MOT Matters
Remind Your Testers What to Do if They Leave an MOT Logged on for Several Hours
If an MOT test remains open for several hours, the DVSA will treat it as high-risk and expect the tester to have followed correct procedures. In this situation, you must:
1 – Tester Must Abort the MOT
If the MOT session has run excessively long (e.g., left logged on overnight), the tester must abort the MOT test.
- The DVSA will be suspicious of any MOTs left open for extended periods.
- Aborting the test protects both you and the MOT centre by keeping the audit trail clean.
2 – Tester Must Retest the Vehicle
The Tester must carry out a new, complete MOT.
- If the vehicle has already left the premises, it’s inconvenient – but still necessary.
- Recording a result when the vehicle is not physically on site at the time of entering the result is treated as fraud, even if you did perform a full MOT earlier.
SiteCheck Can Help
At The MOT Club, we import MOT Test Logs for our customers every month. Our MOT compliance platform, SiteCheck, analyses every completed MOT and flags anything unusual.
Each month, we identify several MOTs that appear to have taken over eight hours to complete. In almost every case, this indicates that the correct procedures were not followed. What typically happens is that a tester returns to work the next day, logs on to begin a new MOT, and realises that the previous day’s test was never closed. They then record the result and move on – but this creates several serious compliance concerns:
- Was the vehicle still on site when the result was recorded?
- Was it still in the MOT bay – and what would a Vehicle Examiner think if they were observing from outside?
- The customer may have been driving around believing they had a valid MOT when they did not.
- The DVSA has full visibility of this data, and repeated occurrences can trigger a visit from a Vehicle Examiner.
SiteCheck helps garages identify these issues early, understand the risks, and take corrective action before the DVSA gets involved.
DVSA Consequences
Submitting an MOT result for a vehicle not present on site when the test is recorded is considered a fraudulent MOT.
This can lead to:
- Disciplinary action against the MOT Tester
- Cessation of testing (temporary or permanent) for the Tester
- Cessation of testing for the MOT Centre
The DVSA treats this extremely seriously because it undermines MOT integrity and road safety compliance. Due to the vehicle not on site when the test was recorded it would likely result in 500 points for AE and the Tester!
REMEMBER
If an MOT has been left logged on for several hours or overnight –
