MOT Club’s advice: “Test the vehicle, not the job card”

The MOT Club has issued advice, in the form of a placard, to remind Testers to input vehicle details, such as VIN number and registration directly from the vehicle they are Testing, rather than the job card.

An increasing number of garages are being hit with a 500 point penalty for inadvertently issuing a Test certificate for a vehicle which is not on the premises (it’s often hundreds of miles away) because of a wrong registration number.

Sequential registration numbers can be used for batches of vehicles, so it’s not unusual for vehicles to match in type and colour for example, with only a single digit on the registration plate to differentiate two similar vehicles. And that single digit mistake could put a pass or fail on the wrong car, while the one inspected hasn’t got an MOT!

DVSA consider these mistakes as issuing a certificate for a vehicle which is not on the premises – which in fact is exactly what it is. The first the AE knows about it is when a letter is received from DVSA threatening 500 points – enough to close down the business.

Several businesses subscribing to the MOT Shield subscription option have received representation from our Consultant, who has so far been able to mitigate the penalties, but that may change in future if DVSA tighten up on these errors. So we would urge everybody to always make sure the registration number entered into the computer correlates with the VIN number, and both are taken directly off the vehicle. 

Testers are strongly advised not to commence an MOT inspection until the vehicle has been properly identified.