When is my MOT due? How to check it in a minute

Not in Great Britain? The right check for your country

The MOT is a British test, so the GOV.UK checker below only covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. If you found this page from somewhere else, here is the official free check for your country:

• Great Britain and Northern Ireland — MOT history: https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history
• Northern Ireland test bookings and records: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/mot-vehicle-testing
• Ireland — NCT due date: https://www.ncts.ie/
• New Zealand — WOF expiry: check the label on the windscreen, or https://www.nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/warrants-and-certificates/warrant-of-fitness/
• Italy — revisione history: https://www.ilportaledellautomobilista.it/

Check your MOT due date online

Open the GOV.UK service 'Check the MOT status of a vehicle', type the registration number and you will see the current expiry date, plus the history of past tests and any advisories.

The date shown is the day the current certificate runs out. Driving without a valid MOT is an offence, and insurance can be affected too, so treat that date as a hard stop rather than a suggestion.

• GOV.UK MOT history check: https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history
• You need only the registration number — no login, no fee
• Northern Ireland uses a different service for MOT records

When is the first MOT due?

Most cars and motorcycles need their first MOT three years after the date of first registration, then once every year. Some vehicle types (for example certain taxis and minibuses) are tested from one year old, and most vehicles built more than 40 years ago are exempt but must still be kept roadworthy.

How early can you test without losing the date?

You can have the MOT done up to one month minus one day before the expiry date and keep the same anniversary date the following year. Test earlier than that and the new certificate runs twelve months from the test day, so you quietly lose the days you had left.

Bring the current certificate or ask the garage to note the existing expiry so the date is preserved.

Set the reminder so it never gets close

The practical trick is a reminder about three to four weeks before expiry: long enough to get a slot at your usual garage, and inside the window where the date is preserved.

GOV.UK offers a free text or email MOT reminder. If you would rather have every vehicle date in one place — MOT, tax, insurance, service — a reminder on your phone that repeats every year does the same job for all of them.

• MOT: reminder three to four weeks before the expiry date, repeating yearly
• Vehicle tax: reminder two weeks before, repeating yearly or monthly
• Insurance renewal: reminder three to four weeks before, so you can compare quotes
• Service: reminder by date or when the mileage is close

What if the MOT has already run out?

If the certificate has expired you cannot drive the car on the road, with two exceptions: driving to a pre-booked MOT test, or to a garage for repairs. Book the test first, then drive straight there.

After a failure you may only drive away if the current certificate is still valid and no 'dangerous' defect was recorded.

Check MOT and tax due dates together

Most people look up the MOT and then get caught out by the tax a few weeks later. You can see both from the same place: the DVLA vehicle enquiry service on GOV.UK shows the current tax rate, when the tax expires, SORN status and when the MOT runs out, all from the registration number.

It is worth doing both checks in the same minute, because the two dates rarely line up and each one carries its own penalty.

• Vehicle enquiry (tax and MOT expiry): https://www.gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla
• MOT history and certificates: https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history
• MOT status only: https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-status

Free MOT reminders from DVSA

DVSA runs a free reminder service: sign up with the number plate and either a mobile number or an email address, and you get a text or email one month before a car, van or motorcycle MOT is due — two months ahead for a lorry, bus or large trailer.

It is genuinely useful, with two limits worth knowing. It is not available if you live in Northern Ireland, where a reminder arrives by post around seven weeks before instead. And you have to unsubscribe yourself if you sell, scrap or SORN the vehicle, otherwise the reminders keep coming for a car you no longer own.

• Get, view or stop MOT reminders: https://www.gov.uk/get-stop-view-mot-reminder
• One reminder, one month ahead — no repeat and no second nudge
• Covers the MOT only, not tax, insurance or servicing

What driving without an MOT actually costs

You can be fined up to £1,000 for driving a vehicle without a valid MOT. If the car is also found to be in a dangerous condition the consequences are heavier, and your insurer may take the missing certificate into account after a claim.

Set against a test that costs a fraction of that, the maths is not close. The date is known a year in advance, which is exactly what makes missing it avoidable.

Northern Ireland works differently

Northern Ireland runs its own vehicle testing through DVA test centres, with its own booking system and its own records, so the GB reminder sign-up does not apply there.

Test slots can be booked up well ahead, which makes booking early far more important than it is on the mainland: a reminder two months before the expiry date is a more realistic setting than one month.