60-second summary
A brief overview of what happens if you forget to renew the legal essentials for your car:
Driving without car tax, insurance or a valid MOT certificate is illegal in the UK, and simply forgetting is no excuse.
Without any of these, you’ll be committing a criminal offence, which could have serious consequences.
To help you keep on top of things, you can sign up for a free text or email to remind when your MOT is coming up or your car tax is due.
If you don’t tax your car, you must register it as SORN and keep it off the road.
From 1 April 2025, electric cars will no longer be exempt from road tax (also known VED or vehicle excise duty) – so, if you own an EV, you’ll have to pay just like petrol and diesel owners.
It might be a good idea to set up a direct debit to pay road tax, so you won’t have to worry about forgetting and risking a fine.
Most car insurance providers will offer to automatically renew your cover. But while this is convenient, it’s often worth shopping around for a better deal.
What happens if I forget my MOT, tax or insurance?
The first thing to know is that it’s illegal to drive your car unless it has valid road tax, MOT and insurance. Without them, you’ll be committing a criminal offence – even if you’ve genuinely just forgotten. Here’s what could happen.
MOT
If your MOT runs out, you’re not allowed to drive your car or even park it on the road. If you’re caught doing so, you could be fined £1,000 and prosecuted. The only exceptions are if you need to drive your car to or from somewhere to be repaired, or to a pre-arranged MOT test. Also, if you have an accident while driving without an MOT, you’re likely to find your insurance is invalid.
To help you remember when your MOT’s due, it’s always worth adding a reminder to your calendar on your phone. You can also sign up at GOV.UK for free text or email reminders a month before your MOT is due.
Car tax
If you don’t tax your car or tell the DVLA it’s off the road using a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN), you could be fined £80. If you don’t pay the fine, the authorities are within their rights to clamp or crush your car. The fine could also be passed on to debt collectors.
The DVLA sends you a reminder that your car needs taxing, so don’t ignore it when it arrives. If you move, make sure to update them with your change of address so that reminders can come to the right place.
Remember, if you’ve declared your car off the road with a SORN, you can’t drive it or even park it on a public road – it has to be kept on private land or in a garage.
New car tax rules for electric vehicles
From 1 April 2025, owners of electric, zero and low emissions vehicles will no longer be exempt from paying road tax (VED) – they’ll need to pay tax on their vehicle just like hybrid, petrol and diesel owners.
Here’s what EV owners should expect to pay:
EVs first registered on or after 1 April 2025 will be charged £10 for the first year, then £195 from the second year onwards.
EVs first registered between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2025 will be charged the standard rate of £195.
EVs first registered before 31 March 2017 will be charged a reduced rate of £20.
An expensive car supplement of £425 on top of the standard VED rate for the first five years from the start of the second licence will be applied to new electric and zero emission vehicles with a list price exceeding £40,000 and registered on or after 1 April 2025.
Car insurance
Driving without car insurance is illegal. If you’re caught, you could be fined £300 and receive six points on your licence. If the case goes to court, you could be disqualified from driving and landed with an unlimited fine (one with no specific upper limit).
Many insurance policies have an auto-renew clause. This means your car insurance will renew automatically without you having to do anything.
You can choose to cancel your auto-renewal or opt out of it at the start of your cover. Just make sure you have another policy in place when your car insurance runs out, or you could find yourself uninsured.
When is driving without tax, MOT or car insurance legal?
It’s only legal to drive a vehicle on UK public roads without valid insurance, tax or MOT in a few specific situations:
Tax
It’s possible to drive without paying for tax if:
You’re taking a car with a SORN to the garage for its pre-booked MOT
You’re disabled and exempt
That said, even if you’re exempt, you’ll still have to tax your car – you just won’t have to pay for it.
Did you know?
In the days of displaying a paper tax disc on your windscreen, you’d get a five-day grace period when you could drive legally without tax. This would give your new tax disc time to arrive in the post.
Since things have moved online, paper discs no longer exist, and the grace period for car tax is no longer in place. Your vehicle must be taxed from the moment you drive it on a public road.
