8 replies to this topic

[greenlaner1]

ok, i am going for a different idea...

can anyone help me with legalities of driving without tax or mot... i know that if you are driving to a prebooked mot thats fine, but if i cannot get tax on the vehicle until it has passed its mot is it ok to drive to the mot without tax? obviously i will be insured

also if i buy tax say on the 15th of may, am i taxed from the start of the month or from date of purchase?

TIA

GL1

[bananaman]

You can drive it from it's place of ownership (house, garage wherever) to the MOT station and back again, thats it, no 20 mile round trips etc.

As for road tax, you can either request for it to start the first of next month, which means you cannot keep it on the road or drive it until then, or you lose however many days of the month have passed when you buy it.

[Zacherius]

Not just that ....

My mate had trouble following an accident. He had driving to the MOT station to do the test and then get tax, but he hit the side of someone. His insurance ( and the police ) got funny as he had no right on the road without MOT or TAX and the garage should have collected his vehicle.

He showed he had his documents which "sort" of cooled it with the COPS, but his insurance are still fighting it saying it was not legally on the road so his insurance was void. This was only 2 months ago and is still on-going.

[bananaman]

Sorry, I forgot, it HAS to be booked in for an appointment.

The two times I have had to do it, I phoned the local police station and my insurance company first, but then it was only a mile or so to the MOT station.

[Zacherius]

Look at this -

http://www.direct.go.../Mot/DG_4022108

It states -

The need for an MOT certificate
It is generally an offence to use on a public road, a vehicle of testable age that doesn’t have a current test certificate, except when:

taking it to a test station for a test booked in advance
bringing it away from a test station after it has failed the test, to a place of repair
taking it to or bringing it away from a place where, by previous arrangement, repairs are to be made or have been made to fix the problems that caused the vehicle to fail its test

Even in the above circumstances you may still be prosecuted for driving an unroadworthy vehicle if it doesn’t comply with various regulations affecting its construction and use. Also, the insurance may not be valid.

It is your responsibility as the vehicle owner to ensure that the due MOT test is carried out in time. Please use the peel off reminder sticker on the front of the MOT certificate and put it in a place where you’ll be reminded of the expiry date, like the sun visor or the back of the tax disc holder facing inside the vehicle.

You should take your MOT certificate with you when you apply for a new tax disc at a Post Office®. This is unless the vehicle is not subject to MOT testing because of its age or type. If you have a new style MOT certificate you can choose to relicence your vehicle online.


It also states ( just looking for it ) that you can drive to and from the MOT station with no MOT, but the vehicle should still be taxed ?!? Its your responsibility to get it done within the dates of the licence. The situation does arise where the vehicle may have neither Tax or Mot, therefore, it is advised that the vehicle is collected by the MOT station should this situation arise.

[The Matt]

to be honest, it's slightly farcical anyway.

You are allowed technically to drive the vehicle to a pre-booked MOT test. But you are responsible for the vehicle being roadworthy at all times.

I've done it a couple of times. I drove to the MOT station I used to work at (9 miles away, it's the second nearest one to where I was living at the time). Then when it passed, I parked it up at the test station and walked to get road tax. Simple, but was it only simple because I didn't get stopped on the way? I was still driving without MOT certificate and valid tax, but I had a pre-booked MOT test and had phoned the insurance to ask if this was OK to do. That's another thing you should do before you do it really.

It really is easiest if you arrange collection or get it trailered there to be honest.

[greenlaner1]

thanks guys,

i know its ok to drive to a prebooked mot, i was mainly asking about the tax side of things

The situation does arise where the vehicle may have neither Tax or Mot, therefore, it is advised that the vehicle is collected by the MOT station should this situation arise.

this only states that it is advised, what if the mot station can't pick it up, and therefore the only way to get it mot'd is to drive there, and i cannot get tax until i have MOT.... it only says its advised, so that says to me "if it can be collected then do, if not then its ok to drive it"

GL1

[Ethel]

You can't be expected to have tax if the car's been off the road to be fixed for any length of time. Also, there's a difference between between roadworthy and the condition required to pass an MoT, turn up for a test in an unroadworthy car and they have a duty to stop you from driving it away if it fails. It looks like there's a degree of tinpot dictatorship going on at the direct gov site, but you can't argue with the basic facts.

As for insurance, it would be reasonable to expect your insurance to cover all lawful use for which you're legally required to have cover. I don't know how much of an obligation that is for your insurers but I would certainly think they would need to specify any limitations in the policy.

[alicetheauto]

I have been advised to call my insurer to notify them that I am driving to an MOT station- you MUST have a pre-arranged mot booked. There is no way you can have tax in certain circumstances, so its kind of at the discretion of anyone who stops you. One more thing, my insurers tel me that IF I have an accident when un-mot'd I will be unlikely to get much payment for my vehicle if it is damaged. To them, an un-tested vehice may as well be scrap an will be valued as such.