How strict are police on expired MOTs?

[mioba]

Just not worth the hassle Conor.
Police cars are loaded with tech - literally scan every car they pass (tax, mot, insurance).
Keep your car safe and roadworthy as you would and have no stress

 

[LostKiwi]

Exactly as above. Just do it before you go and you can relax knowing it's not going to be an issue.

 

[Rockron]

I'm sure they won't take offence at "plod" ;-).

Sent from my SM-G988B using Tapatalk

'Plod'.......a term of endearment in my dictionary, and particularly so when you consider some of the alternatives.

 

[Wighty]

'Plod'.......a term of endearment in my dictionary, and particularly so when you consider some of the alternatives.

Po-po
People we don’t like
One time
P£gs
5 O

 

[Conor]

Alright everybody.. while I understand it's not worth the hassle.. And I suppose, it's not..

I generally live on the edge between chaos and order... I get bored otherwise.. So I have decided i'm not going MOT before I leave. I'll do bits and once over in Ireland, and ensure i'm back before the MOT ends.

Funnily enough.. if I were to get the MOT and it failed some non major, I could legally drive the car for the grace period.

Risk it for a biscuit, they said..!

 

[horatio]

Honestly I have forgotten MOT’s several times and driven about for weeks without anything happening. That’s not a recommendation!

 

[AMGeed]

As above, its happened to me before the MOT reminder notices by email came about.
I can recall being stopped taking a workmate home and wondered why.
Being told my MOT had expired 3 months previously was a surprise. The officer gave me 7 days to produce a new MOT certificate. Just a warning and no ticket.
There are some good cops out there, but don't rely on meeting one if you do take the chance of driving without a current MOT.

 

[Frontstep]

I think you just need to paint rainbows on your car.

Don a scratchy wig for the drive and stuff your top with some rags, it should protect you against prosecution.

 

[V6Matty]

Probably be ok but if you get the chance just get it through the mot.
I actually drove around for almost a week with no tax. I’d forgotten to do it thinking I had time to renew, went on holiday for a week in the lakes and didn’t take the renewal letter with me, no way I could do anything, just had to wait until I came back, 5 days without and not a thing happened, well no I say not a thing, I did blow a tyre on a collapsed stone wall and had a very long boring drive home at 50 on a space saver

 

[Rockron]

You can drive on the public highway without possession of a current MoT providing you drive 'directly' to a prebooked
appointment at an approved garage, surely this is the salient point to be considered. It hasn't been established just what is defined by 'directly' AFAIK. Therefore it doesn't have to be the nearest approved testing garage near you, after all for eg you may have a dispute with the garage and they won't accept your further custom.
Arriving at a UK ferry terminal and sticking to roads taking me directly to my prebooked garage (preferably on the same day) is something I would do. Unforeseen overseas delays often find people in this predicament, how else would you resolve the matter, other than driving on the public highway to a prebooked MoT garage somewhere. Or you can get an MoT on the ferry when crossing into UK waters!

 

[Frontstep]

I did some time ago "stretch" the rules on driving directly to a pre-booked M.O.T as it was quite a few hundred miles but I did book and had a good look at the vehicle, I am not sure taking an obvious failure would be ignored.

As said though I don't know if the courts have tested it.

I am fairly sure most Insurance Companies don't cover you without an M.O.T.

I also believe you can drive to a garage for a repair for the purposes of obtaining an M.O.T but accept I may be out of date on that.

 

[peterws1957]

In Lancashire some 2500 owners were caught without MOT and fined in 2022. The worst county for this statistic. Either means that the Police do more checks or statistically more dodgy characters around. In the UK the worst offenders are 20 to 30 year olds. Who would have guessed?

 

[Larkone]

From the Directline site regarding MOTs and insurance

What to do in an MOT failure​

If your vehicle fails its MOT, the result will appear in the MOT database and you’ll receive a notification called a ‘Refusal of an MOT Test Certificate’. You can appeal against the MOT failure if you believe there are grounds.

The government allows you to take the vehicle away if your MOT certificate is still valid, and if it has run out you’re still permitted to drive it in order to:

• Have the defects fixed
• Take the car to a pre-arranged MOT test appointment

The government says: ‘in both cases, your vehicle still needs to meet the minimum standards of roadworthiness at all times or you can be fined.’

Driving a vehicle in a dangerous condition can incur three penalty points and a fine of up to £2,500. Even more importantly, you’ll be putting yourself and other road users at risk by not getting your car back up to a safe standard.

If you drive without a valid MOT, your car insurance is invalid. Driving without insurance is an offence: the police could give you a fixed penalty of £300 and six penalty points if you’re caught driving a vehicle you’re not insured to drive. Steeper penalties apply if the case goes to court. You could get:

• An unlimited fine
• Disqualified from driving

The police also have the power to seize, and in some cases, destroy vehicles being driven uninsured.