Pulled with no tax or MOT
Author
Discussion

WarrenB

Original Poster:

2,997 posts

141 months

Saturday
quotequote all
I know of someone who has been driving around with no MOT or tax since April. Myself and various other people have been telling him to get his car taxed and MOTd, but all we get back is 'I'll sort it'.

A couple of months ago the DVLA clamped the car for no tax. Great, I thought, he'll finally have to deal with the consequences of thinking he knows best.

A week or so later, he 'sorted it', and was driving the car around again. Checked online, still no tax and no MOT. I'm assuming he just cut the clamp off. I'm not sure of any other legitimate way to get it removed other than taxing the car.

Again, countless people have been telling him to get his car sorted. Again, he hasn't.

A couple of weeks ago he reckons he was pulled over for speeding, police officer checked to make sure he was insured - he was - and let him go on his way so therefore 'there's nothing to worry about'.

I've been pulled over three times for being slightly over the speed limit in the past, and every time they've checked my vehicle over and made sure it's legal. And even though he may very well have an insurance policy in his name, it certainly won't be valid considering the lack of MOT or tax. I'm lead to believe his driving license has expired too.

TLDR: Would a police officer not run basic tax/mot checks if they've pulled someone over? And is there anything else other than anonymously reporting the vehicle to the police that can be done, as that doesn't seem to have done much!

leigh1050

2,442 posts

188 months

Saturday
quotequote all
I inadvertently drove for six months without an MOT.
Car was taxed and insured and I never got stopped or got anything through the post.
It was only when I went to tax my car in January and DVLA wouldn't tax it as I had no current MOT.

monthou

5,196 posts

73 months

Saturday
quotequote all
WarrenB said:
And even though he may very well have an insurance policy in his name, it certainly won't be valid considering the lack of MOT or tax.
How certain are you?

WarrenB

Original Poster:

2,997 posts

141 months

Saturday
quotequote all
Does lack of MOT not invalidate your insurance? Just checked on Askmid, the vehicle is showing as insured. But no tax or MOT on the DVLA

monthou

5,196 posts

73 months

Saturday
quotequote all
WarrenB said:
Does lack of MOT not invalidate your insurance? Just checked on Askmid, the vehicle is showing as insured. But no tax or MOT on the DVLA
Rather than reinvent the wheel:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
And loads of other threads on here.

CaptainScarlet1967

337 posts

8 months

Saturday
quotequote all
I don't wish to sound alarmist, but definitely keep an eye out for anything that comes through the post in the coming months.

Paying the release fee is simply that. You're paying a DVLA privately contracted enforcement agent to remove the clamp.

There's then the offence of no tax.

I assume the procedure hasn't changed since 2018 when my car got clamped - Sorned yet I took a chance, drove it and it came back to bite me in the arse...twice.

I thought it was the end of the matter after I paid the release fee. A few months later, however, a brown A5 envelope was posted through the letterbox, containing court proceedings from the Magistrates for the actual offence of no tax.

Slightly similar to a speeding ticket albeit without the option of a course, there was the choice to either admit to it and pay however much, or defend it, which would then have entailed a hearing and all that would come with one.

I don't know if it is pot luck and whether there is anyone who has been clamped but has never been summoned. For me it certainly was a costly eye-opener and not something I'd want to bother with again.

Also, for MOT, it is a grey area but as mentioned above, you can't tax a vehicle (even online) without it having a valid MOT. The system does update instantaneously, though, so once it has been logged as passing then you can immediately tax your vehicle.

I always keep a photo in my phone of the V5, which has come in handy when taxing online.

I believe you can drive without an MOT provided you're taking it to a confirmed test appointment, so on the couple of occasions I have been in that situation I ensured I had got it confirmed in writing via SMS/WhatsApp in case of getting pulled over or clocked by ANPR.

DavePanda

6,794 posts

257 months

Saturday
quotequote all
WarrenB said:
Does lack of MOT not invalidate your insurance? Just checked on Askmid, the vehicle is showing as insured. But no tax or MOT on the DVLA
No

GasEngineer

2,167 posts

85 months

WarrenB said:
Does lack of MOT not invalidate your insurance? Just checked on Askmid, the vehicle is showing as insured. But no tax or MOT on the DVLA
You can only use Askmid for free to check your own vehicle insurance and you would have had to make a declaration as such*.

So is the thread really about your own vehicle OP?



  • To enquire about another vehicle you have to pay a £10 fee and again make declarations about involvement in an accident.

Its Just Adz

17,843 posts

232 months

leigh1050 said:
I inadvertently drove for six months without an MOT.
Car was taxed and insured and I never got stopped or got anything through the post.
It was only when I went to tax my car in January and DVLA wouldn't tax it as I had no current MOT.
We've just done similar!
I thought best check when wife's car is due, as I thought it was coming up. Ran out many months ago.
Qué a few quick phonecalls to book it in.
My fault, I thought we had it MOT'd when the service was done but obviously not.

reddiesel

3,032 posts

70 months

GasEngineer said:
You can only use Askmid for free to check your own vehicle insurance and you would have had to make a declaration as such*.

So is the thread really about your own vehicle OP?