MOT
You can only drive without an MOT if:
You’re going to or from a garage for repairs
You’re driving to a pre-booked MOT test
Your car is less than three years old and doesn’t require an MOT
Your car was first built or registered more than 40 years ago.
Insurance
If you take your car off the road and want to stop your insurance, you must register it as SORN.
You can only drive a vehicle with a SORN on a public road to go to or from a pre-booked MOT test.
How to check if a car has an MOT, tax and insurance
The simplest way to check if a car has an MOT, tax and insurance is to use the following online government services. All you need is your vehicle’s registration number.
Insurance – use the Motor Insurance Database (MIB) to see if your car has a valid insurance policy.
How long do you have to get an MOT after it expires?
There’s no grace period for an expired MOT. You must arrange a new MOT test before the current one runs out. You can do this up to a month (minus a day) before it’s due to expire without losing any remaining days on the certificate.
So, for example, if your MOT runs out on 30 July, and you book an MOT test for 15 July, your new certificate will run until 30 July the following year.
Does car tax and insurance automatically renew?
If you pay for your road tax (VED) by direct debit, then it automatically renews for you. You won’t receive a reminder from the DVLA, and you won’t need to do anything. You’ll just get an email or letter confirming that the payment has gone through.
If you don’t pay by direct debit, you can renew your car tax online. To do this, you’ll need a reference number.
You’ll find this on:
A reminder letter from the DVLA
Your car log book (V5C)
The green new keeper slip from your log book (if you’ve just bought your car).
When it comes to car insurance, many providers will automatically renew when a policy comes to an end unless you tell them not to. But it’s important not to just assume your provider will auto-renew for you: if they don’t and your policy expires, you could end up driving without insurance, which is illegal. Check the terms and conditions to be sure.
Your insurance provider should let you know when your insurance is about to expire. But ultimately, it’s your responsibility to make sure you’re properly insured.
Even if you have an auto-renewal agreement, it’s almost always worth shopping around for a better deal. It’s easy to compare car insurance and should only take a few minutes of your time.
FAQs
What happens if my car tax direct debit bounces?
If the direct debit for your car tax bounces, the DVLA will email you. They’ll then try to take the payment again within four working days.
If that fails again, you’ll get an email confirming that your direct debit has been cancelled and your car is no longer taxed.
If that happens, you’ll have to take your car off the road and make a SORN declaration until you can renew your road tax.
When do I need to get an MOT?
An MOT is a test to make sure your car meets road safety and environmental standards. By law, you need to get one done by the third anniversary of your car’s registration.
Once your car’s more than three years old, you’ll need to do get one done every year by the anniversary of its first MOT.
Can I renew my car tax if my MOT has expired?
No, you can’t renew your car tax unless you have a valid MOT. If your car tax is about to run out, you’ll need to call the DVLA and register your car as off the road.
Where can I book an MOT?
You can book your MOT at any approved MOT test centre. Many garages will offer you free pick-up and delivery. We can help you compare garages near you to see if you could save on the cost of MOTs, services and repairs with no upfront payments.
How much is an MOT?
Garages aren’t allowed to charge you more than £54.85 to MOT a car, or £29.65 for a motorbike. And there’s no VAT added to that, either.
How can I tax a car without a V5 log book?
The DVLA has recently updated its online service which now allows you to tax a car without a V5C logbook or tax reminder letter (V11).
If your logbook is lost, stolen or damaged, you can apply online for a replacement V5C and tax your vehicle at the same time.
How can I check a car insurance expiry date?
The simplest way to check your car insurance expiry date is to look at the renewal date on your policy documents or car insurance certificate. If you can’t find your car insurance paperwork, contact your provider, and ask them directly. They should also send you a reminder before your policy is due to expire.
You can also check your car’s insurance status on the Motor Insurance Bureau’s database (MID). The basic service is free, but it only shows if your car is insured or not. It won’t tell you when your insurance is due for renewal.
Julie is passionate about delivering a great customer experience and rewarding people for saving on their insurance through our loyalty and rewards programme. She’s spoken to the media, including outlets like Sky News, about car and home insurance, as well as our Meerkat rewards scheme.
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