De-Cat Warning (UK)

Prince

Torque King
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Just a heads up for anyone currently running a de-cat or thinking of getting one...

As some of you may know, the rule is currently that a de-cat can be used assuming the car still passes the emissions. However, from April 2012 the cat (or a sports cat) must be present for the MOT if the car had one from the factory. Emissions or not a visual check will be carried out.

Any thoughts on this guys?
 
My thoughts are that they should spend more time looking for bald tyres and cars with undertrays hanging off rather than something that's realistically hurting no-one. The only cat going on my RS is for one day a year.
 
a pic of decat

IMG_1233-1.jpg
 
For the record that is floyd he is a maine coon and he weighs 8Kg

It is his house because he says so

His hobbies are fighting foxes and chasing other cats .

I have just got two MC kittens one of which will be much bigger than floyd.
 
I can't see why people don't use sports cats anyway, the flow rates between them and a decat are negligible and it keeps the car legal. When they start doing roadside checks (and they will) a lot of people are going to get caught out.
 
A real cat post

I have a racing silencer in place of the cat as it was toooo loud without it. It even looks like a cat and is in the right place . I have been asked quite a few times why dont you decat it .

And if it looks like if it looks like a duck.............
 
its crap! mine has a decat, but have do still have standard cat though just in case! but yeah i think they should be more worried about proper crimes i.e. theft and murder etc rather than people warming up the planet a little!
 
The problem is that the construction and usage regulations are changing.

True, however it will not be possible to change the law towards making the cat compulsive. It always will be possible to fit alternative technology if successfully homologated.
 
I can envisage cars being allowed to be significantly modified if they're subjected to a one off VoSA SVA inspection (at the owner/operators expense) prior to being driven on the road.
 
Remember as well that when this comes into force it will void the insurance regardless of whether it's declared or not. ;)

Just a heads up for anyone currently running a de-cat or thinking of getting one...

As some of you may know, the rule is currently that a de-cat can be used assuming the car still passes the emissions. However, from April 2012 the cat (or a sports cat) must be present for the MOT if the car had one from the factory. Emissions or not a visual check will be carried out.

Any thoughts on this guys?
 
Remember as well that when this comes into force it will void the insurance regardless of whether it's declared or not. ;)


Why ?

Your insurance isnt invalid because a light bulbs blows or if your steering gaiter splits even though it would fail the MOT if taken in after either have happened. Its not even invalid if a ball joint is worn.
And these affect road safety far more than a cat

There is only one roadworthy test - it is called the mot.

It is only done once a year and that is when the car is tested for roadworthyness.
Passing an MOT means nothing the next day anything can happen

They simply cant say your insurance isnt valid because the cat has failed it is no different to any of the above.

We keep having these scares posted last time it was the new MOT regs that were supposed to be coming in.
Loads of scare posts and in the end all for nothing.

To make it valid there will also need to be some clarification of what a cat is and that is where it will break down. After all what is a sports cat ??????

We know aftermarket cats have to be ok as well so if my car passes the emmission tests and has something that I say is a cat that will surely be ok. and thats for the MOT
 
Cars do have to be kept in a roadworthy condition, and owners are required to keep their cars in a safe condition, as most policies contain a clause to this effect, but an MOT failure does not necessarily constitute void insurance unless an accident is caused that is directly attributable to the reason for failure where questions COULD be asked by the insurers and a decision made as to the validity of your policy.
 
I think you'll find that removal of mandatory emissions control equipment will immediately void your cover. Sure, they'll still cover the libilities to third parties that are incur losses or are injured but that's only because they're obliged to do so under the provisions of the Road Traffic Act.

In law you will still technically be driving with void insurance.
 
If the mod is declared I don't think there will be a problem with it but as with anything like this one should always check with the insurer concerned to see what their stance is to remove all doubt.

Interestingly we had claims fully dealt with on cars with no MOT certs.
 
If the mod is declared I don't think there will be a problem with it but as with anything like this one should always check with the insurer concerned to see what their stance is to remove all doubt.

Interestingly we had claims fully dealt with on cars with no MOT certs.

I think at the moment the financial services industry is finding any excuse to retain money so what might have been passed and signed off a few years ago might not be so now.

If the laws requires the car's emissions control systems not be tampered with then the offence would contravene construction and usage regulations which gives the underwriters a strong stance to decline to meet a claim.

However, my thinking is that in cases where cars are already legitimately modified - ie. it's all been disclosed to insurer and accepted and underwritten by them - they're going to have a very hard job of retracting cover for an existing policy or radically altering terms for a forthcoming renewal. - Precedents have already been set.

It's not in the public interest (nor that of the insurance industry) to render thousands of drivers immediately the wrong side of the law by simply changing the wording of a policy schedule.

On that basis I think there's possibly less to worry about than might initially appear to be the case.
 
Before cats didn't need to be there unless emissions were high.
If it is now illegal to remove a factory cat and fit a de-cat pipe then it will void the mot which in turn with most insurers will also void the insurance.





Why ?

Your insurance isnt invalid because a light bulbs blows or if your steering gaiter splits even though it would fail the MOT if taken in after either have happened. Its not even invalid if a ball joint is worn.
And these affect road safety far more than a cat

There is only one roadworthy test - it is called the mot.

It is only done once a year and that is when the car is tested for roadworthyness.
Passing an MOT means nothing the next day anything can happen

They simply cant say your insurance isnt valid because the cat has failed it is no different to any of the above.

We keep having these scares posted last time it was the new MOT regs that were supposed to be coming in.
Loads of scare posts and in the end all for nothing.

To make it valid there will also need to be some clarification of what a cat is and that is where it will break down. After all what is a sports cat ??????

We know aftermarket cats have to be ok as well so if my car passes the emmission tests and has something that I say is a cat that will surely be ok. and thats for the MOT
 
Before cats didn't need to be there unless emissions were high.
If it is now illegal to remove a factory cat and fit a de-cat pipe then it will void the mot which in turn with most insurers will also void the insurance.

Only VOSA can declare void an MOT.

And even then they can't PG9 it.
 
+1

An insurance company cannot void a legal MOT. It has absolutely nothing to do with them
And if the car has gone through an MOT(which is now checked ) then its is a legal MOT

Any owner is entitled to say that their car is allowed on the road because the lawful MOT says so.

Also even if you hit another car and test positive for DD your insurance isnt void
It is still valid for a third party claim so your insurance wont be "void"

There was a similar scare on here about having to insure cars even if kept off the road in a garage when the new MIT regs came in. And another one when Sorn came out.
Turned out to be a lot of fuss for nothing.
 
I've had to weld my old cat back on the car, but I have a feeling everything might have fallen out of it before I welded it back on.
 

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