Expired MOT When Still Driving

Capyboppy

My friend got stopped by the police in the midst of being lost. As part of this they told her her MOT certificate had expired Dec. At the time she was sure it was in date, and they told her if this was the case there would be no £60 fine to pay. She has since found it at home and indeed the police were correct and it was out of date. I think she was very lucky as the police could have impounded her vehicle and I think the only reason they didn't was because she is Deaf and communication to get hold of someone/to get home would have been very difficult as she was quite a way from home. I have since read that the fine can be up to £1,000 for no valid MOT certificate, and the car insurance at the next renewal date can go up around 43%/
What I would like to know is: Are they likely to keep to the £60 fine or could they increase it with it being out of date?(she has to produce it within the usual 7 days, but obviously the certificate:eek: will be out of date). What are the circumstances of when a full fine is given? In addition: Would her insurance company be automatically told that at that particular time she had no valid MOT certificate? Or is it a case of "It depends on what the police decide."
She has always been meticulous on having her documents up to date and has no idea how she has managed to forget this time round. This doesn't alter the fact of course she was driving illegally, but wondered what the best and worst cases will be

dacouch

Insurance premiums are not affected by not having an MOT as this is not an endorsable offence (It does not go on your licence).

If the police had found problems with the car that were endorsable eg bald tyres and had issued a fixed penalty then it could affect the insurance

McKneff

Worst case £60 fine

Best - just a friendly warning from them.

So tell her to stop worring.

mcjordi

wouldnt worry i drove my car before when the mot ran out in the november didnt realise until the april that it had expired.. never got stopped at all about it..

buy worse case its £60 fine but more often its just a "get one done asap" jobbie.. depends on the copper tbh
no mot wont affect the insurance at all..

todolistsocd

*Opinion Only*
Hi,

I think the Cops are more interested in non insured drivers, well at least where I live.

Capyboppy

Thanks for all your quick replies. I will update you all on what actually happens. In what case though would they give the £1,000 fine? I'm maybe over worrying but if when she takes the mot certificate in and they see it is so out of date, they may want to do their own check on it to see if it is roadworthy. Always happens on the one and only time you get it wrong doesn't it? I remember years ago my husband parking to get my medication at a chemist. He didn't realise but one back wheel was literally touching the double yellow line, not even on it. Within the two minutes maximum he was in the chemist's shop a traffic warden issued a ticket. Talk about job's worth.

2sides2everystory

I think it might be sensible all round if your friend makes an appointment asap to get the car tested. This will require a formal appointment in order for it to be legal to drive directly to the test centre. That way she can take a new certificate with her to show alongside the old.

It is of course not fair on other road users to run a car in limbo like this - it might have corroded brake pipes which haven't yet been noticed and could burst next time heavy braking is required for a stop (or not if it results in a rear end shunt or worse ... much worse). MOT test standards are soft enough in the UK without them being forgotten about altogether

McKneff

Please stop worrying. In no case will they fine yu £1000.

It will be a conversation, they wont examine your car.

Sorry but you really must stop worrying, you will make yourself ill for no reason.

todolistsocd

*Opinion Only*
Hi,

Like McKneff says... stop worrying.
It's not like she has previous driving offenses, it was a forgetful accident.
I think rules should be changed like when your insurance and tax are due to expire, you get a reminder but with MOT you don't.
In my opinion, this shows that they care more about tax and insurance than this.

Hope this helps!

paddedjohn

As above dont panic, it will probably be just a slap on the wrist but i would get it mot'd asap and produce the new cert to the police station when she produces her documents.

Capyboppy

McKneff: I am not worrying that much as it isn't me!:) Just concerned that is all as sometimes she can be a bit headstrong.

2sides:I agree in any case that for everyone, we can't see underneath the car so don't always know i anything is wrong. Just because a car seems to be running smoothly, it doesn't mean there isn't something lethal about to happen if it isn't checked regularly. It isn't the newest of cars either!

She has the extra hassle of trying to arrange the MOT with being Deaf. She told me that normally she has to drive the car to the MOT station to make the appointment, then again for the actual appointment. Trying to get someone locally to ring for the appointment (In fact any appointment), is quite difficult. I will stress the importance of only driving it to the station and the implications if she is stopped if she doesn't adhere to this. The other issue should it fail and need work doing on it, is if it can be done in time before the seven days are up! Should it not pass and work not completed in time, then I should imagine they might say the car is unroadworthy which opens a different can of worms. Hope it doesn't come to that though.