Crash with no tax or NCT

nimmy89

So was in a 4 car pile up last night.. Mine being the last car (and worst off) so I'm presuming the car infront of me can claim from me and I just use my comprehensive insurance to cover me.. nightmare..

But anyway, I have no tax or NCT on the car.. slap on the hand for me.. I'm back and forth to the UK and missed the tax deadline when the new rules came in which is why I haven't done it since.

Main thing I want to know if if my insurance will still cover me?? I'm in a bit of a pickle if they don't - car loan still outstanding arghhh! Will they try and worm their way out of paying because I had no tax?

The guards rang me last night and left a message for me so they're obviously not too happy about it (my bro in law is a guard so I have him looking into this for me - just more worried about the insurance!)

Thanks in advance!

Renegade Mechanic

It is an insurance companies job to find a way out of covering its people. And youve handed them one on a silver platter. Im delighted you got out ok, and hope everyone else did too. But before the Motors forum lynch mob arrive, Im just going to say, with or without a guard in the family, you may be in serious trouble here.

djimi

NCT would be the bigger issue I would have thought. Policies will differ as to what they require, but its not unheard of for a policy to stipulate that the NCT must be valid.

biko

Only your insurance company can answer that really. Have you read the T&C for your cover?

gizmo555

djimi wrote: »

NCT would be the bigger issue I would have thought.

Especially if the OP already has any points on his licence. No NCT adds another five! (And a mandatory court appearance.)

Truckermal

The same thing happened me 2 years ago all though I was actually on the way to the test centre and I was not at fault but the cops never mentioned it..

bear1

Unfortunately you've put yourself in a rather bad position.
Leaving aside the no tax/nct part - as mentioned your biggest worry now is with the police.
I'm not 100% sure if you get points for no tax (I imagine you would) but adding on the 5 for no NCT is going to show you how much of a pain it will be to get any cover in the future as you will need to state this.
How long is the NCT out of date? How old is the car?
Get yourself legal advice, talk to the police and talk to your insurance company.

bigboss1986

My car was damaged while parked before xmass.3rd party's car had no NCT and Tax.Li*erty paid me no problem but....because 3rd party's car had no tax or nct she must paid back the money in 30 days.

nimmy89

Oh dear... just speaking to the insurance company they've asked for proof of NCT aargghhhh... are they not going to cover me??!!

deandean

nimmy89 wrote: »

Oh dear... just speaking to the insurance company they've asked for proof of NCT aargghhhh... are they not going to cover me??!!

Oooooh dear. I think they are obliged to cover your third party costs (i.e. pay for the damage that your car caused to others) but you may well find that they will decline the comprehensive element, that is damage to your car.

jimgoose

deandean wrote: »

Oooooh dear. I think they are obliged to cover your third party costs (i.e. pay for the damage that your car caused to others) but you may well find that they will decline the comprehensive element, that is damage to your car.

Not to mention coming after the OP to recover the cost of the third-party damage, in the event of them deciding the policy was void at the time of the incident. Looks like a whole passel o' hassle.

nimmy89

which is where the main damage is !! Absolutely raging... wrote off car with loan still paying on it and probably won't be covered... no car and still a fairly high loan to pay every month... shoot me now!!!!!

bear1

Which insurance company is it?

corktina

how long were the tax and NCT out by?

StompToWork

nimmy89 wrote: »

which is where the main damage is !! Absolutely raging... wrote off car with loan still paying on it and probably won't be covered... no car and still a fairly high loan to pay every month... shoot me now!!!!!

All I can offer here is my condolences. I would be pretty sure insurance will cover your third party costs, but forget about your own costs.

If the insurance company start throwing shapes that your cover was null and void due to no NCT, and they weren't going to even cover 3rd party, then maybe try this...

I assume the car had a valid NCT when you first insured it. I am working on an assumption that the NCT expired during that initial policy, or sometime during the subsequent renewals. You would probably have noticed that when you renewed your policy, they either simply just renewed your DD and sent you a new policy and disc WITHOUT seeking proof of NCT. You could try throwing that back in their face.

Maybe not wise, maybe no use, but desperate times and all that!.

Best of luck OP. As clichéd as it may sound, this will all be a distant memory sooner than you think right now.

nimmy89

L*berty.. my claims assessor just emailed me over forms etc to fill in and what docs are needed - have an email written up saying I don't have NCT... scared to send it!

Unsure how long NCT is out by - can't remember! Tax was out a good while... I am back and forth to the UK which is why I didn't tax it.. car was just about to be sold (someone was on the way up to look at it when I crashed last night!!! Talk about bad luck ) so was holding out for NCT! UGH feel like crying!!!

davo2001

Not a hope will the insurance company cover you, why should they? By not doing the NCT you have not proven that your car is road worthy so it shouldnt be driven on the road.

Sorry but your own fault OP.

nimmy89

davo2001 wrote: »

Not a hope will the insurance company cover you, why should they? By not doing the NCT you have not proven that your car is road worthy so it shouldnt be driven on the road.

