What are my chances?

[mike42]

So I've just realised my MOT expired yesterday. Tax and insurance is good.

The problem is today is Sunday and tomorrow I've to take my disabled 5 year old to hospital. Its not an emergency but we've waited for this appointment for quite a while. Its about 20 miles from my home and maybe 30 minutes driving.

I know I could/should get two taxis which would cost quite a lot.

What would happen if I do get caught? Would my car get impounded and left on side of road? Points? And what are my chances of getting away with it "just this once" (and I mean that - first thing I'd do after is get it to the MOT !!!!)

[elanfan]

Can you make an online booking for tomorrow, print out and take it with you. It would be a very unreasonable officer That would book you. Odds on being stopped very low!

[Giulia Jon]

I don't think they impound for lapsed MOTS ,that's for no insurance .
I'd risk it and do what ^^^ he said .

[wazztie16]

Book an mot near the appointment for on the way back? That way you can show any police officer that you are taking out seriously, if your car is in good nick, tyres etc and you tell them you've checked all the lights work etc, before the journey, I'm sure you'll be fine. IANAL.

[MrGTI6]

The 6-month COVID extension a couple of years ago threw out my routine completely, and as a result I was unknowingly driving around with no MOT for 6 months and literally thousands of miles! Remarkably, at no point was I pulled over or did I receive a fine!

Obviously it's not advisable to drive without an MOT, but from my experience you would be incredibly unfortunate to get caught out over the course of one day.

Edited by MrGTI6 on Sunday 2nd October 18:43

[steveo3002]

worst case £100 fine if the car is ship shape....if you have defects like bald tyres etc then in may get ugly

[LosingGrip]

£100 fine with zero points, assuming there aren't any issues with the car (bald tyres etc).

If I stopped you, you wouldn't be getting a fine (even without the hospital trip) unless you were one of our usual nominals! I don't know many who would for such a short time out.

[Antony Moxey]

Regardless of whether you get stopped or not, strictly speaking the only way you can drive a car with no MOT is if you’re going to a pre-booked test. You can’t go anywhere else, run some errands, call in on the way back, you have to go straight there. So the OP would have to drive to the MOT first, then take his child to hospital after, not the other way round.

Personally I’d be booking a taxi.

[CoreyDog]

Is there an MOT garage within walking distance/short taxi ride to the hospital?

Book it in for first thing, drive to garage, walk/taxi to hospital, finish up then back to garage. Covers you entirely then.

Could call the garage on the way to them, doubt they will turn you away, particularly if you explain the situation.

Edited by CoreyDog on Sunday 2nd October 18:50

[VSKeith]

Just go OP, you'll be fine

[TheDrownedApe]

Borrowed my sons car in Dec to drive from cov to angelsey for 2 nights, then to Preston for 2 nights before returning home. In Jan I saw a offer for cheap mot and thought son might benefit. checked his mot and it was 5 months out of date.

Likelihood of getting reported v.low

[Mr Tidy]

It seems unlikely you'd get caught, but it might be worth making sure your route doesn't pass any ANPR cameras!

[The Rotrex Kid]

VSKeith said:

Just go OP, you'll be fine

Yeah this. Many, many people out there driving around with long expired MOT so I really wouldn’t worry too much. Someone I know even had a major car accident and his MOT had expired and it made no difference, police and insurance didn’t give a hoot. He had to MOT the car once it had been repaired.

[Scabutz]

I accidentally drove for 3 months without an MOT. Just thought it was December when it was September . Never got stopped, never got caught.

I know its not right, but for a one off journey I'm sure you'll be fine and highly unlikely to be caught.

[Tye Green]

is insurance still valid if the vehicle does not have a current MOT?

[SS2.]

Tye Green said:

is insurance still valid if the vehicle does not have a current MOT?

Yes.

[Antony Moxey]

Tye Green said:

is insurance still valid if the vehicle does not have a current MOT?

Yes. You need insurance to be able to drive to your pre-booked MOT.

[Pistonsquirter]

tape over the plates so they can't anpr you?

[Bobtherallyfan]

To quote LV Insurance……

“If your car doesn't have a valid MOT, you’ll invalidate your car insurance.”

So it seems you have to check the policy after all.

[Giulia Jon]

Bobtherallyfan said:

To quote LV Insurance……

“If your car doesn't have a valid MOT, you’ll invalidate your car insurance.”

So it seems you have to check the policy after all.

They're wrong .

Simple as .