MOT - How long do i have?

[TFU] Thegoon84 · 4 Nov 2019 at 08:31

Given how brutal these forums can be i feel the need to justify

I've got an MT09 motorbike, MOT ran out 31st Oct.

* Had stuff on first week
* A guy from the MT09 FB group said he'd come the weekend after to collect it and said not to worry about the MOT he'll get it done as it was a cheap price. (He had a good rating on the group)
* Guy failed to show. 3rd week Got a new battery, started fine.
* Last weekend went to take it out for a good spin before the MOT on Tuesday... Wouldn't start
* Had to arrange for the AA to take it to my garage on Tuesday and the guy cant work on it until today/tomorrow.

So my question is, am i going to get a fine or what ever for the mot being over date? Its not being driven on the road and when its ready will be driven to a pre booked appointment.

I'm hoping to get it MOT'd by Friday latest.

kaptainmarc · 4 Nov 2019 at 08:49

if its not on the road its fine, and you can drive to an MOT booking without a valid MOT.

If you get pulled over you will obviously need some form of proof you are going for an MOT.

happened to me before, had no issues when it came to the MOT

[TFU] Thegoon84 · 4 Nov 2019 at 08:52

kaptainmarc said:
if its not on the road its fine, and you can drive to an MOT booking without a valid MOT.

If you get pulled over you will obviously need some form of proof you are going for an MOT.

happened to me before, had no issues when it came to the MOT

Great stuff. I assume that as its not MOT'd the tax will stop, which is where i'll prob have the fine. Either way it'll be sorted by Friday.

Cant see DVLA being that quick to issue a fine?

snips86x · 4 Nov 2019 at 08:58

Doubtful. My sister drove her car for 4 months without realising the mot expired and nothing came of it.

Lopéz · 4 Nov 2019 at 08:58

[TFU] Thegoon84 said:
Great stuff. I assume that as its not MOT'd the tax will stop, which is where i'll prob have the fine. Either way it'll be sorted by Friday.

Cant see DVLA being that quick to issue a fine?

No MOT will not "stop" the tax.

Just get the MOT done and carry on as normal

Usher · 4 Nov 2019 at 08:59

It does have to be insured however

Basher · 4 Nov 2019 at 10:02

[TFU] Thegoon84 said:
Given how brutal these forums can be i feel the need to justify

I've got an MT09 motorbike, MOT ran out 31st Oct.

* Had stuff on first week
* A guy from the MT09 FB group said he'd come the weekend after to collect it and said not to worry about the MOT he'll get it done as it was a cheap price. (He had a good rating on the group)
* Guy failed to show. 3rd week Got a new battery, started fine.
* Last weekend went to take it out for a good spin before the MOT on Tuesday... Wouldn't start
* Had to arrange for the AA to take it to my garage on Tuesday and the guy cant work on it until today/tomorrow.

So my question is, am i going to get a fine or what ever for the mot being over date? Its not being driven on the road and when its ready will be driven to a pre booked appointment.

I'm hoping to get it MOT'd by Friday latest.

I've forgotten to get an MOT done for months before (I know, I'm a terrible human) and heard nothing from it.

You'll be fine (pun intended).

[TFU] Thegoon84 · 4 Nov 2019 at 11:25

Great stuff. Cheers. Panic over

Street · 6 Nov 2019 at 13:09

I forgot about my MOT for a few months a couple years ago. For some reason I thought it was in January and it wasn't until I phoned the police to tell them my car had been broken into that they kindly reminded me it had expired a couple months ago in September! They just told me to get it sorted as soon as possible.

mr tommo · 6 Nov 2019 at 19:35

I may or may not have just had my car MOT'd yesterday after realising it expired in February this year. Embarrassing and scary to think I wouldn't have been insured had anything happened. Thought it had been done at the same time as the service but apparently not.

AHarvey · 6 Nov 2019 at 21:48

I was driving my wife's A4 for 2 months without an MOT as she forget it was due.

Both cars are now set up on the DVLA website to send us reminders

https://www.gov.uk/mot-reminder

Liquidfox · 7 Nov 2019 at 15:57

mr tommo said:
Embarrassing and scary to think I wouldn't have been insured had anything happened.

As long as your car was roadworthy it was insured. Otherwise how would you legally drive to get an MOT that had expired?

