If you’re a new car owner, you must have various documents before you can legally drive on public roads. An MOT certificate is one of such. It was introduced to ensure that your car is safe for driving and the environment.
If you’re unsure how an MOT works, or perhaps it’s been a while since you’ve owned a car, you might be asking yourself “are MOT certificates still issued?” No doubt, things have changed. The government has introduced newer ways of issuing and accessing MOT certificates and records to make things easier for the public. Want to know more? Continue reading.
What is an MOT certificate?
MOT means the Ministry of Transport. The certificate was introduced by the government to enforce the safety and roadworthiness of vehicles driven on public roads. More than a certificate for enforcing safety, it’s also a record people consider when they want to make a used car-buying decision. Buyers check a car’s MOT history as it helps to know all the issues and fixes that have been done on the car.
Originally, roadworthiness checks only applied to cars that have been registered and driven for at least a decade. What’s more, the tests done in those days were basic, covering brakes, lights, and steering wheels. However, as the population and number of cars increased, the need to raise the bar of road/environment safety has never been greater. Consequently, virtually all cars above three years must undergo an MOT every year to ensure road safety.
It is the duty of car owners to ensure that their vehicle is roadworthy. You’ll be breaking the law if you drive your car without a valid MOT certificate as long as it is not MOT exempt. The good news is that MOT certificates are valid for a year from the day the test was done and certified passed.
How to get an MOT certificate for your car
The Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has approved around 23,000 test centres around the UK. Once your car’s MOT certificate validity is around the corner, you should visit any DVSA-approved MOT centre to get your car tested for the issuance of an MOT certificate.
Are MOT Certificates Still Issued in 2022?
Before 2012, after a trained and licensed tester checks your vehicle, you’ll receive a paper certificate showing whether your car passed or failed its MOT. The flagged issues will also be shown on the certificate if it’s a fail.
Making things easier, MOT certificates are no longer issued on paper, even though you may get a paper receipt from the repair/MOT garage. The process has been digitised, so the MOT certificates are accessed online since the tester or NOT-trained mechanic uploads them after testing. The result can be accessed by entering a car’s registration number on the DVSA website.
You can view your MOT certificate online
With the MOT test record online, there’s very little need to print-out MOT certificates. You can have easy access from anywhere. It doesn’t even have to be your own car. As long as you have the vehicle’s registration number, you can look up the records. This way, buyers of used cars can search for the MOT records of the car they are interested in buying.
You will see if a car has a valid or an expired MOT. Texts in green indicate valid, while texts in red indicate an expired MOT certificate. The DVSA website holds records of past MOT records in the UK since 2005. Yearly mileage records can also be seen, so you’ll know a car’s true mileage and avoid being deceived by a car seller that has done mileage or odometer roll-back.
Advantages of the Online MOT
The process of accessing MOT certificates online was introduced to make things easier. It eliminates the burden of keeping paper documents that could get lost or damaged by fire. This way, you won’t find yourself in the situation of forgetting your certificate when there is a need to present it to a traffic police.
What’s more, law enforcement officers have easy access to MOT records in real-time. So, even if you don’t have any printed-out MOT certificate to show at the point of inquiry, your record can easily be seen online. Even more, you don’t need to present any paper MOT certificate when you need to pay your road tax. Once you log on to sort your road tax, the system can access records of your MOT certificate.
Do you still need to print an MOT certificate?
Legally, there’s no need to print out your car’s MOT certificate, as law enforcement officers can access it online if the need arises. However, some garages or even used car buyers sometimes expect car owners to have printed paper MOT certificates. Statistics reveal that well over 600,000 duplicate MOT certificates are still requested in the UK, even though they can be accessed online.
Printing your MOT certificate
If you ever need to print a duplicate copy of your MOT certificate, the process depends on the type of vehicle you drive. If you drive a public service vehicle, truck, lorry, or other heavy goods vehicle, getting your MOT certificate online requires that you fill out an online form to request it from the government website.
On the other hand, if you drive a car, motorbike, or van, printing your MOT certificate online is pretty straightforward as long as you have access to a printer. You will need the vehicle’s registration number and the 11-digit number from the V5 or logbook paperwork when you visit the government website.
If you don’t have a printer, the other option is to go to the garage where you did your test or to other MOT centres. Usually, you can get a duplicate copy of your MOT certificate for free at the center where you did your test. However, the law permits authorised test centres to charge £10. Therefore, don’t be surprised if you are charged, especially when you go to any random MOT centre.
