Jamie_B Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 After only 4 days of having my car back from being off the road for close to two months, a white van smashes into the back of me at a roundabout. Thankfully there is minimal damage to my car (drivers fog will need replaced and paintwork touched up on the bumper) and the van actually came off worse. I was stationary and the van hit me out the blue, he immediately admitted liability so his manager gave me a call to see what options would be the best course of action. I have not called my insurance company as yet, I got two quotes from bodyshops, the first one came in at £380 and the second originally came in at £200.00. They were then quite happy to push the price up to £300 and touch up a deep scratch on the quarter panel that was on the car when I bought it. I went back to the manager and he says he will pass on to his director and see if they will cover the cost and give me something extra for the hassle of it all. He then calls me back and states the director wants to pay the bodyshop directly for the work however offer me nothing more. I am actually in a bit of pain today with my lower back and neck as he must of hit me at a good speed and its the van size up from the transit and I didn't see it coming. Should I just reject the offer and go through my insurance? One thing to point out that has me worried about doing this is while my car was off the road, my MOT expired and its booked in for this Saturday to get done. A quick check online shows that having no valid MOT does not mean your insurance is invalid, the inspector will ensure the car was road worthy prior to the accident based on his findings. I know many would jump at the chance of going through the insurance under the above circumstances......could even fund a rotrex install. Any help would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletduck Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Is the chassis straight? I got rear ended and my car ended up getting written off, although it looked like a body shop job initially.I'd claim, for future safety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUToyota Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Well, ya learn summat every day...I would have been sure that having no MOT would have impacted on your insurance. I think I'd go with the insurance claim....just in case of any potential problems down the road. Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean68 Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 (edited) Same here as above mate. Especially if you are now in pain. Talking from experience mate having been hit 3times in the rear. Whiplash is a real pain. And as above your chassis may have taken more impact than you realise. If you are insured even without your mot then reporting it is a no brainer. I'm sure there's others on here with accurate info when it comes to insurance/mot. Edited June 2, 2015 by dean68 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleario Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Strictly speaking if the car wasn't mot'd it should be on the road unless it was booked in at a MOT station and you were on your way there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spotv6 Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 As long as you had mot at the time of the accident you were covered on insurance side .. If you now want to claim for a whiplash injury go through your insurance If you just want to claim for the damage that was actually caused then thats what the company are offering Its entirely up to you what you do ,my personal opinion on whiplash injury claims is probably best not mentioned as its only my opinion , I had the most minor and i mean minor of bumps in my van at no more than 3 miles an hour The guy got out of his van rubbing his feckin neck ...examined his vehicle not even a scratch on the plastic bumper !! As soon as he asked if it was a company vehicle ...and i told him yes ...but i own the business ..he stopped rubbing his neck Nuff said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletduck Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 Doesn't make any difference if you're MOT'ed or not if you're not at fault: there's nothing to stop you saying you were hit on the way to the test centre anyway. They might check it over, but not sure what kind of MOT fail would cause vans to hit you while stationary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spotv6 Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 If there was no mot on the vehicle at the time of the accident Then unless it was pre booked into an mot station it should not have been on the road And all mot stations have to keep records of mot bookings for vosa inspections . on your insurance certificate you will find a discaimer that states that you are only insured if the vehicle is legal .. If it aint got mot it aint legal to drive .. Its immaterial really cos the way i read it ...the mot ran out after the accident ... If it didnt have mot i would be very wary of involving your insurance company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleario Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 I had a car written off. The insurance asked me if it was the car was taxed and mot'd. I don't know if they checked or not. But as far as I can guess as long as they don't check your ok, but as at the law is at the moment no car should be on the road over 3 years old without an mot unless it's prebooked and your going straight there. Personally I'd get it mot'd as soon as possible. But you'll need a drivers side fog light, even if it's a cheap stick on thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean68 Posted June 2, 2015 Report Share Posted June 2, 2015 As long as you had mot at the time of the accident you were covered on insurance side .. If you now want to claim for a whiplash injury go through your insurance If you just want to claim for the damage that was actually caused then thats what the company are offering Its entirely up to you what you do ,my personal opinion on whiplash injury claims is probably best not mentioned as its only my opinion , I had the most minor and i mean minor of bumps in my van at no more than 3 miles an hour The guy got out of his van rubbing his feckin neck ...examined his vehicle not even a scratch on the plastic bumper !! As soon as he asked if it was a company vehicle ...and i told him yes ...but i own the business ..he stopped rubbing his neck Nuff said Whiplash is a very real condition. I know this because I still suffer from it. Like I've posted before, people fraudulently claiming