.,.

Answer 1

This has nothing to do with your question, I realize, but I feel that CctbOh and Valley R should know that TYRE is the BRITISH version of TIRE. Educate yourself.

But to answer your question, they may pay for the damages, despite your incorrect information, and MOT. They might just frown upon you for dishonest practices. On the other hand, they may just end up declining your claim as well.

Answer 2

Firstly, the engineer would have to prove that the tyres contributed/caused the accident because they were below the legal minimum. If they didn't then it's immaterial what state they were in.
Secondly, the law states you may drive without an Mot only to a pre-appointed booking at an Mot station, then to a place of repair and back again. If you went straight to the place of repair technically you were breaking the law.

It's not looking good I'm afraid but remember my first point, they have to prove the tyres caused the accident not to pay out. Any other of the offences you unwittingly committed are nothing to do with the insurance company, just the police.

Answer 3

If the MOT had actually expired, don't be surprised if the Insurance don't pay out.
The ONLY time your Insurance is valid to drive a non MOT'd car on public roads is en-route to a pre-booked MOT Test Centre, for the Test itself.
You may be lucky if they deem that, as the MOT was booked, and there was work being done prior to it to help it pass, then it was only coincidence that you go past the school on your way to the garage.

Not a great deal of help I'm afraid.
The ACTUAL fact is, you had invalid insurance BUT with the pre-booked appointments this turns into a legal grey area.
Best to wait and see I'm afraid. Just make sure that the Ins company has all the facts of BOTH appointments and keep all your bits crossed!



Good Luck!

Answer 4

I realise you're not getting the answers you might have hoped for, but these are the facts:

There are two issues here.
1} You can indeed drive an untested car to a pre-arranged MOT test.

2} The car must be roadworthy at all times when it's on the road.
If it's not roadworthy it must be trailered or carried some other way to the garage for repairs to be carried out to make it roadworthy

You've no problem with the en-route to MOT part.

You do have a problem with the roadworthy issue - your tyres were apparently illegal and your insurers are quite within their rights to declare your insurance invalid because of this. Look carefully at the bumph from your insurers and you'll find that to be the case.

Answer 5

As others have said you can only drive a car without an MOT to a garage for a test as long as it is pre-booked,however as you had to get work done on your car first it will be said that the worn tyres contributed to the accident.Your insurance will probably pay the third party but not you.Make sure that you tell them that you were going to drop the kids off whilst your tyres were being changed to clarify the earlier mistake.Good luck

Answer 6

pushed your luck that little bit too far didn't you.
you should make sure your tyres are roadworthy all year long not just an hour before your car is booked in for an mot. If you had checked them and been going to the garage for new ones they would have been border line not bald. You would have also still had an mot on your car. i hope your kids are ok. please dont carry them in an unroadworthy car again you may not be so lucky next time and be blaming yourself instead of the insurance company.

Answer 7

Tricky one. Unless you have witnesses I suspect the rule about reversing vehicle at fault will apply. On the other hand you could say that the other driver also has a duty to look ahead and not drive into an obstruction. If the other driver had stopped and then moved off into you you might have a case. Best of luck In any case you don't have to pay for both, that's why you have insurance

Answer 8

the good news is that it doesn't matter where you were driving, and so you don't have to worry about what the insurance company thinks. Insurance for obvious reasons doesn't reward intention. (You probably didn't mean to crash either.) The bad news, however, is that it doesn't matter in the least where you were driving, because if you were driving an unsafe vehicle, collision insurance coverage can and will be greatly reduced. Most likely it will be claimed that the car was in no condition to be driven and should have been towed to a shop for repairs, but — as with insurance — ever case is based strictly on the facts of the accident. I hope it works out for you in the end.

Answer 9

The problem is that even if you have pre-booked an MOT it doesn't mean that you can drive an unroadworthy vehicle, it merely helps to avoid a prosecution for not having a valid MOT.

Unfortunately, I don't think you have much of a case, especially as you told them you were doing something else.

Answer 10

Your car was unfortunatley un-road worthy at the time of the accident. The insurance company will probably think you have been driving all the time with no MOT.