Car Tax due but ....

50Twuncle

My car tax is due at the end of the month - as is the first MOT

I am supposed to be getting the car serviced on Monday next week - they are supposed to be doing the MOT at the same time - which will then allow me to tax it

The garage has just emailed me to inform me that they may have no "healthy" staff available - can I legally drive the car without MOT or tax or will I be forced to declare it SORN ?

I suppose that I could try to find an alternative MOT station at short notice - not easy round here and especially at the moment.

[Deleted User]

No you can't drive without tax or mot legally .

Have you actually tried phoning other mot centres?

Car_54

Short notice? You've got almost two weeks.

AdrianC

Car_54 said:

Short notice? You've got almost two weeks.

...and have already had two and a half weeks to get it done while preserving the same expiry date.

'course, all the garage have said is that they "may not"? That sounds to me like a bit of tooth-sucking and "can't promise", more than "Nah, definitely not happening."

KimJongUn88

OP, you're full of excuses.  Ten minutes of ringing around will reveal a local garage who can do an MOT at short notice. 

neilmcl

I agree with all the above but I just heard something on the news today as apparently this exact question was raised by the AA today and it seems they're looking to persuade the government to allow some form of temporary exemption certificate scheme as they had to do at the beginning of the year when all MOT tests were suspended in Northern Ireland. Although it sounds like this may be too late for the OP.

Herzlos

I'd be surprised if you couldn't find somewhere to do an MOT in 2 weeks. Drive around a bit and look for garages, check out car dealers, go to kwitfit or the council if you have to.

AdrianC

neilmcl said:

I agree with all the above but I just heard something on the news today as apparently this exact question was raised by the AA today and it seems they're looking to persuade the government to allow some form of temporary exemption certificate scheme as they had to do at the beginning of the year when all MOT tests were suspended in Northern Ireland. Although it sounds like this may be too late for the OP.

The NI situation was very different. NI MOTs are all done by government-run test centres, not independent garages. They all use the same kit, and there was a serious safety-related flaw discovered in the ramps - and there was no devolved government to make any decisions...

So, no, "the garage say they might not have somebody, and I cba to phone around" is not the same situation at all.

50Twuncle

blueskinnedbeast said:

No you can't drive without tax or mot legally .

Have you actually tried phoning other mot centres?

Yes I have and everywhere is either booked solid or closed/closing

50Twuncle

Herzlos said:

I'd be surprised if you couldn't find somewhere to do an MOT in 2 weeks. Drive around a bit and look for garages, check out car dealers, go to kwitfit or the council if you have to.

I am unable to find an alternative test centre

neilmcl

AdrianC said:

neilmcl said:

I agree with all the above but I just heard something on the news today as apparently this exact question was raised by the AA today and it seems they're looking to persuade the government to allow some form of temporary exemption certificate scheme as they had to do at the beginning of the year when all MOT tests were suspended in Northern Ireland. Although it sounds like this may be too late for the OP.

The NI situation was very different. NI MOTs are all done by government-run test centres, not independent garages. They all use the same kit, and there was a serious safety-related flaw discovered in the ramps - and there was no devolved government to make any decisions...

So, no, "the garage say they might not have somebody, and I cba to phone around" is not the same situation at all.

The situation was completely different but the point still remains, the UK gov can and has allowed exemptions for MOTs to take place for a temporary period.