Expired MOT cases rocket
A new report from the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) and Scottish Motor Trade Association (SMTA) has revealed that since the removal of the paper tax disc, 91.2% of garages have seen an increase in the number of customers bringing in cars that have an expired MOT.
A survey was conducted due to concerns that an increasing number of motorists appear to be driving their cars without an MOT as a result of the government’s changes to road tax in 2014, when the system was digitalised and the paper tax disc was abolished.
The survey was distributed across the motor trade, and the results found that 43.8% of the trade had noticed a significant increase in MOTs where the vehicle is out of test since the road tax changes came in, and 91.2% overall had seen an increase of some kind.
Respondents were also asked if they had any further comments, and over a quarter of them responded. There was a general consensus that although customers forgetting to MOT their vehicles has always been an issue, the problem has worsened since the 2014 road tax changes.
Many of the comments from garage owners say that an MOT reminder service is something their business has had to provide to customers themselves, but they believe it should be the government’s responsibility.
Stuart James, RMI director commented, ‘The results of this survey overwhelmingly show that we were right to have concerns. In the short space of time since the road tax changes were put in place, the percentage of consumers that are unaware when their car’s MOT has expired has increased dramatically. As a result, motorists who wouldn’t normally seek to break the law are unwittingly becoming criminals.’
