MOT ran out while the car is abroad

ADE220574

Help! I live abroad, every year I have returned my U.K. registered car to U.K. for its regular MOT.
This year due to poor health, Ive been unable to bring the car back in time. Now I’ve received confirmation that due to no MOT certificate, the car tax has been stopped by DVLA until the MOT has been completed. What do I do? How can I bring the car back to the U.K. for its MOT if it’s not taxed?

jk0

Book an MOT in Dover for the day you arrive, and drive straight there?

MovingForwards

Buy a car in the country you live, saves the agro at times like this.

Nick_C

Re register the car in the country in which you are now living.

AdrianC

If you're within the EU, then one of the changes to the Roadworthiness Directive that came in in May this year is that MOTs are now "portable". So you can get a test in your home country, and it covers a UK-registered car, so you can retax it.



However... Don't forget that as a resident of that country, you are almost certainly driving your UK-registered car illegally. If the car's been in the country for six months in any twelve, then it should be registered there anyway, even ignoring your residence.

knightstyle

Are you one of the many ex-pats who live in France and think they can ignore the rules of that country? We see lots of UK reg cars, most with no tax or MOT being driven year after year round the area we used to live in.
As others have said I think you have 3 options.
1. Register the car where you live and be legal.
2. Put it on a trailer to take it to a MOT centre in UK.
3. Take it to a CT centre and get a local MOT equivalent and hope the UK authorities recognise this.

poppasmurf_bewdley

What you have been doing is illegal.

You need to register the car in the country you are living in.

owen_money

ADE220574 wrote: »

due to no MOT certificate, the car tax has been stopped by DVLA until the MOT has been completed.

Is that a new law/rule? I thought you only had to have a valid MOT when you bought the tax? Up until a couple of months ago a 'friend' of mine was driving a car with no MOT for about 6 months, but didnt receive anything from DVLA to say the tax had been stopped.

Is this another dark story?

PS
I, sorry my friend, lives in a rural area and the police dont seem to worry if you dont have an MOT, they just say get it sorted and you're on your way. They told [STRIKE]me[/STRIKE] my friend they dont have the resources to deal with minor things like that. Happy days

Norman_Castle

ADE220574 wrote: »

due to no MOT certificate, the car tax has been stopped by DVLA until the MOT has been completed.

As above, ved continues until renewal without a mot. Do you mean you cannot renew the ved without a current mot?

AdrianC

owen_money wrote: »

PS
I, sorry my friend, lives in a rural area and the police dont seem to worry if you dont have an MOT, they just say get it sorted and you're on your way. They told [STRIKE]me[/STRIKE] my friend they dont have the resources to deal with minor things like that. Happy days

I suspect this is good ol' real-live-policing discretion.


Pass the attitude test, and the car looks like it should pass the MOT? Bollocking and warning.
Fail the attitude test, or the car looks like a shed? Prosecution.

owen_money

AdrianC wrote: »

I suspect this is good ol' real-live-policing discretion.


Pass the attitude test, and the car looks like it should pass the MOT? Bollocking and warning.
Fail the attitude test, or the car looks like a shed? Prosecution.

Yes you're right, it is good policing, yes the car was fine and TBA they stop and have a chat about all sorts. Then they give you a bit of a telling off and say get it sorted. Got stopped twice and they said last chance so got it sorted.

I think big towns or cities and they'd have had my friend first time around