Keeping company cars and vans taxed and tested

Every company car and van on the road needs a current MOT or exemption, up-to-date vehicle tax, and insurance that covers the way it is used. With several items to check, plus driver and licence details, as well as multiple vehicles, the dates inevitably fall at different points in the year, and so it is easy for dates to slip. This guide covers when vehicles need testing, how to check them, reminders, and what changes for vans over 3.5 tonnes.

Staff using their own cars for work? See our grey fleet checklist.

When cars and vans need an MOT

Cars and most vans need their first MOT by the third anniversary of their registration, then once a year after that. You can get an MOT up to a month (minus a day) before the current one runs out and keep the same renewal date.

Under section 47 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, it is an offence to use a vehicle on a road without a current MOT once it needs one. It is also an offence to "cause or permit" someone else to use it. This applies in England, Wales and Scotland.

What it means for you: if a member of staff drives a company vehicle with an expired MOT, the business may be committing an offence as well as the driver.

Which MOT a van takes depends on its design gross weight (the most it is designed to weigh when fully loaded):

• up to 3,000kg: the same MOT class as cars (class 4)
• petrol, diesel and hybrid vans over 3,000kg and up to 3,500kg: class 7
• zero emission vans from 3,501kg to 4,250kg: also class 7

All of these need their first MOT at 3 years old.

If an MOT has run out, GOV.UK is clear that the vehicle cannot be driven or parked on the road. The only exceptions are driving it to a pre-arranged MOT test, or to or from somewhere to be repaired.

How to check a vehicle's MOT and tax

GOV.UK has two free checks. Each looks at one vehicle at a time and needs only the number plate:

• Check the MOT history of a vehicle: past results, the mileage recorded at each test, and when the next MOT is due.
• Check if a vehicle is taxed: whether it has up-to-date vehicle tax or is registered as off the road (SORN).

Motoble's free vehicle check brings one vehicle's MOT history, tax status and Clean Air Zone status as well as much more together on one page.

Vehicle tax does not pass to a new keeper. If your business or employee buys a used car or van, it needs taxing in the business's or employee's name before it is driven. And because a vehicle cannot be taxed without a valid MOT, an expired MOT also stops the tax being renewed.

What it means for you: a quick check when a vehicle joins the fleet, and before tax or MOT dates, tells you where it stands.

Motoble for Fleets shows MOT and tax status and due dates for every vehicle in one place, from official government data, kept up to date, with each vehicle's MOT history in plain words. See not just the whole fleet's current status, but what's coming up, trends in condition, mileage and clean air compliance, and potential risks.

Reminders

As a fleet grows, reminders arrive one at a time in different inboxes. One view of every vehicle shows what is due next and what has been missed. Motoble for Fleets sends intelligent reminders before MOT, tax, insurance and other renewal dates, and keeps an auditable record.

If two dates are coming up soon for the same driver or vehicle, Motoble combines them to reduce employee friction and allow you to focus on running your organisation.

Insurance: the cover has to match the use

Under section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, a person must not use a vehicle on a road or other public place, or cause or permit anyone else to, unless there is insurance in force "in relation to the use of the vehicle". In other words, the policy has to cover the way the vehicle is being used, not just exist. The rule applies to the driver and to anyone who causes or permits them to use the vehicle.

Vans over 3.5 tonnes

Once a goods vehicle's gross weight is over 3,500kg (3.5 tonnes), several things change:

• Testing: petrol, diesel and hybrid goods vehicles over 3,500kg need the heavy goods vehicle MOT. The first is due 12 months after the vehicle was first registered, not at 3 years. Zero emission vans up to 4,250kg are the exception and take a class 7 MOT.
• Operator licence: a business usually needs a goods vehicle operator's licence to carry goods in a vehicle with a gross plated weight over 3,500kg. Some vehicles are exempt.
• Drivers' hours: different drivers' hours rules apply to vehicles over 3.5 tonnes.

GOV.UK covers each in full, with the exemptions.

What it means for you: check each van's gross weight, not just its size. Two vans that look alike can sit either side of the line.

Motoble for Fleets adds a note to vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, so you can see which ones these rules may apply to.

Clean Air Zones

Some cities charge vehicles that do not meet minimum emission standards to drive in their Clean Air Zone. Vans are included in class C and D zones, and cars in class D zones. GOV.UK's Clean Air Zone service lets a business with 2 or more vehicles set up an account to check charges for all of them. London and Scotland run their own schemes.

Motoble for Fleets shows Clean Air Zone standards for each vehicle, each zone and across the whole fleet.

Questions