Pjamie

Not specifically Scooby related, but there's people here who know their stuff and I need a quick answer.

Have a company van whose MOT expires at end of November this year (2 months away). We guessed it might need some work done to it to pass an MOT, so we asked the garage to carry out a pre-MOT check on it to get an idea what we would need to do to allow it to pass the MOT when it was due. We we're quite specific on the reasons for booking the van in - it was a pre-MOT check to get an idea etc etc, not an actual MOT test.

When we went back to the garage today, we were presented with a red VOSA form headed "Refusal of an MOT Test Certificate".

Putting aside any issues of why we'd want to put a van with some issues back on the road, have the garage effectively stuffed us?

Can we continue to drive the van based on the certificate that is due to expire at the end of November, or does the fact that we've been issued with a "Refusal of an MOT Test Certificate" now mean that we have no current MOT certificate? Would we be committing an offence if we put the van back on the road. Did they actually carry out a test or can I ignore this form on the basis it was just a pre-MOT check not an actual MOT (or was it?)

Any quick help would be appreciated as I need to communicate with the company boss who is currently on the other side of the world waiting for a response.

tony de wonderful

If your vehicle is dangerous then it would be dumb to drive it and maybe mean you are not insured.

SiPie

Don't know the legalities but common
sense says 'don't drive the van'.

mart360

AFAIK , once you have a notice of refusal ie fail.... that becomes the current status.... the days of a paper pass that needed the garage to confirm are long gone...


A quick check with VOSA by the feds would show no mot...


Cant see what the problem is.... get it fixed and back through


Mart

Pjamie

Mart, thanks for your answer. That's what I was worried about.

SiPie and Tony, thanks for the advice, but you're assuming facts not in evidence.

Our initial guess that the van might need some work was relatively unfounded. The van failed on....

"Nearside (side door) Body has a sharp edge caused by corrosion [6.1.4]"

and

"Nearside Headlamp not working on dipped beam [1.7.4a]" i.e. needs a new bulb


It's a panel van and it turns out the driver had an accident in it 4 months ago where he drove into a bollard while reversing and badly dented the side panel door and scraped the paint off - and he didn't report it to us where it would have been fixed with an isurance claim...this is all new to us when we questioned the corrosion on a 4-year old van. It would also be more accurate to say that the nearside door has a sharp edge caused by an accident that has now corroded. Hasn't stopped him using the van since then.

I'm not dismissing the fact that a sharp edge is potentially dangerous, and I hope a few blows with a hammer will temporarily take care of any sharp edges until we can get it properly fixed (I've not seen the van). It's more about the prinicpal and potential legal status. We asked the garage to do one thing, they did another, and now we're left with a van we maybe can't use until we take care of these things. It's made worse by the fact that the van has equipment installed in it (I mean bolted into it) that we need to use next Monday and Tuesday and now we're potentially in a position where we can't get the work done.

This is from a garage that once failed a van when a bulb on the rear number plate wasn't working rather than just replace the thing. To me that is pernickity in the extreme. Every garage I've ever used has just replaced a broken bulb at the time and passed it. I've only just found this out when I went through the other MOT's on file in the office yesterday (I've only been working with this company for 4 months).

Anyway. To say the boss is not a happy man would be putting it mildly.

Kev_turbo

By law they are not allowed to work on the vehicle during the test, even to change a bulb. Officially they should fail it, notify you of work required, if authorized do the work then retest

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

your like me. you take it in 2 months in advance just incase. but do you not feel safter knowing a dangerous van (reguardless of reason) is not under your control?

I'm glad you took it in early.

DYK

Your MOT is still valid up until its expiry date,even if in the meantime your car happens to fail another MOT,your original MOT pass is still Valid.
Just to add its best to get the defects with the van sorted,as if VOSA pull you up for a roadside check,you can still be done for these defects,its still your responsibility to keep your vehicle in a safe roadworthy condition throughout the 12months from the original MOT test.

CrisPDuk

I asked the guy whose just MOT'd my bike and he said that, so long as you address the points raised on the failsheet, your original MOT will till be valid, he said it is still valid anyway, but getting the points fixed, will resolve any insurance issues should he vehicle be involved in an accident.

By the way, If you specifically asked the garage to perform a pre MOT check and they then performed an actual MOT, you are perfectly within your rights to not pay their bill.

As a matter of course, at work, if our garage pulled that one, they would lose all our business

I would also report them, taken from the DVLA website;

Leslie

Vosa will have been notified that your van is not up to MOT standard. You have no option legally but to get the van repaired and with a new MOT certificate before you can use it again.

Les

Dedrater

That is not actually correct Les, legally, he can still drive the van up to the expiry date of the original MOT certificate and unless there is a specifc clause in the insurance certificate, which is highly unlikely, they are still under contract to pay out if there was an accident.

Leslie

Well I don't have your full knowledge of course, but I would be very surprised if VOSA would accept that the van was fit to drive having been notified of its failings by an MOT qualified garage. Surely they would list it as being unfit to be on the road.

Les

David Lock

Well stuff VOSA and the garage. Did the garage actually send anything off? Maybe they just used a spare form as a sort of check list.

I'd bash out the sharp bits, replace the bulb and carry on as before. Bloody jobsworths

dl

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

When I had my MOT done the garage fired up the PC which was linked to VOSA so nothing was actually sent to VOSA in the post.....

Shaun