MOT and Tax Query

The_Hurricane

Hi All,

My car's MOT runs out on the 31st, however my car failed the first MOT yesterday and the next appointment is not until February 2nd - am I covered to drive it between the 31st and the 2nd?

Finally the car's tax runs out on the 31st of January, but since there is no MOT on the car I cannot tax it, again am I covered to drive it until the 4th when I should be able to get it taxed?

Thanks in advance.

Tilt

The_Hurricane wrote: »

Hi All,

My car's MOT runs out on the 31st, however my car failed the first MOT yesterday and the next appointment is not until February 2nd - am I covered to drive it between the 31st and the 2nd?

Finally the car's tax runs out on the 31st of January, but since there is no MOT on the car I cannot tax it, again am I covered to drive it until the 4th when I should be able to get it taxed?

Thanks in advance.

Technically NO on both counts. However, you can legally drive directly to the appointment on Feb 2nd providing you havn't also let your insurance lapse.

Gloomendoom

If you do drive it to the MoT appointment with no tax or MoT, make sure that the testing station has recorded your reg number. I know two people who have come a cropper on this point... including the owner of a testing station.

Splott

The_Hurricane wrote: »

Hi All,

My car's MOT runs out on the 31st, however my car failed the first MOT yesterday and the next appointment is not until February 2nd - am I covered to drive it between the 31st and the 2nd?

Finally the car's tax runs out on the 31st of January, but since there is no MOT on the car I cannot tax it, again am I covered to drive it until the 4th when I should be able to get it taxed?

Thanks in advance.

No on both counts. You can only drive it to and from the pre-booked MOT. You cannot drive it on the 1st February, can only drive it directly to the MOT station and back home on the 2nd at which point you must park it off the road as it is untaxed and then it cannot legally be put back on the road until you've taxed it on the 4th.

However I would say that if you were to park it outside your house for the 4 days in February you should be OK. Driving it around carries a higher risk as it would warn the driver of any passing ANPR equipped police car as untaxed and no MOT.

The_Hurricane

These rules are crazy.

Quentin

Tilt wrote: »

Technically NO on both counts. However, you can legally drive directly to the appointment on Feb 2nd providing you havn't also let your insurance lapse.

You cannot drive at all in an untaxed vehicle,

Quentin

Splott wrote: »

No on both counts. You can only drive it to and from the pre-booked MOT. You cannot drive it on the 1st February, can only drive it directly to the MOT station and back home on the 2nd at which point you must park it off the road as it is untaxed and then it cannot legally be put back on the road until you've taxed it on the 4th.

However I would say that if you were to park it outside your house for the 4 days in February you should be OK. Driving it around carries a higher risk as it would warn the driver of any passing ANPR equipped police car as untaxed and no MOT.

You cannot keep an untaxed car on the road at any time.

Tilt

Quentin wrote: »

You cannot drive at all in an untaxed vehicle,

WRONG! You can drive you car without tax to a pre-arranged MOT test providing you have adequate insurance cover.

Why don't you actually check your facts before posting?

http://www.findlaw.co.uk/law/motoring/vehicle_tax/9932.html

Joe_Horner

Quentin wrote: »

You cannot drive at all in an untaxed vehicle,

Yes you can, otherwise any car that ran out of MOT and tax at the same time (quite common as people get the MOT then tax it the same day and roughly 1 in 30 tests will be on the last day of the month) would have to be trailered to its MOT.

Without MOT or tax you can drive to and from a pre-booked test and also to and from a place where repairs are to be carried out by prior arrangement for faults that the car has already failed a test on.

There is no distance limit on either of those situations and there's case law to say that reasonable stops (such as getting fuel, or even stopping at a newsagent on the way) are allowed provided the central reason for the journey is to have the test and you've arranged to go beforehand. The case law concerned applies to tax as well as the MOT itself.*

A "place where repair are to be carried out" does NOT have to be a garage - you can drive to your mate's house if you want, as long as you're going there to work on the car (or have him work on it)

When driving on such a journey you can still be charged with driving an unsafe or unroadworthy vehicle if you have faults that affect the basic safety of the vehicle such as bald tyres, no brakes, or suspension breaking away from rusty mounts..

You do NOT need tax for these journeys because it would be impossible to get it, but you DO need insurance. Despite popular claims to the contrary, insurance is NOT invalidated in these circumstances regardless of what it says in the policy.

Curiously, there are also no time limits on the "repair" provisions so, in theory, you could buy a car that failed its MOT 6 months ago then drive it across the country to your own garage in order to repair the faults it failed on. You might be seen as taking the p*ss trying that one though, and it doesn't take much for them to find a specific fault and charge you for driving an unroadworthy vehicle!

Quentin

Tilt wrote: »

WRONG! You can drive you car without tax to a pre-arranged MOT test providing you have adequate insurance cover.

Why don't you actually check your facts before posting?

http://www.findlaw.co.uk/law/motoring/vehicle_tax/9932.html

The OP asked whether he could continue to use his untaxed car prior to getting it through its MOT:

The_Hurricane wrote:

...the car's tax runs out on the 31st of January, but since there is no MOT on the
car I cannot tax it, again am I covered to drive it until the 4th when I should be able to get it taxed?

You advised him that if he did so it was "technically" wrong.

That is not so, it's an offence with all the dire consequences so well publicised.

Jobsworths are urged to report any untaxed cars they spot:

https://www.gov.uk/report-untaxed-vehicle

(The journey to the pre-booked test is permitted - though only if the car is roadworthy - an unroadworthy car cannot be driven and also has no insurance)

Joe_Horner

Quentin wrote: »

(The journey to the pre-booked test is permitted - though only if the car is roadworthy - an unroadworthy car cannot be driven and also has no insurance)

Again, yes it does.

It's unlawful under the RTA for insurers to try and avoid 3rd party cover because of anything relating to the condition of the vehicle, even if it's expressly stated in the policy wording.

They can chase you to recover any payout in those circumstances, but they can't void the policy.