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 7 Nov 2019 at 16:37

Liquidfox said:
As long as your car was roadworthy it was insured. Otherwise how would you legally drive to get an MOT that had expired?

Most car insurance policies in the UK state that the car must be kept in a roadworthy condition AND have a valid MOT if required.

The RTA grants a limited extension for a vehicle without an MOT to be driven to a pre arranged MOT (that technically cannot be guaranteed as roadworthy as thats whats about to be tested), during that journey the car is exempt from needing an MOT, and hence the insurer only requires that the car is roadworthy in the mind of the driver.

Dogbreath · 7 Nov 2019 at 16:44

I suspect there are quite a large number of vehicles driving around with expired MOTs. I inadvertently drove around for a few months without an MOT (dealer lied about putting a new ticket on and I stupidly didn't check until nearly a year later) and it didn't get picked up even though I went through several ANPRs during that time. It would seem the authorities are far more worried about lost revenue from VED than having no MOT.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Most car insurance policies in the UK state that the car must be kept in a roadworthy condition AND have a valid MOT if required.

Do you have any evidence for "most", since I've not seen this on any policy I've had? They always mention roadworthiness.

Lopéz · 7 Nov 2019 at 17:06

I drove my Fiesta for 3 months without an MOT. I looked at the certificate when I purchased it, misread the date, and never thought about it again until I thought it was due and found it was long expired. Nobody cared. I racked up over 3,000 miles in that time, all over the country.

My mum drove her Civic for almost a year, again - no issues.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 7 Nov 2019 at 17:11

Dogbreath said:
I suspect there are quite a large number of vehicles driving around with expired MOTs. I inadvertently drove around for a few months without an MOT (dealer lied about putting a new ticket on and I stupidly didn't check until nearly a year later) and it didn't get picked up even though I went through several ANPRs during that time. It would seem the authorities are far more worried about lost revenue from VED than having no MOT.

Do you have any evidence for "most", since I've not seen this on any policy I've had? They always mention roadworthiness.

This gets annoying, its the 3rd or 4th time I have done this. This is from AXA motor insurance, under section General conditions, you must :

4. Maintaining your car You must make sure your car is roadworthy including that it has, if required, a valid MOT and complies with the relevant legislation in any General conditions applying to all sections of your policy 28 of 33 country where it is being driven. We reserve the right to examine your car at any reasonable time.

rodenal · 7 Nov 2019 at 18:14

Just shows the importance of reading your own policy terms (which is a bit ironic for anyone who has managed not to check their MOT date......I've done it too)

My Aviva policy simply states (under the policy holders duty):

"Your vechicle must be maintained in a roadworthy condition."

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 7 Nov 2019 at 20:08

rodenal said:
Just shows the importance of reading your own policy terms (which is a bit ironic for anyone who has managed not to check their MOT date......I've done it too)

My Aviva policy simply states (under the policy holders duty):

"Your vechicle must be maintained in a roadworthy condition."

Yeah I am actually with Aviva as well.

AVIVA do mention MOT under documents they may ask for. It certainly seems a risk to assume your fine right now until it becomes really clear if you are covered with no MOT

Its one the reasons I like Aviva their documentation, exclusions etc tend to be less than the other main insurers. All my insurances are with Aviva now.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 7 Nov 2019 at 20:22

Actually checked a few more and they do seem to be dropping MOT now, oddly in regards the general provisions. But not the claims provisions.
I wonder if someone has managed to use a valid MOT as a defence or something and by simplifying to roadworthy they are giving themselves more room.

It is annoying though in that none of them that I checked actually defined roadworthy in the definitions section. You would have thought using a term such as roadworthy would be backed up by a definition in regards that policy.

Liquidfox · 12 Nov 2019 at 12:31

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Most car insurance policies in the UK state that the car must be kept in a roadworthy condition AND have a valid MOT if required.

The RTA grants a limited extension for a vehicle without an MOT to be driven to a pre arranged MOT (that technically cannot be guaranteed as roadworthy as thats whats about to be tested), during that journey the car is exempt from needing an MOT, and hence the insurer only requires that the car is roadworthy in the mind of the driver.

None of my previous ones ever have, and my current Aviva policy mentions nothing of the sort.