Sorry but your own fault OP.

I know it's all my fault.. not putting the blame on anyone here... except for the idiot that decided to stop her car in the middle of the M50 but that's a different argument ha hold my hands up for being an absolute twat for not having it taxed or NCT'd !!!

Rightwing

Hopefully you will get out of it okay.

finno

nimmy89 wrote: »

L*berty.. my claims assessor just emailed me over forms etc to fill in and what docs are needed - have an email written up saying I don't have NCT... scared to send it!

Unsure how long NCT is out by - can't remember! Tax was out a good while... I am back and forth to the UK which is why I didn't tax it.. car was just about to be sold (someone was on the way up to look at it when I crashed last night!!! Talk about bad luck ) so was holding out for NCT! UGH feel like crying!!!

Taught you can't sell the car if you still owe money on it????

djimi

davo2001 wrote: »

Not a hope will the insurance company cover you, why should they? By not doing the NCT you have not proven that your car is road worthy so it shouldnt be driven on the road.

Sorry but your own fault OP.

Not necessarily. If the policy specifically states that NCT must be current then the OP is in trouble. However not all policies are that specific. If they state that the car must be in roadworthy condition for example, then the insurer may have to point to a fault in the car being the cause of the accident before the can refuse cover.

Its possible to be without NCT for something completely inconsequential, that would have no bearing on how roadworthy the car is and the possibility of it causing an accident (I failed my last test because the font on my reg plate was wrong for example). In this instance, the insurer could not claim that that car was not roadworthy if that is what the policy specifies.

djimi

finno wrote: »

Taught you can't sell the car if you still owe money on it????

Only if its on finance/hire purchase. If its just a bank/credit union loan then its your car to sell.

nimmy89

Ok SO.. insurance company weren't too bothered about NCT, said that pay out may be slightly less but not by too much... BUT they said the guards have taken the car because of no tax and won't release it until I suppose a fine is paid... jesus.. this gets better and better... my nerves!!!!!!

corktina

your day just looked up! Hope it works out for you and that other people take note of the possible consequences of no tax/NCT etc!

Chimaera

You've got two separate problems going on here:

One is the legal issue of having no tax or NCT that the Gardaí will be interested in. Both are offences and you're caught there. As already noted, not having NCT is a mandatory court appearance and 5 points. Tax is not a penalty point offence and I'm not familiar with the specifics of it. I'd be getting some legal advice at this point.

The other is the insurance issue. They don't care about the tax at least. Like others have said, they will probably care about the NCT but it depends on the wording of your policy. At this point you need to read it carefully and see what it says about roadworthiness/NCT. If it specifies NCT then you're in trouble. Again, I'd seek legal advice at this point.

Whatever happens, I'd consider it a lesson learnt!

corktina

corktina wrote: »

your day just looked up! Hope it works out for you and that other people take note of the possible consequences of no tax/NCT etc!

Not to be smart, but... What consequences? He seems to be getting off scot free with the insurance company so far?

And the Gardaí seem to be taking no more or less interest than if he was stopped at a checkpoint..?

He'll probably have to pay back tax on the car or let them keep it. Doesn't quite seem like the end of the world, to me, to be fair.

OP; of the three requirements, insurance is obviously the most important one, so thank god you kept that in check at least. Could've been a lot worse for you. Lesson learned for future, hopefully.

jca

Deleted User wrote: »

Not to be smart, but... What consequences? He seems to be getting off scot free with the insurance company so far?

And the Gardaí seem to be taking no more or less interest than if he was stopped at a checkpoint..?

He'll probably have to pay back tax on the car or let them keep it. Doesn't quite seem like the end of the world, to me, to be fair.

OP; of the three requirements, insurance is obviously the most important one, so thank god you kept that in check at least. Could've been a lot worse for you. Lesson learned for future, hopefully.

Doesn't seem to be much point in fools like me paying my €670 road tax every year and getting the car ready for NCT every second year....:(

StompToWork

jca wrote: »

Doesn't seem to be much point in fools like me paying my €670 road tax every year and getting the car ready for NCT every second year....:(

........or every year for those of us who can't afford more than a 10 year old car.

Apart from all that, looks like you can sigh with relief there OP. I'm glad it worked out for you. You probably will get points for no NCT, and your insurance renewal is probably going to be stomach churningly large, but at least you are covered.

bear1

Count yourself bloody lucky there.
I imagine the Guards will take this more seriously though.
No NCT - court. No tax, pay back all that is owed. Plus the points of course.
You aren't out of the woods yet but at least the insurance side is taken care of.
I would probably guess that Liberty will go after the person that caused the whole mess in the first place

dharn

<Unhelpful post removed>

biko

corktina wrote: »

your day just looked up! Hope it works out for you and that other people take note of the possible consequences of no tax/NCT etc!

Indeed, the insurance company could have just said no, now it seems they will pay out a certain amount. It could have been much worse.
I hope you're ok otherwise OP, no injuries as as such?

nimmy89

Thanks for all the replies and advice etc!! Took today off work to get things sorted - stressful to say the least but hopefully sorted now anyway!

