MOT out of date can I still use my car

[dizzydo]

My car was due for its first MOT at beginning of March and I forgot all about it. Cannot get an appointment for retesting until Tuesday, can I legally drive it?

"Many people believe that if a car's MOT has expired, the insurance is immediately invalid. That's not true though an insurer can walk away from a claim if the MOT has expired and especially if it can be shown that the car is in poor condition and would not have passed an MOT. But if you forget to renew your MOT by a few days because you genuinely forgot, then if your car was stolen, you would still be paid. The quality of the insurer, the influence of your broker and the size of the insurer's goodwill would be a factor."
\link{http://www.mgcars.org.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=mgoc&a=&p=emg/emg020202.html\Source}

Oh pants, I was kind of wrong about one of the benefits of getting the test early, LOL:

"Henry knew that his MOT was due to expire and he also knew that if he took it for a test within thirty days of the expiry, he could have the new certificate extended. But the car failed and the tester declared the condition dangerous and unsuitable for the road. He cautioned Henry not to drive the car. Henry refused to comply. He stated that his current MOT would cover him. He was wrong, the tester reported Henry and the police stopped him and cautioned him for driving a defective vehicle. If he had been involved in an accident, the insurer would have paid the third party, they would not have paid for Henry's damage and they would have successfully sued him for their costs."
(Same source)

I imagine that the validity of the insurance is actually determined by the small print of an indidual policy schedule. Some may disallow but not all... further, I think an insurer / lawyer would attempt to assess to what degree the failed MOT affected the car's road worthiness (in the case of an accident) or value (in the case of theft). A single defective indicator bulb or windscreen washer could fail an MOT but I imagine it could be hard to argue that automatically rendered an insurance policy invalid IYSWIM...

I'm 35, but the plant is ancient.

I should have just bought a one foot plant... I can't find any laydees up to the challenge of nurturing something so huge. LOL.

Hey, you want to see my monster fleece wrap baby!

I like orange flowers so will certainly look that one out, ta!

(apols for hijack dizzydo - entirely my fault)

Excellent will book it in for next week!

Thanks for all the feedback everyone and the gardening tips Hub

I actually found a lovely garage to do my MOT the day I posted and it passed with no work needed. Huge relief. But I am MUCH wiser about MOTs now!