Driving to an MOT - questions

[dugong]

Celeste is going for an MOT tomorrow.

I know that the MOT and tax can be waived if the car is booked in and the testing garage have it in their diary.

1. Is it a 10 or 14 day free or partial retest period?

2. How do I insure the car to get me there and back? Do I do it on the chassis number and who will do this? I don't want go through all the pleasantry b**locks and then get told 'we don't do that'. I was going to ring silly Flux who I've insured the Volvo with and see if I can add the Celeste to the policy for the day and pay over the phone.

3. What exactly is the MOT rule on windscreens and cracks? I only ask because finding a screen for the Celeste is proving rather difficult and I can't afford a spares car. There is a small ringed crack (and it is a crack, not a chip) on the nearside which I believe would be past the 'swept field of vision' that screens are examined on.

The two other things I can think of for a failure will be the non working horn (will get the gargage to fix) and a patch on the outer sill NS. Everything else is pretty sound

Help needed, much thanks.

[fredtransit]

If the car already has a UK registration, you insure it as you would any other car. The windscreen sounds like it should pass, but please don't tell me you are going to take the car if you know it need welding! Even a small amount will make them look harder, and poke about. The horn should be a quick fix, it could be a wire off or a fuse. The re test period is down to the garage, I don't think there are any official set limits.

[dugong]

Nov 20, 2008 11:43:38 GMT fredtransit said:

If the car already has a UK registration, you insure it as you would any other car. The windscreen sounds like it should pass, but please don't tell me you are going to take the car if you know it need welding! Even a small amount will make them look harder, and poke about. The horn should be a quick fix, it could be a wire off or a fuse. The re test period is down to the garage, I don't think there are any official set limits.

I know the garage and I know what needs welding. They won't mess me about as I've used them for years, they're more interested in repeat business than a quick buck.
They farm their welding out to a mobile bloke who lives in Sale anyway, and he's the same.
I drove my Amazon down there which needed more welds than an old Fiat stuck in the Mersey, and they only wanted one patch doing for it to pass.

So I would literally ring Flux up and ask them to insure it temporarily because I'm taking it to and from an MOT?

[danblez]

What damage could fail the MOT?



* Damage larger than 10mm will fail in the drivers line of vision. Marked Zone “A” above
* Damage larger than 40mm will fail in the rest of the swept area.
* Significant scratching that impairs the drivers vision

[Autofive]

as I hear it, if the crack is out of the sweep of the wipers, your okay - if it just catches the top edge of the wiper sweep - fit smaller wiper arms

edit: too late - the official line has been posted ;D

[dugong]

Nov 20, 2008 11:55:08 GMT danblez said:

What damage could fail the MOT?



* Damage larger than 10mm will fail in the drivers line of vision. Marked Zone “A” above
* Damage larger than 40mm will fail in the rest of the swept area.
* Significant scratching that impairs the drivers vision

Looks like I might wing it. It's not in the swept area of my vision (i.e. Zone A), it's the passenger area. I just need to measure its diameter. It would be a pedant of an MOT tester to fail it based on those rules because it doesn't impair your vision much at all.

Still bloody want a new screen though.

Will chase the insurance with Flux. Do most companies do one day insurance, or should I just add the Celeste to my Amazon policy for a day?

[Keefy]

if you are diving with no tax and mot then any insurance you take out will be invalid anyway.

it is illegal to drive without tax and mot. yes, if you get pulled by a copper he might let you off cos its booked in for an mot. however if you are in an accident you will have the book thrown at you cos no mot and no tax means any insurance is invalid, hence you are an uninsured driver in an accident. the fact you are driving to an mot wont make any difference. thats why you can get an mot a month before the current one expires, so you don't have to drive a non mot'd car.

[filmidget]

Nov 20, 2008 12:20:51 GMT Keefy said:

It is illegal to drive without tax and mot. yes, if you get pulled by a copper he might let you off cos its booked in for an mot.

I am pretty certain you are wrong on that.

As long as the MOT is within a reasonable distance, and pre-booked, it's legal.

EDIT: 'reasonable distance' = whole other can of worms

[Autofive]

reasonable distance, and you travel via a direct route to the MOT station ( no going to the shop, or for petrol)

[danblez]

Apparently having no tax or MOT does not invalidate your insurance but it is obviously an offence to drive it on the road. The police can prosecute for no MOT and the DVLA can have you for no tax.

The whole driving to an MOT thing is correct. But I aimagine this is only with respect to your MOT, technically you still need Insurance and Tax to be fully legal.

www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q600.htm

However I would never drive anything on the road without Insurance for very obvious life changing reasons.

Few other tax and MOT related answers here. www.askthe.police.uk/content/faqquicksearch.mth?searchtext=mot&print=1#searchresults_toggle

[Keefy]

filmidget - sorry, yes i worded that poorly

my point is that although it is legal to drive to the mot garage, it is still illegal if you are involved in an accident and they will come down on you heavily.

