Research Claims £47,000 Wasted on Avoidable MOT Retests
Research from motorcycle insurance broker Go.Compare suggests a total of £47,000 was spent on avoidable MOT retests during the 2023/24 calendar year
Insurance company Go.Compare has revealed how much was spent on avoidable MOT retests in 2023/24, and it’s not pretty reading.
A total of £47,000 was spent to have an MOT retest, with more than 15,000 failed motorbike MOT’s taking place in the same calendar year.
According to new research from Go.Compare, the large sums of money spent on MOT retests could have been prevented in the 2023/24 financial year. It also says “riders are now being urged to perform a few simple checks before their vehicle’s MOT to avoid unnecessary fees”.
Around 979,500 MOTs were taken for motorcycles, which included class one and two vehicles during that period, and DVSA data shows that approximately 85,500 failed - equating to 9 per cent of the total number.
Go.Compare used a combination of survey data and official DVSA testing figures to estimate how much was needlessly spent at testing centres. It also stated that a large amount of these failures could be related to factors that riders themselves can check and fix at home before taking their bike for an MOT test.
Problems with lamps and reflectors were the biggest reason for avoidable failures, says Go.Compare, with around 11,440 tests failing as a result of this issue in the 2023/24 testing year.
Tyres caused 2,500 failures during that same period, while vehicle identification led to another 1,114 failures.
Motoring expert at Go.Compare, Tom Banks, said: “Our research shows that thousands of pounds is being wasted on easily preventable MOT failures, but preparing for the test properly can help you to avoid incurring extra costs.
“There are some simple checks that you can perform at home before you book your bike in for its MOT, and they could save you time and money by preventing a failure. For example, make sure your lights are working properly and replace any faulty bulbs, then check the tread depth of your tyres to see if they meet the minimum requirements.
“If your motorbike fails its MOT, don’t worry; you still have a 10-day window to get your bike in for a free retest. If you can get it fixed before this, you shouldn’t need to pay for another test. Remember, your bike won’t be road-legal if it fails its MOT due to a dangerous fault, meaning your insurance will likely become invalid as well. In this case, you’ll need to get the issues rectified before you can ride it again.”
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After graduating with a sports journalism degree, Robert joined Crash.net to lead the WorldSBK coverage in 2021, while also providing MotoGP coverage. Fulfilling that role for over three years, Robert was able to put his knowledge about all things racing to the test.
