A suitable motor insurance cover is needed before you can tax your vehicle. And if needed, the vehicle must be MOT tested. Vehicle tax can be delayed or prevented by wrong insurance cover, an overdue MOT, insurance certificates that are incorrect and misplaced or late arriving.

In order to tax your vehicle, you must have insurance cover that covers you against third party claims for death or injury and damage to property caused by using the vehicle, covers your use of the vehicle for taxing purposes, and is valid on the day the tax disc comes into force. The insurance policy for your vehicle may allow you to drive any other vehicle with the owner’s permission. However, your policy can not be used as evidence of suitable insurance to tax any other vehicle. If your insurance cover for taxing purposes is not clear, you may need to provide additional evidence. Please contact your insurance company for advice.
Insurance certificates and cover notes are usually a printed or laser-printed document, or a plastic credit card style document. The unacceptable documents are policy schedule, renewal notice, and receipt for payment, unstamped amended certificate or cover note, foreign certificates, photocopies or faxes and so on. In case of lost, stolen or damaged insurance certificate, you will need to get a duplicate insurance certificate or cover note from your insurance company.

You can not tax your vehicle until your insurance certificate arrives or your insurance cover for your vehicle has been updated on the Motor Insurance Database. You must keep your vehicle off the road in the meantime. If you are taxing your vehicle using the DVLA vehicle online service, then you’ll need to wait until MID has updated before applying. You can check online to see if your insurance has updated. If you want to tax your vehicle at a DVLA local office or Post Office® branch, you’ll need to take your insurance certificate.

An MOT test is needed every year for cars, motorcycles, motor caravans and light goods vehicles that are more than three years old. It also needed for passenger carrying vehicles with more than eight seats and taxis, excluding private hire vehicles that are more than one year old. You must produce an MOT test certificate that’s valid on the day the tax disc comes into force. A certificate that expires on the last day of the month can not be used if the tax disc is to start on the first day of the following month. The certificate must be original, a photocopy is not acceptable.

In place of a lost, stolen or damaged MOT certificate, you will need to get a duplicate from any MOT testing station for the fee of £10. You’ll need to provide the vehicle registration mark and reference number shown on your registration certificate (V5C). If your vehicle is exempt from MOT testing, you will need to fill in form V112 ‘Claim for exemption from MOT testing’ to produce instead of the MOT certificate. A list of exempt vehicles is shown on the V112 form.