Riding to a Pre-Booked MOT and Insurance - SORN

[maxrpg]

Hi,

 

My friend is getting his bike back out but it is currently SORN, no TAX or MOT.  Everything I can find online says you can ride your bike to a pre-booked MOT without an MOT or TAX. He has got insurance but the policy says not valid without MOT - Catch 22 situation.

 

Do you need specific insurance for riding to MOT without a current MOT? - Or is all insurance fine as long as you are going to a pre-booked MOT.

 

Very confusing.

 

Thanks.

[husoi]

The insurance will be void if he's riding without MOT.

That excludes travelling to and from MOT station.

Note that a wee ride after MOT in SORN is considered riding without TAX and will risk the bike being impounded plus penalty.

 

[maxrpg]

4 minutes ago, husoi said:

The insurance will be void if he's riding without MOT.

That excludes travelling to and from MOT station.

Note that a wee ride after MOT in SORN is considered riding without TAX and will risk the bike being impounded plus penalty.

 

So he can't ride it to a pre-booked MOT? is that what you mean.

 

If that is the case, aside from trying to find a van to take it, is there any insurance that does specifically allow to ride to pre-booked MOT?

[husoi]

I mean that if he's going straight to the MOT station and back, then it is okay.

Even if he's stopped by the cops and explains he's going to the MOT the cops can confirm if they want to.

[maxrpg]

16 minutes ago, husoi said:

I mean that if he's going straight to the MOT station and back, then it is okay.

Even if he's stopped by the cops and explains he's going to the MOT the cops can confirm if they want to.

Oh, I see what you're saying.

 

Still it is very confusing, even the police website says you can ride to a pre-booked MOT without a current MOT or TAX as long as you have insurance, but if insurance is invalid without an MOT then technically you're not insured, so you can't ride it to an MOT because you don't have insurance, even though you do have insurance. Am I just making things more complicated than they need to be lol.

[RideWithStyles]

Rule is if you are going directly to the mot station and come straight back then yes its ok, as long as you dont go on a long way home.

just try to avoid having a smash before getting it mot'd.

You can tax the bike and insurance before hand, like today if you wanted, doesn't have to be after or in a particular order. foremost a live insurance policy is first to get sorted and that has to be done as a copper let alone a courts view of people lacking of insurance very dimly.

 

[Nick the wanderer]

Hi,

It can be confusing.

You need insurance first, once that is done you can ride to a pre booked MOT. When the bike has passed it's MOT you can then tax it, NOT before it has an MOT.

When the bike passes the MOT the tester will add it to the DVLA system. You can then tax it with the info you have on your V5.

With the tax they will start it from the start of the month, so if you MOT at the end of the month you may want to wait until the next month starts, it's up to you but you shouldn't use it until it is taxed, you could get a fine. Taxing the bike is easy on the website.

[Fish]

In the current age of mobile phones having internet, if he was the be unlucky enough to get pulled on the way home from the MOT, those kind officers might just ask home to do it online in front of them. MOT's are live updated, so he's be able to pay for the tax within minutes of the MOT being completed.

[mealexme]

I can see why you're confused. You're saying that the law and your insurance policy are obviously two different things.

 

The law does state that you can ride straight to the MOT station and back, but you're saying the insurance policy is worded in a way that makes it sound like if you were caught riding to the MOT station, then technically, because you don't have a valid MOT certificate, although it may be legal to do, your insurance may have a different view, stating that you are not insured without that certificate.

 

Honestly, I'm sure it would be fine. I'm confident enough that if I was in the same situation, I would ride to the MOT station and back (I pass two police stations on the way there) and I'm confident that if you got pulled over by the police, they would just let you on your way once they'd seen you were insured. 

 

However, the other side of that coin is that every insurance companies small print is different (well done for reading it, most people don't bother), and I would assume that where it says "not valid without an MOT", there would be a caveat stating that it's ok to ride to an MOT station and back, and the fact that there isn't seems to be a bit of a red flag. 

 

Insurance companies will do anything to get out of a claim, and if the worst did happen (you had an accident), and your insurance got involved, they could refuse to pay if you broke anything in the small print. 

