MOT

A.T. Autos offer full MOT tests. You can renew your MOT up to one month before the current one expires without affecting your annual expiry date. The earliest date you can present your vehicle for test is printed on the pass certificate.

 

Why you need an MOT certificate

It is generally an offense to use on a public road, a vehicle of testable age that doesn’t have a current test certificate, except when: 

  • taking it to a test station for an MOT test booked in advance

  • bringing it away from a test station after it has failed the MOT test, to a place of repair

  • taking it to a place, by previous arrangement, where problems that caused the vehicle to fail its MOT test, can be repaired

  • bringing it away from a place where the problems with the vehicle have been repaired

Even in the above circumstances you may still be prosecuted for driving an unroadworthy vehicle if it doesn’t comply with various regulations affecting its construction and use. Your car insurance may also be invalid.

The police can ask to see an MOT certificate for a vehicle that needs to have one. They also have access to the computerised records of MOT test results and can tell if the MOT certificate for your vehicle has expired.

It is your responsibility as the vehicle owner to ensure that the due MOT test is carried out in time. You can subscribe to the text reminder service.

The penalty for driving a vehicle on the road with an expired MOT certificate is a fixed penalty notice from the police, currently £60, or a court fine up to a maximum of a £1,000.

 

Retests

If your vehicle fails its MOT it should be retested at the same test station which carried the original test, the notice of failure will contain further details of the type of retest required.

For the purposes of retests, working days do not include Saturdays, Sundays or Bank Holidays. If the test station changes ownership then a full retest must be carried out and a full test fee may be charged. Only 1 partial retest can be conducted in connection with this refusal notice - if that test is unsatisfactory then a full retest must be carried out when the vehicle is next inspected.