If you're aiming to leave your next MoT test with that crucial 'pass' certificate in hand, you might be in for a disappointment. The government, through the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA), has instructed garages to stop issuing paper certificates for successful MoT tests. Instead, they want drivers to access their MoT pass details online.
According to the DVSA, this change will streamline the MoT process, offer better information to customers, reduce opportunities for fraud, and save trees.
From March 2022 to 2023, there were 34.5 million MoT tests conducted in the UK. If each test had an A4 certificate, those papers would stretch for 4,500 miles or cover an area equivalent to 295 Wembley Stadium pitches, using 13,800 boxes of A4 paper, which is more than 4,000 trees worth of paper. Chris Price, head of MoT policy at the DVSA, shared these figures.
Since January 2021, it's been optional for garages to print MoT emissions test passes, and since September of the same year, it's been optional for drivers to receive a paper MoT record. However, from this month onwards, garages will no longer issue pass certificates as a policy, although fail certificates are still in paper form.
Price mentioned back in December that MoT testers have the option not to issue 'fail' paperwork either. He stated, “We’re now giving you the flexibility to not issue a paper fail certificate if the customer is able and willing to view the vehicle’s MOT record and history online,” he said, while suggesting paper fail certificates could still be issued for customers with multiple or complex failures so it’s made very clear exactly what fixes are required in any particular case.
“If the customer would prefer to look at this information online using the MOT history service, that’s fine,” he said. “We want them to be able to choose what works best for them.”
You can check your car's MOT history here.
What do you think about this move to eliminate annual MoT test paperwork? Share your thoughts in the comments below.