 

As I said though, if it was me, I'd just ride there and back without thinking twice. There is probably something somewhere else in the small print stating that you can do it. 

But if you're at all worried, ring them. They normally have a free number that you can call for enquiries. 

 

This forum is great for information and advice, and we could tell you what the law says you can and can't do all day long, or we could tell you in detail what our own insurers allow us to do, but unfortunately we can't tell you what's in the small print of your insurance documents.

 

[curlylegend]

1 hour ago, mealexme said:

But if you're at all worried, ring them. They normally have a free number that you can call for enquiries. 

Just make sure you've got a pot of tea, a packet of biscuits, a good novel and plenty of time.....

[fredc]

12 hours ago, RideWithStyles said:

You can tax the bike and insurance before hand, like today if you wanted, doesn't have to be after or in a particular order. foremost a live insurance policy is first to get sorted and that has to be done as a copper let alone a courts view of people lacking of insurance very dimly.

 

You cant tax a vehicle without an MOT (if its old enough to need one )

[megaross]

It's one if those legal grey areas. Just don't crash it

[maxrpg]

Hi, he took it in for the MOT, said he wished he'd worn a nappy because a Police van came towards him in the opposite direction as he was riding to the MOT garage and he almost void his bowels. He said he just kept looking straight ahead thinking, "Act casual. Don't look suspicious. Whatever you do, don't throttle it if they turn around."

 

Thanks for all the advice.

[mealexme]

Glad it all worked out. 

I'm sure there will be a lot more of those "act casual, don't look suspicious" moments to come, likely after a spirited ride 

[Steve_M]

On 20/11/2023 at 11:13, maxrpg said:

Hi,

 

My friend is getting his bike back out but it is currently SORN, no TAX or MOT.  Everything I can find online says you can ride your bike to a pre-booked MOT without an MOT or TAX. He has got insurance but the policy says not valid without MOT - Catch 22 situation.

 

Do you need specific insurance for riding to MOT without a current MOT? - Or is all insurance fine as long as you are going to a pre-booked MOT.

 

Very confusing.

 

Thanks.

It sounds to me like a call to the insurers is in order to clarify the situation instead of asking people who don’t have knowledge of the particular insurance contract.

 

 

[Bender]

As you are legally allowed to ride a bike or drive a car to an MOT if it's expired as long as it's pre booked, I think your insurance would be hard pushed to invalidate it.

 

A friend had a crash with no MOT, the police didn't apply any fine and his insurance paid up, he wasn't going to a pre booked appointment.

 

Obviously that's skin of the teeth time.

 

 

[Stingy1]

Amazes me, I can ride my gt380 without MOT or paid for tax , just insurance. And it could be a dangerous wreck. Yet my mint Ducati 748, flawless bike, I could get done riding it around my block , points , fine , as no MOT and therefore no insurance valid. Strange world 

Edited 3 hours ago by Stingy1

[Stingy1]

On 25/11/2023 at 22:32, Bender said:

As you are legally allowed to ride a bike or drive a car to an MOT if it's expired as long as it's pre booked, I think your insurance would be hard pushed to invalidate it.

 

A friend had a crash with no MOT, the police didn't apply any fine and his insurance paid up, he wasn't going to a pre booked appointment.

 

Obviously that's skin of the teeth time.

 

 

But, if you're riding to an MOT, for a re-mot after it has "failed"  you have to within a certain time , or get it trailered instead. Apparantly. And if dangerous defects found in an MOT, you cannot legally ride it back home 

[husoi]

2 minutes ago, Stingy1 said:

But, if you're riding to an MOT, for a re-mot after it has "failed"  you have to within a certain time , or get it trailered instead. Apparantly. And if dangerous defects found in an MOT, you cannot legally ride it back home 

You either leave it in the MOT garage to be fixed or you are allowed to take it to a garage of your choice or home if you want to do the work yourself.

You can present the bike within 14 days to be mot'ed with no extra cost.

Passing the 14 days of fail MOT you will need to pay for a new MOT.

Nothing in the law states you can't ride the bike to and from the MOT station.