What should you do if the MOT has expired?

Reminder MOT

RDW sends you a letter six weeks before the MOT on your car expires to remind you of the MOT inspection requirement. You will receive the reminder by mail or – if you have set it that way – via the government’s message box. By the way, the expiration date of the MOT inspection is also on your inspection certificate, so there is really no excuse for forgetting the MOT. You can make an appointment directly with an MOT inspection station – usually your own garage business.

Fine for no MOT

As the owner, you are responsible for getting your car inspected on time and that it is approved when you drive it. If you don’t take care of that, you run the risk of a fine – either from RDW if they find during a so-called registry check that your car is not approved, or from the police if they find during a check that you are driving the car without a valid MOT.

As yet MOT inspection

Fortunately, if your MOT has already expired, there is an escape option. Under Article 11 of the Vehicle Decree, you still have two months after the expiration of the validity of your MOT inspection to fulfill your inspection obligation. During that period, your car may remain on the road, but you may not drive it. After those two months, a fine from RDW may follow if your car is still not approved and that was determined at the registry inspection.

Suspension instead of MOT inspection

If you don’t want to use the car for an extended period of time and therefore don’t want to have it inspected, you can have the license plate “suspended. You can do the same in the first two months after your car’s MOT inspection expires. Then the inspection requirement is temporarily cancelled and you can also temporarily suspend the motor vehicle tax and insurance. Your car may not be on public roads, but car and license plate remain yours. The suspension is for a period of time only, after which all legal obligations are reinstated. But you can also extend the suspension period.

MOT inspection during suspension

During the suspension period, you may only drive the suspended car to an inspection station for an agreed-upon MOT inspection. Then you do need to make sure the car is insured as well. That drive – a reasonable route from your home address to the inspection station and only for the time of your appointment – you must have the appointment confirmation of the MOT including the agreed time – with you.

Get your car approved in a timely manner

Good advice: make a timely MOT inspection appointment for your car. New gasoline cars and electric cars must have their first MOT after four years and then every two years thereafter. If they are 8 years old, they must be inspected every year. Diesels must be inspected after only three years and then every year thereafter. Cars 30 years old and older must be inspected every two years, cars 50 years old and older no longer need to be inspected, although it is smart to have it done.