Late MOT and Tax - fines?

Lemoncurd

Just came across our car tax reminder - it is due at the end of this month so went to get all the paperwork together to pop to the PO and discovered to my horror that the MOT expired at the end of last month ooops (I was in hospital having a baby and we'd just moved house so it was the last thing on our minds that month!)
As there is a minor problem that needs fixing for it to pass the MOT + it needs a service soon I called the garage we want to have it all done by and they can't fit it in until the 1st of Nov. By this time the MOT will have expired just over a month and the tax will be a day overdue.

What are the penalties? are we likely to get any automatic fines or might we get away with it?

robnye

automatic maybe from the dvla re non car tax renewal, when you do renew it, the post office will back date it to when the old one expired.

Mot - nothing automatic fine wise........ although if the insurance company find out , might get a bit nasty...

Lemoncurd

Thanks, after a bit more research earlier I got a bit scared about the threat of a possible minimum fine of £1000 for no car tax so managed to find a place that can do the MOT on Friday. I guess not having an MOT isn't a problem if you don't drive it...

toozie_2

Post Office's can not back date tax anymore. Better not to drive the vehicle, keep off the public road, and declare SORN until vehicle passes the MOT.

Obviously you've got yours sorted now tho..

wazza

no fines/penalty if your car is overdue for mot. for road tax your current one covers you till end of this month. your mot will be in november. if you go to the post office anytime in november it will be valid from 1st november. road tax always start from 1st of a month and ends end of a month. if however you buy the road tax in december you need to declare SORN for november otherwise you will receive a letter asking where the car was parked in november etc

mrbadexample

The MOT is only required if you wish to drive the vehicle on the public road. You can still drive it to a place where you have pre-booked a test appointment. If you particularly want to use the garage that can't fit you in until 1st November, it should be ok. Take the car in for the test, collect MOT certificate, walk / get bus to Post Office, get tax and return to garage to collect car.

If I remember correctly, you are also exempt from tax if you are on the way to your pre-booked MOT appointment, but best to double check that just in case I'm wrong.

Bossyboots

mrbadexample you are right. You can drive an untaxed vehicle to a PRE-BOOKED MOT. As far as fines for not taxing are concerned, the DVLA will allow a concession of 14 days lapse in tax or declaring SORN.

This does not mean a concession to drive on the road though. It is an offence not to display a tax disc which is completely separate from being fined for not buying one or declaring the vehicle off the road.

across

please can you tell me what SORN is? sorry if its a silly question !

Bossyboots

across wrote:

please can you tell me what SORN is? sorry if its a silly question !

Statutory Off Road Notice.

It is on the back of the form you get for renewing your car tax or you can get one from the Post Office (probably online too).

stoney17

My warranty ran out last october for my 3yr old car and was unaware i needed to MOT it until now as i did not have a remainder,(my car is now booked in for next week) will this make my insurance void if so will my insurance be valid when i get the MOT done next week.
I taxed my car last july when i was still in my warranty...

Thanks for any advise.

bigdic

Stoney17, you should have started a new thread for your question

Anyway, quick answer is yes. Without a valid MOT the insurance is invalid and you can't drive your car on the road unless you're going to a pre-booked MOT test or to have work done for the MOT at a garage.

Once you have your MOT then your legal again.