Cutting it fine with MOT/Tax - Reassure me!

BigBouncyBall

Hi

I'm a bit nervous about my MOT - i've left it too late, it expired in the middle of June but as i bought the car 12 months ago (this week) i thought the MOT was done when i bought it but i've checked the certificate and it's expired.

So i've booked in for an MOT for this Tuesday (£42 from a well reguarded local MOT centre!) but the tax is due for the end of this month. Will I have time to get the tax disc

a) if it passes the MOT
b) if it fails the MOT

I think if it passes i'll be OK as i cn rush down to the post office and get it done that afternoon but if it fails, i'm going to be struggling to get the repairs done in time for the tax disc renewal aren't I?

PANIC!

Hintza

Well you can't tax it without an MOT cert. Therefore it is imperative that you get the MOT. You will have to make up your own mind whether the MOT centre repairs it if it needs anything. Personally I would tell them to carry out any minor repairs straightaway but to give you a call if it needs anything big.

Assuming it doesn't pass then don't panic just don't drive it on the road until its fixed if you aren't driving it you shouldn't run in to any problems with the tax. Just tax it as soon as its MOT'd if a big problem then declare SORN until repaired.

If I was in your shoes I would just stick it in to get MOT'd and repaired as necessary.

davetrousers

BigBouncyBall wrote: »

Hi
but if it fails, i'm going to be struggling to get the repairs done in time for the tax disc renewal aren't I?

Well you would just get road tax when the car has its retake and passes. You can 't use the car anyway if it hasn't got an MOT.

Wig

You can be (officially) 14 days late to tax your vehicle, so 14th August, but in practice, as long as it is done and registered on the DVLA computer before the end of August. You won't have any problem in relation to the DVLA £80 automatic fine for not renewing VED. I personally would not let it go into the 4th week without renewing it.


This does not mean you are legal to drive the car on the road with No VED. Your MOT is on Tuesday 29th, you then have VED for Wednesday and Thursday, with which you can obviously drive around as normal - actually you can't because you have no MOT so don't drive the car except as follows.........

You can only drive to/from the MOT station, to your home or to a place of repair, but the repair must be booked and must be for the repair of a failed MOT item.

If you fail on a free retest item(s) within 24hours feel free to take your vehicle away for repair and return next day.

If it takes longer to repair, you can still drive it with no VED to/from your home to the MOT station or to/from the place of repair to the MOT station, but you must have an MOT appointment on your return journey to the MOT centre.

davetrousers

Wig wrote: »

You can be (officially) 14 days late to tax your vehicle,

No you can't, this is a commonly quoted bit of lore.

Have a look at this link or this link

Conor_3

Wig wrote: »

You can be (officially) 14 days late to tax your vehicle

Is completely incorrect. There is no 14 day "grace" period - it's nothing more than pub talk - and people have reported being sent out an automatic fine dated the day after the disc expired.

Wig

Here we go again.

Dave's_1st_link wrote:

Answer
No, there is no period of grace for road tax, if your car is on a public road without a valid tax disc you commit an offence and you could be fined.

I told OP not to use the car on the road with no VED.

Dave's_2nd_link wrote:

My road fund licence ran out last night. Can I drive it for 14 days until I get another one?
No. There is no 14 day 'grace'. You must have a valid road fund licence.

See comment above.

See here
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/HowToTaxYourVehicle/DG_069671

My_Link wrote:

MOT or insurance has expired

If you intend to renew your vehicle tax you should do so before your current tax disc expires. However, this is not always possible if you’re waiting for insurance or are getting an MOT for your vehicle.You’ll be committing an offence if you use or keep your vehicle on the public road without a current tax disc. If you cannot obtain a tax disc, you must remove your vehicle off the road.
While your vehicle is off the road, you have 14 days in which to obtain a tax disc or make a SORN.

Conor, your mate in the pub :beer: about being fined the day after the expiry date is talking rubbish. Unless his vehicle was spotted on the highway - which is an altogether different subject.

Now, that is the official line, however, as I said even if it is not done before 14 days you still have until the end of the month, but the longer you leave it the more you risk things to go wrong, maybe the computer won't be updated in time. And if this happened and you appealed to the DVLA I suspect, if you could show you licensed it within 14 days your appeal would be upheld, but if you showed you licensed it on the 23rd of the month they might not uphold your appeal.

If you want this from the horses mouth phone the DVLA, and ask them when they check the vehicle database for non renewals.... they will tell you like they told me, that they check on the first of each month for discs that became due on the 1st of the previous month, they then action those defaults.....i.e. you get the whole month to buy your new disc, and as everyone knows when you buy the disc, it is backdated to the start of the month. What you must ensure is that the PO clerk knows you want the disc for the current month not the next month (most people will ofcourse be renewing early so you must make sure they know what you want).

Keith

Conor wrote: »

and people have reported being sent out an automatic fine dated the day after the disc expired.

That is absolute rubbish, I left my vehicle until the 10th of the month until I renewed the tax (due to a delay receiving the insurance docs). I checked with vehicle enquiry and it showed the vehicle as "licence due to expire".

I also did 600 miles on public roads in that time, without getting stopped by the dibble.

BigBouncyBall

thanks - tbh i don;t see any reason it should fail - it has been a VERY reliable car and needed nothing other than windscreen washer fluid in 12 months!

fingers crossed!

as for the 14 day period i'll take a through look at all of that though obviously i'll get the tax done on Tues afternoon/Wed Morning if it passes.

derrick

Wig wrote: »

ROTFLMAOWABIMH :rotfl::beer:

Here we go again, last time it was Derrick who said I was wrong on this.

.

You did not prove me wrong, there is no 14 days grace on RFL, it doesn't matter what you try to quote, you are committing an offence if you have a vehicle on the public highway without a valid RFL, or sorned if off road.

You have quotes from official sites above in post #5, and you still try to say there is a "grace period"

This is from the first link in that post and probably were you are being misled; -

However, the DVLA delay sending out such notices until 14 days after the licence is expired, which is where the myth that there is 14 days grace probably began.


And from the second link; -

My road fund licence ran out last night. Can I drive it for 14 days until I get another one?

No. There is no 14 day 'grace'. You must have a valid road fund licence.


Give it up Wig

Wig

derrick wrote: »

You did not prove me wrong, there is no 14 days grace on RFL, it doesn't matter what you try to quote, you are committing an offence if you have a vehicle on the public highway without a valid RFL, or sorned if off road.

You have quotes from official sites above in post #5, and you still try to say there is a "grace period"

This is from the first link in that post and probably were you are being misled; -

However, the DVLA delay sending out such notices until 14 days after the licence is expired, which is where the myth that there is 14 days grace probably began.


And from the second link; -

My road fund licence ran out last night. Can I drive it for 14 days until I get another one?

No. There is no 14 day 'grace'. You must have a valid road fund licence.


Give it up Wig

Derrick, I cannot believe you still refuse to believe this, You forgot to critique my own link in my post above which proves this.

If you don't believe the Direct.gov website, then phone up DVLA and ask them.

I showed how each of the "official sites" above were misrepresenting this, they are both talking about using the vehicle on the road. Using the vehicle is a seperate issue, and it actually is allowed for booked appointments. Neither site is an official DVLA or DVLA related site. And if you ask me they should both be edited to give the whole 100% truth on this issue not the half truth.