Vehicle tax and MOT renewal question.

[chainsaw_masochist]

The vehicle tax and MOT expire on 30th June. I have an MOT test booked for 1st July. Assuming the vehicle passes and I renew the vehicle tax on the 1st do I breach any legalities? Thanks for any advice.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Yes because the car won't be taxed from midnight on the 30th until you get the tax from the PO and shoved on your car at midday or whatever time that occurs.

 

[AlanE]

You are permitted to drive an untaxed vehicle directly to and from a PRE-BOOKED MOT but it must be insured. Only deviation in route of directly to and from MOT Testing Station is if the vehicle is being driven directly to a place where any repairs are to be carried out necessitated because of an MOT failure.

A vehicle with a SORN notice cannot be driven on the road under any circumstances. Tell DVLA first so the SORN notice is cancelled then as above.

So to answer your question no you are not breaking the law doing what you asked.

You can also renew your tax online and if you do so before using the vehicle, apart from the MOT trip, you have 5 days grace before you need to display it in vehicle.

Think about it once you have renewed on line the car is effectively taxed as far as police ANPR system is concerned.

The requirements to display will actually cease in a few months when the issue of the tax disc stops.

 

[chainsaw_masochist]

Thanks, Freddy, and thanks Alan for the very useful details - excellent.

 

[nickso]

Be careful.....insurance brokers will try to get out of any claim involving a vehicle not MOT'd at the time of a claim. Ask me how I know.

 

[JohnD]

you could have had the MoT done at any time in the last month. The expiry date would still have been 12 months from the expiry date of your old one. That gives plenty of time for any repairs needed.

Nothing to be gained by leaving it till the last day.

I expect you could still have it MoTd before 1st July if you wanted to.

Many of the Tyre chains have half-price MoT offers, and some places do free MoT with a service. In my case they have not needed to find some fault to bump up their repairs income.

For example http://www.national.co.uk/mot.aspx

 

[chainsaw_masochist]

Nick: That is a good point worth remembering. Thanks.

John: Slightly unusual situation. The vehicle belongs to my dad and he is away abroad until the middle of July and managed to forget about the MOT (it is not his main set of wheels). So it is probably best that I leg it 120 miles or so in a week or so and take care it for it for him otherwise it means getting the bloody thing SORNed which is inconvenient. I was going up there anyway a couple of days later in anycase so no huge issue.

Must say I ain't too taken with the the big franchises and much prefer the independent operators. But hey-ho, yer takes yer choice.

 

[AlanE]

Be careful.....insurance brokers will try to get out of any claim involving a vehicle not MOT'd at the time of a claim. Ask me how I know.

That is always an issue to bear in mind apart from the ability to drive to, and from, a pre-booked MOT the issue regarding vehicle insurance can be a grey area particularly as to defining if the vehicle is actually insured.

Scenario you are driving to, or from, MOT test under your current insurance. Vehicle passes - great!! But now consider it actually fails. Vehicle insurance is normally conditional on the vehicle being in a roadworthy condition.

Now car fails MOT meaning it is not roadworthy. Is the insurance now still valid? Probably not.

As nickso has already posted there is plenty of time to get MOT before expiry of the existing one. However the insurance question is still worth considering. The vehicle, should it fail, has been deemed as no longer roadworthy so would an insurance company uphold any claim?

Could be an interesting question. When a vehicle is presented early for its MOT, which it promptly fails, most drivers will continue using the vehicle under the impression it still possesses a valid MOT certificate but is the vehicles insurance really still valid, after all the vehicle has been deemed to be no longer roadworthy?

Sorry just me thinking aloud!!

 

[JohnD]

the old MoT is still valid until its expiry date.

A tester has the option to issue you with a notice that it is immediately dangerous/not in safe roadworthy condition. I have never had one of those, although I have had common wear and tear fail items.