Turns out the Garda ceased the car for not having tax, had to pay €160 (after a lot of coming and throwing) to have the car released from the recovery yard so my insurers can collect the car to assess - I send the guy in the garage a photo of damage and he confirmed it's written off and suggested I just leave there to be scrapped but insurers said they wanted it for salvage so I paid the release fee!!

Anywayy.. Seems as though I don't have to pay back tax.. It was either pay the tax or have it towed and it's non drivable anyway so towed it was!!

I'm sure I still have a lot to deal with with the insurance company but have everything crossed that I'll get a decent cheque in by next week from them and definitely a lesson learned!!!

I'll be expecting the 5 points in the post UGH (although nothing was mentioned)... Feel like I never want to drive again!!!!

Chimaera

Not having NCT is a mandatory court appearance, so expect a summons in the post.

kirving

All that the mandatory court appearance achieves is to discourage the Gards from prosecuting people as the punishment is unfair for the vast majority of cases - most of which would be to do with delays in getting a test date.

No NCT doesn't for a moment mean that a car is unsafe, just that it hasn't yet been proven to be safe. Two totally different things altogether.

Renegade Mechanic

Why is no nct a mandatory court appearance? FFS :mad:

visual

I had a car that was parked on road without nct
Someone ran in to it. Old car so was right off.

Insurance company paid up but reduced the value of car because it didnt have nct.

Garda didnt follow through with no NCT where no interested.

The car was taxed but no one ever asked about tax. The only question asked was about insurance and NCT by insurance company.

Atlantic Dawn

How long was the NCT out for and what condition were the tyres on the car.

Stella Virgo

Chimaera wrote: »

Not having NCT is a mandatory court appearance, so expect a summons in the post.

can you provide a link to this.....

corktina

Kevin Irving wrote: »

All that the mandatory court appearance achieves is to discourage the Gards from prosecuting people as the punishment is unfair for the vast majority of cases - most of which would be to do with delays in getting a test date.

No NCT doesn't for a moment mean that a car is unsafe, just that it hasn't yet been proven to be safe. Two totally different things altogether.

There are no delays in getting a test date...you have three months to do it and you can get an appointment in days.

corktina

Stella Virgo wrote: »

can you provide a link to this.....

it's not a penalty points on the spot offense so therefore......

Stella Virgo

corktina wrote: »

it's not a penalty points on the spot offense so therefore......

just spotted it on the RSA website, its first on the list.....tis getting a bit serious now
http://www.rsa.ie/Documents/Licensed%20Drivers/Penalty%20Points%20Chart1.pdf

sawdoubters

just be happy your alive,

for next time give yourself about 15 feet so you can avoid getting into an accident it will give you time to brake

adrag

Without an nct the car is unroadworthy, but don't panic yes ye have guessed it , you have a get out of jail card , your bro in law is a gaurd hooray for you ps im just jealous I don't

JohnCleary

I haven't read through the other replies, but you are covered.

Insurance company may devalue your car by 10%, this is the case with aviva anyway

Chimaera

Stella Virgo wrote: »

can you provide a link to this.....

Top of the list here: http://www.rsa.ie/Documents/Licensed%20Drivers/Penalty%20Points%20Chart1.pdf

No Pants

nimmy89 wrote: »

Seems as though I don't have to pay back tax.. It was either pay the tax or have it towed and it's non drivable anyway so towed it was!!

Makes a mockery of the new "get tough on untaxed vehicles" approach that they brought in late last year, but there you go.

mickdw

Alot of crap on this thread.
You are covered. You will get a pay out. Worst case 30 percent reduction on payout for your car.
Tax will likely mean a fine and back tax and nct could result in 5 points but I doubt it.

mickdw

Alot of crap on this thread.
You are covered. You will get a pay out. Worst case 30 percent reduction on payout for your car.
Tax will likely mean a fine and back tax and nct could result in 5 points but I doubt it.

galwaytt

corktina wrote: »

There are no delays in getting a test date...you have three months to do it and you can get an appointment in days.

It took me 16 weeks and a complaint to Dept of Environnent to get an NCT date in May last year. Are you saying NCT queues now a thing of the past ?

Mine is up in May and I tried to get a booking already - you can test up to 90 days early -but they wouldn't give me a date. ..

galwaytt

adrag wrote: »

Without an nct the car is unroadworthy, but don't panic yes ye have guessed it , you have a get out of jail card , your bro in law is a gaurd hooray for you ps im just jealous I don't

Incorrect. Lack of NCT does not make your car unroadworthy. It just means it is untested.

For the same reason HAVING an NCT doesn't make it roadworthy either. Have a crash with a valid NCT but the AGS assessor finds a fault with the car.. Now it is both NCT'd AND unroadworthy.....

corktina

phone or email and ask for a cancellation, I find they get back to you within 24 hours. Waste of time relying on boking online