Complaining about an MOT test station: what DVSA will and will not do

What this guide covers

GOV.UK sets out an appeal route to DVSA both where a vehicle failed the MOT and where it passed but the presenter believes it should have failed. Sources: ^[1]

GOV.UK's MOT testing guide says every vehicle testing station must display the MOT test and appeals poster (VT9A) on its MOT notice board. Sources: ^[4]

Details can also be found on the MOT test and appeals poster (VT9A) which must be displayed on the MOT notice board in every vehicle testing station (VTS).

This guide is about the behaviour of an MOT test station or tester: charging that does not match what was agreed or advertised, doubts about whether the vehicle was properly tested, pressure to buy repairs, or a result that looks wrong because of how the test was carried out.

Disputing the test result itself is a separate statutory route with its own form and deadlines. Read the appeal guide for that; do not use a general complaint as a substitute for an appeal, because the appeal time limits keep running.

What DVSA does regulate

GOV.UK's MOT testing guide says DVSA administers the MOT service on behalf of the Secretary of State. Sources: ^[3]

That role expressly includes monitoring the performance of those carrying out MOT testing, recommending retraining or discipline where standards are not maintained, conducting statutory appeals against test failures, and investigating complaints about testing standards. Sources: ^[3]

GOV.UK says a justified complaint about defects found on a vehicle that had previously passed its MOT, or a re-examination revealing an incorrect pass or fail decision, are among the circumstances that can lead to disciplinary action against a tester or authorised examiner. Sources: ^[5]

investigating complaints about testing standards and resolving disputes

monitoring the performance of those carrying out MOT testing and recommend, retraining and/or disciplining where standards are not maintained

What DVSA will not do for you

GOV.UK states plainly that DVSA cannot help you take action against a test centre, and that action of that kind is yours to take through Trading Standards, personal legal proceedings or the police. Sources: ^[1]

DVSA's own complaints procedure covers dissatisfaction with the quality of service DVSA gave you; its vehicle-test complaint section deals with HGV, bus, trailer, approval and specialist tests, and points car, van and motorcycle owners to the separate MOT appeal process. Sources: ^[6]

At the end of DVSA's own complaints process an independent complaints assessor can review how a complaint was handled, but GOV.UK says the assessor cannot look at regulatory decisions and outcomes, or at complaints arising from contractual and commercial disputes. Sources: ^[6]

You can take your own action against an MOT test centre through Trading Standards, personal legal proceedings or reporting the centre to the police. DVSA cannot help you take action against a centre.

What to do

• Decide first what you actually want: a testing-standards investigation, your money back, or both. They travel down different routes and neither one delivers the other.
• If the dispute is really about price, pressure selling or work you did not authorise, treat the consumer route as the main one and the regulator as secondary.

The official entry points

GOV.UK tells anyone unhappy with their MOT service to contact DVSA, giving the telephone number 0300 123 9000, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. Sources: ^[1]

GOV.UK's consumer rights page gives the helplines that can refer a complaint to local Trading Standards officers: Citizens Advice on 0808 223 1133 for England and Wales, Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000, and Consumerline on 0300 123 6262 for Northern Ireland. Sources: ^[9]

GOV.UK also runs a postcode lookup for a local Trading Standards office, described as the place to complain about illegal sales activity. Sources: ^[10]

refer your complaint to local Trading Standards Officers who may then investigate on your behalf

Enter your postcode to find a Trading Standards office near you to complain about illegal sales activity.

OBDCode UK does not collect, forward or store complaint details. Every route above is a direct link to the official body; send your information only to them.

GOV.UK — Getting an MOT: test result appeals and problems

GOV.UK — Consumer rights helplines for each UK nation

GOV.UK — Find your local Trading Standards office

GOV.UK — DVSA complaints procedure

Suspected lawbreaking or fraud: a separate report

GOV.UK says people in England, Scotland and Wales can report an MOT tester or centre to DVSA if they think it is breaking the law; examples include issuing a certificate for a vehicle the tester knows should have failed, issuing one without testing the vehicle, and taking bribes for certificates. Sources: ^[2]

The reporting page says there is a different process to appeal an MOT result if you think the tester got it wrong. Sources: ^{[2] [1]}

GOV.UK says the report can be made anonymously, without giving your name, or with your details. Sources: ^[2]

If you call or write anonymously, GOV.UK says you will never be asked for your name or contact details, your call will not be traced, and you will not have to make a statement, be called as a witness or appear in court. Sources: ^[2]

GOV.UK warns that, depending on what is reported, the MOT tester or centre might still be able to work out who made an anonymous report. Sources: ^[2]

For England, Scotland and Wales, this is a narrow intelligence route for suspected lawbreaking or fraud by an MOT tester or centre. It is not a general label for every disagreement with a test.

Keep the routes separate: use the statutory appeal when you dispute the test result, the testing-standards complaint route for how the test was carried out, and the consumer route for a refund, repair costs or compensation. Reporting suspected lawbreaking does not merge those routes or stop their deadlines.

OBDCode UK does not collect, relay or store reports. This action opens the official GOV.UK route directly.

GOV.UK — Report an MOT tester for suspected lawbreaking or fraud

What to have in front of you before you complain

GOV.UK says the result of a pass or a failure is recorded in the MOT database, that you can ask the test centre for a printed MOT certificate, that you can get a refusal of an MOT test certificate if the vehicle failed, and that you can check the MOT history online. Sources: ^[8]

If you suspect a certificate is not genuine, GOV.UK directs you to check the vehicle's MOT status. Sources: ^[1]

A complaint about testing standards is only as good as the record of the test. Gather this before you telephone, because the person taking the call cannot investigate an undated account of a conversation.