And if you are pulled by a copper, there is no guarantee he will let you on your way just cos its booked for an mot. If he looks over the car and sees that the car needs welding etc then they might sieze it as it could be deemed 'unroadworthy'.

[fredtransit]

Nov 20, 2008 12:20:51 GMT Keefy said:

if you are diving with no tax and mot then any insurance you take out will be invalid anyway.

it is illegal to drive without tax and mot. yes, if you get pulled by a copper he might let you off cos its booked in for an mot. however if you are in an accident you will have the book thrown at you cos no mot and no tax means any insurance is invalid, hence you are an uninsured driver in an accident. the fact you are driving to an mot wont make any difference. thats why you can get an mot a month before the current one expires, so you don't have to drive a non mot'd car.

This is NOT TRUE. Specifically for the reason being if you take a car which has no MOT, to a pre booked MOT, and the tax has expired too, how CAN you have any tax? You are legally entitled to take a car to a pre booked MOT without tax and test, but you must have insurance. Therefore having no tax or MOT will not invalidate your insurance.

[Keefy]

Nov 20, 2008 12:40:42 GMT danblez said:

Apparently having no tax or MOT does not invalidate your insurance

thats my point, with many insurerers it does.

Read your certificate, most say that it isnt valid unless the car has mot and tax.

If yours doesnt say it will be invalid, then you have no worries

[uncle silvia]

I had my old CRX off the road for a while and the MOT and TAX ran out however I was still insured!
I had it booked in at the MOT station and took it there no problem!
The car passed and I left the garage!!
I was pulled still within sight on the garage I had just left for having no Tax!

I explained I had just had the car MOTed and Am now on my way home!

The copper said I wasnt allowed the car to be on the road with no tax!!

I said how am I supposed to get tax with no MOT certificate and that I'm allowed to take it to and from a place of MOT without Tax stated on the back of the MOT certificate?

He asked me what I was doing now?

I said taking the car home and parking it off the road as it had no tax and was sorned!

He said "no your not your going to the post office and taxing the car now and he will be checking up on this as he has my details!

At this time I didnt have the Tax money to pay for it till the next month but I had to borrow the money of family as he force me into it!!

I still believe I was in the right!!

[Keefy]

Nov 20, 2008 12:59:09 GMT fredtransit said:

This is NOT TRUE. Specifically for the reason being if you take a car which has no MOT, to a pre booked MOT, and the tax has expired too, how CAN you have any tax? You are legally entitled to take a car to a pre booked MOT without tax and test, but you must have insurance. Therefore having no tax or MOT will not invalidate your insurance.

thats why you can take a car for an mot a month before it expires, so you don't have to drive under circumstances that might invalidate your insurance.

Yes, you can drive to an mot station without mot and tax. My point is that most insurance companies say that having no tax and mot invalidates it - so if you are in an accident you are fcuked.

Think about it - if we could all drive about with no tax and mot and all our insurances were valid then a)no-one would ever tax a car, but always be booked in for an mot and b)there would be no need for anyone to get there mot before the current one expires.

I'm quite happy to be proved wrong, it would make my life much easier!!

[trogdor]

as far as I understand it if you have no mot or tax regardless of what the police and DVLA will throw at you. You will still be insured at least third party. The insurance may not pay for your car.

But i am not exactly sure and have always had third party fire and theft insurance anyway.

[dugong]

The MOT station is 1.2 miles from where the car lives.

So a reasonable distance. It is going to that garage because I trust them.

I need insurance, so how do I obtain it if I have no MOT and tax (car SORN)?

[fredtransit]

The lack of an MOT will affect the cost/value of the car. That's the only bearing not having an MOT will have on the insurance. The insurance company will use all kinds of reasons to riggle out of paying up. The best way to settle this is for everybody to ring their insurance company and to clarify it. Last month I took a transit to a pre booked test, it had been off the road and out of tax for 18 months. When it passed, I drove directly to a Tesco store with off street parking and a post office, and taxed it. My insurance was fully aware of this, though we do have a trader's policy and they are pretty OK with most things. It didn't stop my other half being pulled only two days later in the same van, with the police saying it wasn't on the MID!

[dugong]

I will try Flux and see what they say.

No doubt I will get nowhere, because the car isn't insured at the moment.

Also, I can ask them:

WHERE THE F**K IS MY AMAZON CERTIFICATE?

lots of love
dugong

etc.

[bortaf]

Nov 20, 2008 13:20:13 GMT dugong said:

The MOT station is 1.2 miles from where the car lives.

So a reasonable distance. It is going to that garage because I trust them.

I need insurance, so how do I obtain it if I have no MOT and tax (car SORN)?

You don't need MOT or tax to get insurance, you need insurance to get tax, i have never been asked if my car is MOT'd and taxed by an insurance company