Questions people actually ask

How do I know when my MOT is due?

Type the registration into GOV.UK or into My Cars App. You get the expiry date immediately and you do not need to own the vehicle. An MOT lasts twelve months from the test.

How many days can you drive without an MOT?

None. The certificate expires at the end of its last valid day, and from the next morning driving the vehicle on a public road is an offence — there is no grace period.

Two exceptions: driving to or from a garage for repairs, and driving to a pre-arranged MOT test.

Can you drive on the day your MOT expires?

Yes. The certificate is valid to the end of that day. The following day it is not.

What happens if I forget my MOT?

You can be fined up to £1,000 (GOV.UK), and your insurance may be affected — that depends on your policy, so ask your insurer. Get it tested as soon as you realise; you are allowed to drive to a pre-arranged test.

Does DVLA remind you when your road tax is due?

Yes, by post — a V11 reminder. If it does not arrive, you are still responsible. Tax also does not transfer when a vehicle is sold, so a car is untaxed from the moment you buy it.

Can an app tell me when my road tax is due?

Yes. My Cars App reads the tax status and renewal date from DVLA and fills them in for you — there is nothing to type and nothing to keep up to date. It also shows the VED band and an estimated annual cost, and says so plainly when a vehicle is untaxed or has a SORN in force. How the tax reminders work.

What is the fine for no road tax?

An £80 Late Licensing Penalty, halved to £40 if paid within 33 days. It escalates from there — see the full table of DVLA's published penalties.

Where is my driving licence expiry date?

Field 4b on the front of the photocard. Not field 11, which is when each driving category started.

Is there already a free MOT reminder?

Yes. One is available free, by text or email, a month before your MOT is due — two months for lorries and buses. It covers the MOT only, and it needs your phone number or email address.

Whichever reminder you use, the timing is the part worth knowing. You can test up to a month minus a day before it expires and keep the same renewal date; test earlier and the date moves to a year from the day of the test. When to book, and why it matters.

Does the app need my email address or phone number?

No. There is no account and no sign-up. Your vehicles and dates are stored on your phone. The only thing that reaches our server is the registration you are checking, so it can ask DVSA and hand the answer back.

Do reminders work if the app is closed?

Yes. They are scheduled by your phone's own alarm system, so nothing needs to be running. The app has a Test a scheduled reminder button that proves it on your own phone in two minutes.

Does it work for vans, motorbikes and lorries?

Yes. More on that here.

Is this an official government app?

No. My Cars App is an independent service from Transpeed Ltd. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or operated on behalf of DVSA, DVLA or any government department. The MOT data comes from DVSA and the road tax data from DVLA, both under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

What your phone needs to allow

Two settings decide whether a reminder actually arrives. The app asks for both the first time you open it, and each is one tap.

Notifications. When the phone asks “Allow My Cars App to send you notifications?”, choose Allow. Without it the reminder is still set, but nothing appears on screen.
Alarms and reminders. Settings → Apps → My Cars App → Alarms and reminders → Allow. This is what the red banner in the app — “Reminders will arrive late … Allow exact alarms” — is asking for. Without it Android is free to hold a reminder back for hours.

You do not need to change the battery setting. Reminders arrive with the app closed on the standard Optimised setting.

Is there an app that reminds you about MOT and car tax?

That is what this is. My Cars App holds up to five vehicles and reminds you before the MOT, road tax, insurance, service and driving licence dates pass — 30, 14, 7 and 1 days before, and on the day. The reminders are set by your own phone, so they arrive with the app closed and without an account. How it works.

How do I know when my car insurance runs out?

Only from your own documents. No public database publishes renewal dates. askMID shows whether your own vehicle is currently insured, not when the cover ends. Once you have the date, the app can hold it.

Is there a grace period after your MOT expires?

No. The certificate is valid to its expiry date and not a day beyond it. You may drive to a pre-arranged test or to a garage for repairs, and that is the whole list.

How do I check whether a car has an MOT?

Type the registration into GOV.UK's MOT history service or into this app — both read the same DVSA data, both are free, and neither needs you to own the vehicle. You get the expiry date, every past test, the mileage recorded at each one and any advisories.

Do I still need road tax if the car is off the road?

No, but you must declare it off the road with a SORN rather than simply stopping payment, and the vehicle then has to stay off public roads. Taxing it again is what ends the SORN.

Are petrol stations required to publish their prices?

Yes. Under the Motor Fuel Price (Open Data) Regulations 2025, filling stations must report their pump prices to the government’s Fuel Finder scheme, and report a change within thirty minutes of making it. The Competition and Markets Authority has enforcement powers over stations that do not. How fuel prices work in the app.

Why does a fuel price say it last changed weeks ago?

Because a price only has to be reported when it changes. A station that has held the same price for a month has nothing new to report, so a long gap means the price has not moved — not that the information is out of date.

How do I check if my car has a safety recall?

Type the registration into GOV.UK’s vehicle recall service or into this app — both are free and neither needs you to own the vehicle. A recall is issued by the manufacturer when it finds a serious safety problem, and it does not expire on its own, so a fault flagged several owners ago can still be sitting there unrepaired. An MOT and a recall answer different questions: the MOT tests whether a vehicle is roadworthy on the day it is tested, while a recall is the manufacturer identifying a fault in how the vehicle was built. More about safety recalls.