What to do

• Do not repair the disputed items before you have decided whether you are appealing the result, because the appeal route requires the vehicle to be re-examined as it was.
• Put the complaint in writing as well as by phone, so there is a dated record of what you reported.

Checklist

• The MOT test number and the date and time of the test.
• The name and address of the test station, and the name of anyone you dealt with if you have it.
• The vehicle registration number, make and model.
• The pass certificate or refusal of an MOT test certificate, and any advisory list you were given.
• What you were charged, how you paid, and what the station said the charge was for.
• What was said about repairs: who raised them, what was claimed to be wrong, and whether passing the test was presented as conditional on buying work.
• Dates and odometer readings for anything that happened after the test, such as a second opinion or a repair elsewhere.
• Photographs of the vehicle, the notice board, the displayed prices and any paperwork.

If the complaint is about what you were charged

GOV.UK says there is a maximum amount MOT test stations can charge, which depends on the type of vehicle, and that VAT is not paid on the fee. Sources: ^[7]

As at the accessed date, GOV.UK gives the maximum fee for a car as £54.85 and for a standard motorcycle as £29.65; the full table covers each vehicle class. Sources: ^[7]

A station may charge less than the maximum, so a low advertised price is not itself a breach. Being charged more than the published maximum for the class, or being billed for repair work you never authorised, is a concrete and checkable complaint.

The maximum test fee is a regulatory ceiling, not a price for repairs. Repair labour and parts are an ordinary consumer contract and are priced by the garage.

What to do

• Check the current maximum for your vehicle class on the live GOV.UK fees table before alleging an overcharge.
• Take the fee question to the consumer route as well; the regulator will not recover the difference for you.

What happens after you complain, and what you will be told

GOV.UK says that for minor shortcomings DVSA will usually give advice or counselling, and that formal disciplinary action and prosecution may be considered for more serious cases or repeated minor shortcomings. Sources: ^[5]

The published outcomes of formal disciplinary action range from no further action, through an advisory warning letter, temporary suspension notice or formal warning, to cessation of a tester's approval or an authorised examiner's authorisation. Sources: ^[5]

GOV.UK says disciplinary casework and letters are sent to the individual concerned, and that DVSA will not send that information to anyone except the individual or individuals concerned in the case. Sources: ^[5]

GOV.UK says DVSA may publish details of vehicle testing stations removed from the MOT service after formal disciplinary action, once the appeal period has lapsed or any appeal has been determined. Sources: ^[5]

On the separate suspected-lawbreaking route, GOV.UK says that if you ask DVSA for feedback on what happened with a criminal prosecution, you will get it only after any investigation and criminal or other official proceedings have ended and any appeal against the verdict has been decided; DVSA cannot give feedback while a case is ongoing. Sources: ^[2]

We will not send this information to anyone except the individual(s) concerned in the case.

DVSA may publish details of vehicle testing stations (VTS) who have been removed from the MOT service following formal disciplinary action. Details will be published after the appeal period has lapsed or the appeal has been determined.

For an ordinary testing-standards disciplinary case, keep the existing expectation: the case correspondence goes to the tester or station, and GOV.UK does not promise to disclose it to the reporter. Do not turn the criminal-prosecution exception into a promise of an outcome or update for every complaint or report.

The narrow exception belongs to the separate suspected-lawbreaking route: a person who asks for feedback about a criminal prosecution can receive it only after the investigation, official proceedings and any appeal against the verdict are finished. There is no feedback while the case is ongoing.

Complaining to the regulator does not get your money back

Section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that every contract to supply a service is treated as including a term that the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill. Sources: ^[11]

DVSA's published disciplinary outcomes include warnings, suspension or cessation of a tester's approval or an authorised examiner's authorisation. GOV.UK separately says DVSA cannot help you take action against a centre and points to Trading Standards, personal legal proceedings or the police; the regulatory process is therefore not presented as a refund, repair-cost or compensation route. Sources: ^{[5] [1]}

What to do

• Run both tracks in parallel if the facts justify it, using the same evidence pack for each.
• Do not delay a consumer claim while waiting for a regulator's answer that may never be shared with you.

Northern Ireland: complain to DVA, not DVSA

nidirect says vehicle tests in Northern Ireland are booked with the Driver and Vehicle Agency and carried out at its test centres, and that DVA sends the reminder to book a test. Sources: ^[13]

nidirect says DVA manages all complaints under a two stage procedure, aiming to respond within 15 working days at stage one and within 10 working days at stage two. Sources: ^[12]

nidirect says a complainant who remains dissatisfied can refer the matter to the Northern Ireland Public Service Ombudsman, which will normally expect the DVA complaints procedure to have been exhausted first. Sources: ^[12]

nidirect asks complainants to give their full name and address, the vehicle registration number where the complaint relates to a vehicle, a daytime contact number where possible, and full details including any earlier dealings with DVA. Sources: ^[12]

Unlike the Great Britain position, nidirect sets out circumstances in which DVA will consider compensation, including a test cancelled for a reason within its control without proper notice and damage to a vehicle on DVA property where the agency is found to be negligent. Sources: ^[12]

The Ombudsman is independent and can investigate complaints against government departments and their agencies. The Ombudsman will normally expect you to have exhausted the DVA complaints procedure before considering your complaint.

Consumer complaints about a Northern Ireland business remain a separate matter from the testing service; GOV.UK gives Consumerline as the Northern Ireland consumer helpline.

nidirect — Make a complaint or claim compensation from DVA

Important

Nothing here alleges wrongdoing by any named business, and OBDCode UK does not investigate, rank or endorse test stations.

Do not drive a vehicle that has been recorded with a dangerous defect in order to gather evidence or reach another garage; arrange recovery instead.