whiplash are a bunch of arxxholes. But when you've been rear ended in a stationery car by some idiot doing 60+ mph, your neck and shoulders are not designed to take that kind of impact without serious injury. I've been hit three times now thru no fault of my own. And I now suffer from a condition called thoracic outlet syndrome. This is directly linked with whiplash injuries. I will be going for surgery in September to have my top rib basically removed and some muscle removed aswell to relieve the pressure on my thoracic artery and nerve bundle.. At this present moment in time, I literally have no pulse in my right arm when I raise it above horizontal. Due to compression of the artery. At the same time the nerve bundle gets trapped and I have next to know feeling in my fingers. I am not looking forward to the operation at all. So yes I agree people falsely claiming for whiplash are idiots. But whiplash and it's after effects yrs later can be very serious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daytona Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 The OP clearly states mot expired while car was off road. Get to the doctors and explain your symptoms and go through your insurance company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUToyota Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 The OP clearly states mot expired while car was off road. ...and BEFORE the "incident"...that's how I read it....and as such should surely not have been on the road UNLESS it was on it's way to the MOT station.?...if so, then it was on the road illegally at the time....doesn't that impact on insurance cover.? At least that's my interpretation...I'll be interested to see the outcome. Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daytona Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Yes, I have read it again and it is ambiguous. Was the off road lapse period the first off road period or the post accident off road period.As for invalidating insurance..........http://www.octagoninsurance.com/guide/tips/mot-means-car-insurance/I will ask Neil @ Greenlight for his opinion as I have seen both expressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daytona Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Posted Today, 09:20 AM I can only comment on how Greenlight Would view it, but i think all insurers will be similar If the Vehicle does not have a valid MOT it should not be driven/left on the Road. Therefore the vehicle would not be insured if an accident occured with no MOT.....If the vehicle was parked off road say on the driveway and got damaged then the insurance company may still payout but that would be down to individual case circumstances. Some insurers will cover you drive to a pre-booked MOT at your local MOT centre but you need to check with each individual policy (Two of the underwriters we use exclude it in the policy wording). Basically if you want the answer if a vehicle is driven on the road without an MOT am i insured then the answer is most likely no. Kind Regards neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletduck Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 The law is that if it's not MOTed and is in an incident, that if an MOT fail contributes to the accident your insurance is void. On the plus side, a) stationary and not going through his insurance. I've been through all this with a little brother and a lack of MOT and confirmed this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david924s Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 If I understand correctly, your car was MOT'd when you had the accident then subsequently it ran out while the car was off the road. If this is correct then I would seriously consider going through the insurance company, as mentioned previously you will not know what damage has been done to your car until it is stripped for repair the bodywork behind the bumper could be damaged and could result in a "write off" plus if you think there may be personal injury then you need to contact the insurance and report it then go to the doctors for a check up and confirmation of any issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted June 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 Apologies for any confusion. The car had no valid MOT at the time of the accident. It was however booked in for an MOT to take place this Saturday, I was leaving the car with them. That said, I have spoken with my insurance company who advised that the MOT would not invalidate the insurance and they would happily pursue the claim on my behalf as it would be a non fault claim where the circumstances clearly puts full responsibility on the third party driver, who additionally has already admitted full liability for the accident. I am going to my GP today as I have some mild pain in my neck and lower back from the impact. Depending on what the GP says will determine if I feel it would be worthy pursing any injury claim. I strongly oppose people who fake/exaggerate injury claims as it does have a impact on all of us when it comes to taking out insurance. The main thing that really annoyed me was the message from the company director. We will pay for your car directly to be repaired (fingers crossed its purely cosmetic). This aspect I am more than happy with however the next part of the message "In terms of covering any additional costs for your inconvenience (hire car while repairs carried out, time off work) they simply are not going to entertain any of that.... That felt like they are taking the piss a bit, as their driver smashes into the back of me while stationary..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleario Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 If they want to play it like that why should you be out of anything? Why should you not have a car. Go through the insurance, even if you don't put in a PI claim atleast get your car sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briano Posted June 3, 2015 Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 the only time to consider settling outside of insurance is when the excess will cost more than the repairs 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted June 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2015 The company uses hire vans for their work however use their own insurance company. The guy I have been dealing with did state that they have a pretty hefty excess.... and if my car is going to cost circa £300-400 then that is why they will be happier going through that process I imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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