Nichola Mallon announces a four month extension for MOT exemptions

By Q Radio News

Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon has announced a four month extension of MOT temporary exemption certificates. 

Existing temporary exemption certificates (TECs) applied to private cars, light goods vehicles and motorcycles aged 4-9 years will be extended by a further four months from the date the existing exemption ends.

Four year old cars and motorcycles, and three year old light goods vehicles due a first test will have a four month exemption applied from the date their first MOT is due. New TECs or extensions to existing TECs will be applied automatically to enable vehicles to be taxed and kept on the road.

Minister Mallon said: “Since vehicle testing was suspended due to Covid-19, eligible vehicles have been issued with TECs to ensure that they may continue to be driven legally on the road. In May 2020 I announced that eligible vehicles would automatically be issued with a 12 month TEC.

"This ensured that vehicles whose existing MOT certificate expired from 26 March 2020 or will expire before they can book a test would be automatically exempt from testing for a full 12 months. For vehicles which have previously been issued a TEC, their TEC was automatically extended to the maximum timeframes set out in legislation, up to a maximum period of 12 months from their last MOT expiry date.”

The Minister continued: “Given the current situation with Covid-19, in order to keep the DVA staff and customers safe, necessary and proportionate control measures around MOT testing have been introduced.  Due to these safety measures, the DVA is operating at reduced vehicle testing capacity.

“In light of these constraints I want to ensure that all customers can legally keep their vehicles on the road for their essential journeys. For that reason, from 26 March 2021, I have instructed my officials to apply a further four month extension to existing TECs for eligible private cars, light goods vehicles and motorcycles aged 4-9 years and to apply a new four month TEC to those vehicles due a first time test.

“Road safety remains a significant priority. I would like to remind owners and drivers of all vehicles that they are responsible under the law for the roadworthiness of their vehicle at all times.”

TECs will continue to be applied to all eligible vehicles until vehicle testing services return to normal testing capacity.

Testing for older vehicles including all private cars, light goods vehicles and motorcycles that are aged 10 to 39 years old will be brought forward to ensure these vehicles can be tested before their existing exemption certificates expire.  

Further TEC extensions will not be applied to these vehicle categories to ensure that any road safety concerns in these older vehicles are tested and rectified through the MOT testing process.

For all vehicles with TECs applied, the DVA will issue a reminder notice to the registered keeper of the vehicle before the TEC period ends, with instructions on how to book a test.

Further information on TECs is available here https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/coronavirus-covid-19-and-motoring