Please confirm I need an MOT

vicker

I bought a brand new car in Jan 2005.

It occurred to me this evening that I've not had the first MOT.

I've not had a prompt from DVLA.

It is 3 years you need to get it done, isn't it?

anna2709

HI
You do need an MOT once a car is 3 years old - you don't get a prompt from the DVLA (you do for road tax but never for MOT).
You will need to get it asap as your insurance is now invalid - if you're in an accident (even if it's not your fault) you will be held liable as you are driving illegally.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

manda1205

Yes its 3 years from the date of registration on V5, so you're a couple of months over due, but I doubt they're gonna hunt you down for it. DVLA do the tax and VOSA do the MOTs, but they dont issue reminders, MOTS's are for the owners to remember.

goldspanners

yes 3 years old is the first MOT.
you dont get a prompt from the dvla.
as a motorist it is your responsibility to know this.not anyone elses.
so you have been driving a car without an MOT for almost 2 months.

fairladyzxgirl

sorry to say its your responsibility, they remind you of tax, because they will make damn sure they get your cash of you!!

busy_today_mate

Book one tomorrow. You are not insured without one.

FlameCloud

anna2709 wrote: »

HI
You do need an MOT once a car is 3 years old - you don't get a prompt from the DVLA (you do for road tax but never for MOT).
You will need to get it asap as your insurance is now invalid - if you're in an accident (even if it's not your fault) you will be held liable as you are driving illegally.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...

Book one tomorrow. You are not insured without one.

Given that neither of you two know what insurance policy the OP has, how can you say this?

Lorne

Hi there,

you will need to get your car MOT'd asap. If you did, heaven forbid, have an accident the police would need to see your MOT and insurance certificates. You are good to drive to the test centre, but not otherwise.

Lorna

headpin

FlameCloud wrote: »

Given that neither of you two know what insurance policy the OP has, how can you say this?

Because standard UK motor insurance policies normally require the vehicle being driven to be legal for it to be covered. Clearly without an MOT the car is not legal to be driven on the public highway except to or from a pre-booked MOT.

However, whilst the vehicle without the MOT may not be covered, the insurance will still cover the legal minimum should you be involved in an accident. But, you could then potentially be liable to a cllaim from your insurance to recover any claim that they pay out on.

Basically if you are not road legal you can normally assume that your insurance will not cover any accident you may have, it will meet the legal minimum cover required for third parties and you could be come personally liable for any costs your insurer incurs.

MOT Tests are due on the third anniversay of first registration. You can have an MOT undertaken upto one moth before the third anniverasy (or the expiry date of a current MOT Certificate) and the new certificate will be dated from either the third anniversary date or the expiry of the old certificate as applicable. And as MOT's are now all computerised you do not have to produce your registration document or old MOT certificate for this to happen as it is picked up automatically by the computer and the new certificate expiry date is inserted as appropriate.

anna2709

FlameCloud wrote: »

Given that neither of you two know what insurance policy the OP has, how can you say this?

It is something in the law, not dependant on the insurance company. Without an MOT the car can only be driven to a pre-booked test (and from should it fail).

Tucker

anna2709 wrote: »

It is something in the law, not dependant on the insurance company. Without an MOT the car can only be driven to a pre-booked test (and from should it fail).

I think you'll find this relates to a motoring offence. It's nothing to do with the insurance.

I worked in the car insurance business for 8 years (although it was a good few years ago) and there was nothing then that said you were not insured without a valid MOT. In fact, I handled a number of claims from motorists who's MOT had run out. The only affect was in instances where the car was a write off and the insurer would offer a lower than normal offer, because the vehicle condition was subject to question.

Things may have changed in recent years, but there are lots of times when people claim you are not covered for this and that and in many cases it's simply not accurate.

The only way to know is to check the individual policy terms and these do vary from company to company.