A STAGGERING 450-plus error-strewn MOT certificates are issued daily in the UK, according to official statistics.
The potentially legally fraught and costly mistakes were uncovered by major Scottish-based car leasing comparison website Lease Fetcher.
The Glasgow-based outfit gathered data on incorrect MOTs from January 2018 to mid-May this year and found that a massive 561,851 certificates were amended during that time.
Now its experts are urging motorists to scrutinise their paperwork as soon as it is issued, to avoid hassle in the future.
Data collected from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency revealed blunders over odometer readings were the most common. In 51 per cent of instances, an incorrect figure had been entered compared with what was shown on the mileage clock.
A further nine per cent had switched from miles to kilometres or vice-versa, while the second biggest error – at 18 per cent – involved changing the expiry date.
Other areas of concern included the vehicle identification number (VIN), car registration and even the make, model, class or colour of the car being changed.
In theory, some of these errors, particularly concerning odometer readings, could cost you thousands in of pounds in terms of devaluation.
More likely, though, is a situation where you will have to prove you’ve not been involved in “car clocking” – the practice of winding back the mileage in order to increase its asking price.
Vehicle checking experts HPI says one in 11 of the cars it checks has a mileage discrepancy – with a 45 per cent rise in cases during the last five years, meaning clocking costs motorists more than £800million annually.
If you’ve got a mileage discrepancy on your MOT certificate, your odometer likely still shows its true mileage, so it hasn’t technically been clocked.
But if you try to sell it, you could run into problems – firstly with getting potential buyers to trust you and accept a car with incorrect documentation.
If the MOT odometer error has caused the vehicle’s value to become artificially inflated, you legally have to admit this fault or you will be committing fraud.
And Lease Fetcher warns you may even have to drop the price lower than its correct value in order to find a willing buyer. Similarly, if the error has wrongly deflated the car’s value, you could have a lot of explaining if you try to list the car at its correct value.
You will undoubtedly be met with scepticism and may end up having to list the price at a lower value than you might otherwise reasonably expect.
Obviously, buyers face a flipside situation, where they could be ripped off, be met unexpected repair bills and have to pursue legal action against a dodgy seller.
But if you are a genuinely decent motorist, there are things you can do to correct an MOT certificate with inadvertent discrepancies – and it is best to act fast.
If you notice less than a month after your MOT, you can ask the provider to check the mileage again and provide a correctly updated one. After 28 days, you must contact the DVSA and provide a fair amount evidence of the mistake.
This includes scanned pages of the logbook to show the keeper and vehicle details, proof of mileage, photo of an invoice for the MOT, emissions printout, receipt and vehicle job card from the MOT centre.
Lease Fetcher’s Stewart Major said: “The moral of our findings is to check your MOT certificates pronto. Allowing these mistakes to remain unchecked can not only devalue your car and cause you difficulties selling, but can land you in legal hot water.”
Visit www.leasefetcher.co.uk to find out more.