 

[alan333]

If you tax it before the MOT runs out I don't believe you'd need to SORN it at all. AFAIK you only need to SORN if it's untaxed, and if it's uninsured you must also return the tax and declare SORN. I don't think there's a clause about having a MOT. When yr Dad gets back he can legally drive it to a pre booked MOT, as explained earlier. I wouldn't keep it on the road without a MOT, but should be ok on a driveway etc.

 

[AlanE]

If you tax it before the MOT runs out I don't believe you'd need to SORN it at all.

True really but in this case the tax & mot runs out June 30th so he cannot renew the tax even before expiry as obtaining the tax requires a MOT, and insurance, to be valid on the day the tax is due to start.

the old MoT is still valid until its expiry date.

That is true but the MOT is only a snapshot of the vehicles condition at the time of carrying out the test.

Have an accident after the next MOT, even if it is obtained prior to the expiry of the previously issued one, and that new MOT shows up there are defects such as say defective tyres, suspension worn or poor braking efficiency do you think you would have a legitimate defence that although the subsequent MOT was a failure you can continue to drive the vehicle on the road simply because you have an old valid MOT.

If that is your thinking then think again!! Many insurance companies would deny a claim on the basis you have failed to maintain the vehicle in a roadworthy condition and the fact you have been issued with a MOT failure is proof you was fully aware the vehicle failed to reach the required standard to be permitted on the public highway.

 

[Nige F]

Be aware - be very aware ! I once drove past a shiny trrousered cop sitting in his plodmobile - on my way to a booked MOT @ a specialised centre ( I was in a Reliant ) No tax disc , obviusly . Got MOT - a week later got a producer through the post - the idle tosser had not even bothered to follow me and check out the van . His loss cuz I had several kilos of baccy for a boot sale

 

[terrypin]

Just mot it before the expiry date then there are no issues.

If the vehicle fails you will get a failure sheet but you can still drive it if the original mot certificate hasn't expired. The failure will be logged on the central data base and the police, in theory, could prosecute you for driving an unroadworthy vehicle but this would be down to the individual officers discretion and his ability to prove the unroadworthy condition. Would he be able to? That's another issue.

As for the insurance companies trying to wriggle out of paying a claim for the slightest of issues, much of this is unsubstantiated myth and all depends on the circumstances surrounding the claim. None will effect third party claims but may effect your claim. If the car failed on, for example, an ineffective n/s wiper blade and you hit a tree because you were blinded by brilliant sunshine exiting a bend the wiper blade would not be an issue.

Now if you ran into the back of a car because you had faulty brakes that had shown up on the mot test and a failure sheet issued because of this then that's a different matter completely.

 

[AlanE]

If the vehicle fails you will get a failure sheet but you can still drive it if the original mot certificate hasn't expired. The failure will be logged on the central data base and the police, in theory, could prosecute you for driving an unroadworthy vehicle but this would be down to the individual officers discretion and his ability to prove the unroadworthy condition. Would he be able to? That's another issue.

Why does he have to rely on discretion? An MOT tester has deemed it unroadworthy by way of a failure notice.

Remember an MOT is a snapshot of the vehicles condition at the time of the test only and would never be a valid tool in describing the vehicles condition at a later date. A vehicle can be unroadworthy even although it has an MOT certificate issued sometime earlier.

As for the insurance companies trying to wriggle out of paying a claim for the slightest of issues, much of this is unsubstantiated myth and all depends on the circumstances surrounding the claim. None will effect third party claims but may effect your claim. If the car failed on, for example, an ineffective n/s wiper blade and you hit a tree because you were blinded by brilliant sunshine exiting a bend the wiper blade would not be an issue.

Get real how many MOT stations would fail a vehicle with an 'ineffective n/s wiper blade' as its only defect? Mind you if anybody presented a vehicle with defective wiper blades would deserve a fail!!

 

[terrypin]

Read up on MOT's before going off on one.

It's there for all to see on gov.co.UK.

As for the wiper blade, it was just an example

Police officers do use their own discretion you know.......ever heard of drivers getting a verbal warning rather than being prosecuted?.....its called discretion.