Me, not so serious to start with - then car insurance chat!!

[citroenxm]

Insuring SORN cars to take them to MOT was costing me agro and cash each time.
Then the company I was with decided to withdraw from providing short term cover, no notice, just a refusal to provide cover.
With the MOT booked that wound me up a bit.
Found a multicar policy that lets me insure everything.
All the SORN cars are now insured full time.
Not cheap but break even point in a fairly expensive location is 3 to 4 cars individually on the raod.
Each declared car has its own policy and individual no claims bonus.

John

Thats rather interesting John, is it an online service??

Can you PM or post further details for me to look into? I take risk taking un insured cars for MOT due to my location etc... But thats gettin risky too now a days..

[russ92xmsed]

Sorry for the delay, been putting lounges back together after Plumbers.

On subject of not insurance cover if you fail your MOT.....
Practical Classics Magazine quotes..
" If you take your car to be tested before your existing MOT expires, and it fails, your insurance could be void. Despite still having a valid MOT.
So Some insurers...not all ( a glimer of hope!) regard an MOT failure at any time as rendering cover void. It completely contradicts VOSA's view....MOT certificate remains valid for the duration specified on that certificate, irrespective of what MOT documentation was issued subsequently.
VOSA says, when considering failure defects, these may or may not be sufficient to render the vehicle unroadworthy (illegal).
They asked a person from Heritage Classic Car insurance, and they said, "most insurers they work with would regard any continued use after an MOT failure as driving with knowledge of a defect in the vehicle...which would invalidate cover."
But if you were to claim in this situation, it can vary. Ie if you have a smash but it had no relation to the defective part or thing that failed the MOT, then you might be able to argue otherwise.
So PC said, if you fail an MOT and informed your insurer, they would withdraw their cover."

When precisely they all decided to do his I don't know. Another stealth policy against the Car owner. Like Paul said previously, Insurance cover should almost be like your brake down cover. The person is insured not necessarily the car. But then how do you cover theft and fire damage ect.?
What they also don't make clear, is how do you get the car home. Can you drive it to you home legitimately, and then cover is technically void thereafter till the car has an MOT pass. But how would the insurer know if you don't tell them.
It's all a bit of a mess. and the Motorist is the last to actually find out.

[captainhaddock]

Don't tell them, why would you. The less they know, the better. I don't think the insurance companies have access to the MOT data base.
So in case of an accident after your failed MOT, you would have to send them the original older MOT cert, and tax disc. At least, in Ireland that is.

In case of an insurance quote on any Irish car with certain insurances, they ask what fuel type the car is: petrol or diesel. Now, if I had a petrol car with also a LPG tank in it, but they don't ASK for that info? What would happen if I don't give that info and get into an accident later on? Dunno (don't have such a LPG system don't worry)

[russ92xmsed]

I think I would just get the car home, fix it and re MOT a soon as poss....depending on the fault of course. And not tell them. What they don't know won't hurt.
If it was a big defect, that needed fixing right away because it directly effects the way the car drives, then most garages would insist on having it fixed there and then or the next day, meaning the car would be with them over night ...possibly.

[citroenxm]

Wait a min...

so where does that stand then when your supposed to insure a car to take it for an mot!! if there's no mot in the first place its not valid..

Im tempted to stop and my local traffic cops what they think of all this bollocks ...

[xmexclusive]

There is a form of words used on a MOT failure form to identify that a car is unsafe to drive.
The defective item(s) will be marked " **DANGEROUS** " after the item entry.
A warning will also be issued "Warning: In my opinion, the vehicle is dangerous to drive because of the defects marked as such on the failure and / or advisory documents".
Note the reference to advisory documents!
That implies that the tester can PASS a car for all the stipulated test items, as required by law give a new MOT but still declare the car dangerous and unsafe to drive.
I cannot conceive of a fault type to meet this criteria but obviously one of our fine burecrats did and convinced the rest of the committee.

John

[Peter.N.]

They also carry 'field' insurance

[CitroJim]

This is just yet another instance of where this once great kingdom of ours has gone so barmy with silly legislation that nobody can now unravel it. Actually I'll bet that each and every one of us has void insurance right now. The rules and 'wriggle outs' have got so complex and detailed I'll bet the companies could find a way to declare it null and void if they tried.

I'm sure now every one of us every day commits at least one crime unwittingly. The powers that be could save a hell of a lot of bother if they just fined us all a couple hundred quid a year for crimes committed and be done with it.

I did hear a rumour that there's legislation planned to make car washing at home illegal - the reason given was that the practice hurts the profits of those who run mechanical car washes...

The Insurance bit is of course to help the garages fleece even more out of the average ignorant motorist.

Sorry. I'm at that age now where I'm very cynical, totally disbelieving of everything authority and officialdom tells me and totally distrusting. I could rant on for hours and hours but I won't...

The place has gone to the dogs and I see no light at the end of the tunnel whatsoever.

John, If I could I'd personally arrange a one-way ticket to Mars for every one of 'our fine burecrats' as you put it. The place would be a lot better off without them...

[Dieselman]

Sorry for the delay, been putting lounges back together after Plumbers.

On subject of not insurance cover if you fail your MOT.....
Practical Classics Magazine quotes..
" If you take your car to be tested before your existing MOT expires, and it fails, your insurance could be void. Despite still having a valid MOT.
So Some insurers...not all ( a glimer of hope!) regard an MOT failure at any time as rendering cover void. It completely contradicts VOSA's view....MOT certificate remains valid for the duration specified on that certificate, irrespective of what MOT documentation was issued subsequently.
VOSA says, when considering failure defects, these may or may not be sufficient to render the vehicle unroadworthy (illegal).
They asked a person from Heritage Classic Car insurance, and they said, "most insurers they work with would regard any continued use after an MOT failure as driving with knowledge of a defect in the vehicle...which would invalidate cover."

That's cobblers.

The insurance is in force unless the insurance company writes to you giving a deadline date when the policy will be terminated. It's a legal contract, the insurance company can't just decide it is invalid due to a defect. However, driving a car in an unroadworthy condition is an offense and could invalidate one's insurance, but there are many failure points that are not classed as dangerous.


Often journalists know nothing about the law and love to scaremonger.

[citroenxm]

Sorry for the delay, been putting lounges back together after Plumbers.

On subject of not insurance cover if you fail your MOT.....
Practical Classics Magazine quotes..
" If you take your car to be tested before your existing MOT expires, and it fails, your insurance could be void. Despite still having a valid MOT.
So Some insurers...not all ( a glimer of hope!) regard an MOT failure at any time as rendering cover void. It completely contradicts VOSA's view....MOT certificate remains valid for the duration specified on that certificate, irrespective of what MOT documentation was issued subsequently.
VOSA says, when considering failure defects, these may or may not be sufficient to render the vehicle unroadworthy (illegal).
They asked a person from Heritage Classic Car insurance, and they said, "most insurers they work with would regard any continued use after an MOT failure as driving with knowledge of a defect in the vehicle...which would invalidate cover."

That's cobblers.

The insurance is in force unless the insurance company writes to you giving a deadline date when the policy will be terminated. It's a legal contract, the insurance company can't just decide it is invalid due to a defect. However, driving a car in an unroadworthy condition is an offense and could invalidate one's insurance, but there are many failure point s that are not classed as dangerous.


Often journalists know nothing about the law and love to scaremonger.

Preciesely.. You are TOLD that your car should be insured going FOR an MOT!

Oh wait officer, Ive not got an MOT, so my insurance is invalid anyway, because theres NO MOT.. so I wont bother putting insurance on it to got for MOT....

I dont think you'd get away with that!