Motor Vehicles (Tests) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020

Lord Blencathra Excerpts

Wednesday 13th May 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Blencathra (Con)]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend the Minister and the Department for Transport on bringing forward these regulations. It is a very sensible thing to do. I should declare a personal interest in that my MoT is due to run out at the end of May; or rather, my car’s MoT is due to run out then. According to the NHS, my personal MoT ran out years ago.

I am one of those who would not be able to go out to get an MoT without these regulations, so the six-month extension is sensible and it should give enough time to get an MoT. Let us face it, if we are still in lockdown in six months’ time then God help us; we will not need MoTs since we will be back to the era of the horse and cart. However, will my noble friend keep this under review and, if necessary, speak to the Communities and Local Government department with a view to extending garage opening hours, possibly with Sunday working? I suspect that, as most noble Lords have said, most garages and MoT centres will go flat out to clear any backlog but if a bottleneck occurs, extending garage opening hours might be a solution.

The other point I wish to raise is more concerning. We all know that insurance companies will use any excuse not to pay up. I worry that if a vehicle is involved in an accident, the insurance company will refuse to pay because the car did not have an MoT even though there is the six-month extension. I can imagine a scenario where a vehicle is involved in a collision—from a minor one to one involving loss of life—and the reason for that accident is traced to something such as a faulty or worn steering wheel rod. The insurance company could argue that if the car had had an MoT after 12 months, this fault would have been found and that the accident occurred only because the 12-month period had been exceeded. That is a hypothetical example; no doubt motoring experts could find better ones. Will my noble friend assure me, and all other motorists, that insurance will cover completely all possible accidents occurring after the 12-month period and be valid over the 18-month period?