Do I need Tax, Insurance, and MOT to drive my car?

Ok guys,

Finallly got my Golf to fire on the key. Just needs to have its driveshaft replaced (for some bizarre reason it just spins the drivers side one, but the wheel doesnt turn - makes a nice grating noise tho!)

Once thats done, I need to put a few miles on her before MOT time. What is the state of play regarding driving a car with no tax MOT or insurance.

Its a catch 22 situation, as I cant go for MOT unless its running right, and without that I cant tax or insure it.

How can I put miles on it safely / legally?

Is it a myth that you dont need tax or mot if you are on your way to the MOT test centre. I just have a funny feeling that this wont wash with the boys in blue!

Any advice would be welcomed

You must have Insurance, tax and an Mot to go on public roads.  ONLY exception is to and from a booked MoT test.

Personally I wouldn't want to be in your shoes if you ran into me with no insurance. But then again you'd probably have to do more than a few miles to do that  

There shouldn't be much that would make much differance for the MOT, so I just book it in and get it tested, but you'll still need insurance though.

So that's true then, about the MOT test.

How do you prove it?

stew72 said

Personally I wouldn't want to be in your shoes if you ran into me with no insurance. But then again you'd probably have to do more than a few miles to do that  

There shouldn't be much that would make much differance for the MOT, so I just book it in and get it tested, but you'll still need insurance though.

Well no, clearly i'm not going to drive it with no insurance, I wasn't saying that at all.

Just wanted some feedback on the whole kaboosh. As it were.

Cheers.

How do you prove it?

I suppose the boys in Blue can check with the garage

Get an appointment with an MOT station.

Explain to them that it has no tax or MOT at the moment and you need to ensure you have an appropriate appointment made incase you get stopped by the rozzers.
All the rozzers can do is call or visit the MOT station to check your story. If it checks out, you're fine, as long as when you get stopped you are travelling in the right direction for your home/the MOT station and not cruising up and down the local high street!

Oh - it might be worth checking with your insurance company too, though I imagine they have to agree to insure you to make this journey?!?!?

Thats great.

Thanks for the advice!

as far as I know there's nothing special you need to do for insurance if your on your way to the MOT station (apart from have it of course)

I think you can still get done for not displaying a valid tax disc even if you are on your way to the MOT test station, but it depends on how the police feel when (or if) they stop you .

You can drive to-from the MoT station with no tax, so long as its a pre-booked test. You can also drive to-from a place of repair, if they are repairing the MoT failed items.

You'd have to ensure the car is roadworthy, to go on the road. So, for example if it failed on items which the tester said made it unsafe to drive on the road, then be prepared to leave it at the station for them to fix. Or have it recovered….

I really wouldn't worry that much about it.

As others have said as long as the car is not dangerous to drive, and your are correctly insured, a pre booked MOT test with not MOT or tax should be fine.

Just make sure you explain to the MOT station when booking its important they take your details (reg and name) as you have no tax or MOT.

I am going to have to do this once my car is sorted.

Cheers,

Chris

Most insurance policies are voidable without a valid MOT. This means that the insurance company can refuse to pay for damage to your vehicle and recover from you anything they have to pay out to people you collided with.

It would be a harsh insurance company that voided your policy if you crashed on the way to an MOT test but you know what those money grabbing swines are like!!!!

tomhudd said

Most insurance policies are voidable without a valid MOT. This means that the insurance company can refuse to pay for damage to your vehicle and recover from you anything they have to pay out to people you collided with.

It would be a harsh insurance company that voided your policy if you crashed on the way to an MOT test but you know what those money grabbing swines are like!!!!

It would be well worth looking at your insurance documents. Whenever I've checked, all it says is "licensed to drive" and doesn't mention MoT, etc. But yours may vary.

Dunno if this has already been answered 'coz I can't be bothere to read all two pages of replies but here is the definative answer…

You MUST have at least 3rd Party insurance to drive a vehicle on the public roads and the scum that wrote off my 1979 Mars Red Mk1 didn't so that is a bit of a sore point with me.

As for MOT and Tax - interesting question.  Basically, if a car is "used" on the public roads it must display a tax disc - this inclused if it is parked ANYWHERE on the public roads.  However, as you need an MOT to buy a tax disc it is possible to drive a car on the public roads without Tax/MOT IF;

* You have booked it in for it's MOT and here you must MAKE SURE that the garage writes down the registration number of the car on THIER records so it can be checked by the Police.

* The car is in a roadworth condition which means that the tyres must be in good condition, the braking system functioning properly, the wipers, lights and horn work and the vehicle isn't kicking out excesive smoke from the exhaust.

* You are driving to or returning from the MOT station OR you are driving to or returning from a place where repairs needed to obtain an MOT are to be/have been carried out.

Once you have an MOT you MUST then tax the vehicle if you intend to use it on the public roads.  The one possible exception is if you are returning from an MOT station and driving to a post office/DVLA office to purchase a tax disc - to get away with this you must be carrying all of a the required paperwork to buy the tax disc plus the fee for said disc.  Even then you are on dodgey ground.

There was a case a while ago where a mobile mechanic stopped an un-taxed, un-MOT'd vehicle outside a corner shop to buy ciggies on his way to the MOT station.  The police pursued him right through the legal system but the courts decided that in this case it WAS LEGAL to do what he had done.

Best of luck,


Steve

Thanks for the update.

Im still not looking forward to driving to the test centre!

If it passes, I'll buy tax that day from the local P.O.

I'll let you know how I et on.