  • To enquire about another vehicle you have to pay a £10 fee and again make declarations about involvement in an accident.
It struck me as being a very "strange" Post from the OP . Immediately I thought , why has this bloke gone to all this trouble of checking this and that and even starting a Thread about something that simply wouldn't concern most of us . We all come across these People that think they can flout the law and get one up on the system . More often than not we just shake our heads and think "this bloke will learn when it's too late" and simply get on about our business . I get the impression the OP is chancing his arm with his own car and wants to mine the experience of others as to what he should be looking out for . If he cant be honest with the Forum then tell him nothing .

MikeM6

5,836 posts

125 months

reddiesel said:
It struck me as being a very "strange" Post from the OP . Immediately I thought , why has this bloke gone to all this trouble of checking this and that and even starting a Thread about something that simply wouldn't concern most of us . We all come across these People that think they can flout the law and get one up on the system . More often than not we just shake our heads and think "this bloke will learn when it's too late" and simply get on about our business . I get the impression the OP is chancing his arm with his own car and wants to mine the experience of others as to what he should be looking out for . If he cant be honest with the Forum then tell him nothing .
Depends, maybe it's a close friend or relative whom he cares about enough to be invested. Maybe it's his son who is doing this?

Little Pete

1,834 posts

117 months

We have been driving my wife’s car since September without an MOT. It only came to light a couple of weeks ago when we were renewing the trade insurance for the MOT station we own. whistle

BertBert

20,910 posts

234 months

Little Pete said:
We have been driving my wife s car since September without an MOT. It only came to light a couple of weeks ago when we were renewing the trade insurance for the MOT station we own. whistle
well cobblers is all I've got to say, as in cobblers' children biggrin

WarrenB

Original Poster:

2,997 posts

141 months

Thanks for the replies, just want to point out it's certainly not me. My vehicle is very much taxed, MOTd and insured quite legitimately! If it wasn't I wouldn't be able to earn a wage.

MikeM6 said:
reddiesel said:
It struck me as being a very "strange" Post from the OP . Immediately I thought , why has this bloke gone to all this trouble of checking this and that and even starting a Thread about something that simply wouldn't concern most of us . We all come across these People that think they can flout the law and get one up on the system . More often than not we just shake our heads and think "this bloke will learn when it's too late" and simply get on about our business . I get the impression the OP is chancing his arm with his own car and wants to mine the experience of others as to what he should be looking out for . If he cant be honest with the Forum then tell him nothing .
Depends, maybe it's a close friend or relative whom he cares about enough to be invested. Maybe it's his son who is doing this?
This, though I have no offspring!

snuffy

12,323 posts

307 months

GasEngineer said:
You can only use Askmid for free to check your own vehicle insurance and you would have had to make a declaration as such*.

So is the thread really about your own vehicle OP?



  • To enquire about another vehicle you have to pay a £10 fee and again make declarations about involvement in an accident.
Or you could just put any reg in you want and say it's yours. No one is going to pay a tenner, are they?

jondude

2,433 posts

240 months

leigh1050 said:
I inadvertently drove for six months without an MOT.
Car was taxed and insured and I never got stopped or got anything through the post.
It was only when I went to tax my car in January and DVLA wouldn't tax it as I had no current MOT.
I'm pretty sure (well I hope!) that if you are driving without a MOT it can only be flagged by a cop running a check on the plate. That is, no fixed cameras anywhere are used for MOT checks.




OutInTheShed

13,071 posts

49 months

DVLA state that they use ANPR data to check for VED.

Lots of people online saying that ANPR is used to check for MOT, not mentioned in DVSA's data protection statement about ANPR, but they do mention checking trucks and buses are 'in test'.

sixor8

7,885 posts

291 months

No MoT is a minor offence in the scheme of things. But if you buy VED monthly by d/d, it will not be taken if the MoT has expired. It does a check before taking the payment. This happened to my neighbour.

No insurance is a criminal offence, and is treated more seriously. As answered above, the usual chestnut that the insurance is invalid if the MoT has expired is rubbish.

GasEngineer

2,167 posts

85 months

Yesterday (06:44)
quotequote all
snuffy said:
GasEngineer said:
You can only use Askmid for free to check your own vehicle insurance and you would have had to make a declaration as such*.

So is the thread really about your own vehicle OP?



  • To enquire about another vehicle you have to pay a £10 fee and again make declarations about involvement in an accident.
Or you could just put any reg in you want and say it's yours. No one is going to pay a tenner, are they?
You could but you have to make a declaration that you or your employer own the vehicle. So if the OP has done so he has form for not telling the truth.

vikingaero

12,330 posts

192 months

Yesterday (07:34)
quotequote all
Obviously no tax or insurance are the ones that can get you. If the car is in good /roadworthy condition then the typical fine is £100, rather than the £1k or £2.5k quoted if the car is unroadworthy.

You can renew tax with a MOT due to run the next day and if you pay annually, then the car is taxed for the rest of the year, even though the MOT has run out.

My question on the OP's situation is if the person using the car has a dodgy RK situation going on, so that the person being charged with no tax doesn't exist or "has gone back to his home country"?