I am a complete muppet
- Thread starter Pondy
- Start date
At the summit of the picturesque fens
axelleveau
Member
[ref]Pondrew[/ref], and everyone, I would be surprised if most of you have never heard of it but I advise you install VehicleSmart on your phone and populate cars in "your garage", this way you can be reminded when MOT or TAX is due (if not paying for premium your get a single reminder a week before which I think is fine). It is also useful when buying a used car 
Devon
I did the same thing and got away with it for six months of daily driving! I 'd bought a new to me car and just assumed it had twelve months test on it to coincide with the road tax renewal.
Pondrew said:I know this won't come as much of a surprise to many on here but I am such a muppet.....
I got a RFL reminder through the post today for the wife's daily Mazda3 (£30 woohoo!). That spurred me to check the MOT date. The car was bought last March and because I have bought so many cars in the past couple of years, I presumed it had an MOT until March (as all the other cars had a new MOT when purchased). I couldn't find the current MOT cert in the car's paperwork so did an online check.....
MOT expired on 22nd November 2022!
I've either got early onset dementia, or am just friggin' useless. Booked it in for next Tuesday (earliest I could get) and they will change the oil and brake fluid while there. I also ordered air and pollen filters from Autoforevertodeliver aswell.
I'm sure the Gov used to send out reminders of MOTs. They certainly don't anymore!
I am a muppet too. It happened to me back in 2016 assumed the car was 12 months after it’s first reg it was three months out of date
:roll: Yup your a Muppet. 
I think there is an ANPR camera on the Tamar bridge crossing. So down here they could be on to you. :wink: But as those things are all over the place, maybe they don't yet have that one on the automatic list. I guess, as it invalidates your insurance, the government don't feel they need to invest money to chase you.
I think there is an ANPR camera on the Tamar bridge crossing. So down here they could be on to you. :wink: But as those things are all over the place, maybe they don't yet have that one on the automatic list. I guess, as it invalidates your insurance, the government don't feel they need to invest money to chase you.
pvr said:
Depends on the insurer, but most will invalidate without MOT.
"Is my car insurance still valid if my MOT expires?
The short answer is that it depends on your policy. Most insurance providers include having a valid MOT certificate as a condition of your car insurance policy. So, in most cases your insurance will be invalidated if you drive without an MOT – and that means you’ll be breaking the law twice: firstly, by driving without a valid MOT and secondly, for driving without valid insurance. "
That would imply that if a car fails you cannot move it. So if you have a car failing an MOT at a council run MOT station it has to be towed from there as they can’t repair it from there.
I checked this one out as my Golf never has an MOT whilst stored and gets on the road to go to the MOT station before I can tax it.
I checked this one out as my Golf never has an MOT whilst stored and gets on the road to go to the MOT station before I can tax it.
I would expect insurance companies to invalidate insurance with an expired MOT, as the car is not 'road legal'.
In the case of a third party claim, they may honour that, though (although they try to wriggle out of most things if they can, so who knows?)
In the case of a third party claim, they may honour that, though (although they try to wriggle out of most things if they can, so who knows?)
Scubaregs said:
We have 3 cars with different insurers, all it says is "roadworthy". Probably because having a valid MOT does not in any way mean it is roadworthy, just that it wasn't a complete deathtrap at the time of the test.
Besides, an unmodified 1983 Toyota doesn't need an MOT