StephenFord Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 I was wondering if anyone knows if 'garages' are classed as essential workers? I'm fortunate that my car is in fine health, but if someone has a breakdown right now, and works for the NHS, police, fire service etc, can they get their car repaired?聽 Just curious, I'm at home, too much time on my hands 馃槂... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Yes, MOT garages are considered essential and CAN stay open, but as with takeaways, a lot are choosing to close. 聽 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m50e30 Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Garages are allowed to stay open 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 mmm... this is a most knowledgeable forum! Can you post a link please for that leaflet? I've googled the death out of my laptop and can't find it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ennvoqation Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Here's the link to the full PDF as of last night covering trades and sectors, all travel should be minimised to reduce risk on all services and if you do have to drive do so at reduced speeds and higher caution during this crisis. All vehicles must be road worthy and legal hence the need for garages聽and聽I聽know people that have parked their car on the driveway and declared them SORN, may as well as this isn't going anywhere for at least 3-6 months. UK Lock down - Exempt trades and sectors On a side note, a number of DIY shops are open, but there's a general consensus don't do any DIY unless it's urgent/critical as, like driving, it puts you at higher risk of injury. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 Well, that was a bit freaky! Just now, there was a live call into LBC Radio on this very topic, a garage owner who was concerned at working on peoples cars in case the virus was transferred from them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erictcleric Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Also bear in mind that there's no relaxing of MoT rules at the moment, so if your MoT expires you can still expect a fine if its on the road for any reason. Plus your insurance will be invalid.聽 I see a lot of dealers are offering a collect and return service now. Since my car's warranty expires mid May I might need to take them up on that.聽 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 Northern Ireland just experienced an MOT station shut down. (MOTs are government run affairs here, not garages) when they discovered a province wide fault in the lift mechanisms in all stations. The local government here issued 'official' suspension notices for individuals to keep their insurance legal, but it only applied to cars that already had an MOT in the past. If you car had never had one before, there was no 'legal' way to extend it so it was off the road! I heard on the radio last week that the UK mainland may consider something similar but nothing official has been announced. Oh, just seen this update from BBC https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-51176409 聽 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erictcleric Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Yep - saw that. Interesting about the NI situation. Since mine has never had an MoT before, I'd better get it sorted! 馃檪聽 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isetta Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 In Northern Ireland it is correct that the 4 month extensions did not apply to cars that were approaching their first mot date. But they were operating a reduced mot service using lorry testing bays for the cars and cars due first mot were being given priority. So In聽theory those people could stay legal but might have had to travel further. I had a read about it all last week. There was also mention that diesel emission test was only visual And not done with machine as the testing stations had not bought the necessary equipment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isetta Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Perhaps someone from Northern Ireland will comment. I think there wAs something about free mot tests for people who were inconvenienced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 16 minutes ago, isetta said: 聽So In聽theory those people could stay legal but might have had to travel further. I had a read about it all last week. There was also mention that diesel emission test was only visual And not done with machine as the testing stations had not bought the necessary equipment In theory, that may have been correct, but I can assure you there was total chaos here for a while as you could not secure an MOT date ANYWHERE in the province for months! I was sick listening to the Stephen Nolan show (BBC Radio Ulster) on the subject LOL Also correct that the diesel emission is only 'visual' here, so, top tip for all you mainlanders with dirty cars, get an MOT here and it's valid all over the UK! And NO, the government was not giving out free MOT tests to anyone 馃ぃ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isetta Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Mine鈥檚 due November , my wife鈥檚 December but who knows how long this will take. If you leave a car too long without using the discs go as rusty as hell as I found a few years ago when left unused for 2 months, I had this deeply pitted shape of brake pad on each disc. I guess the damp stayed between disc and pad and didn鈥檛 dry in wind etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isetta Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 I did wonder if anyone pops over to n i for a mot , how much is the ferry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 8 minutes ago, isetta said: I did wonder if anyone pops over to n i for a mot , how much is the ferry Reckon you'd get it dirt cheap right now, traffic seems to have fallen right down for some reason! It would also be a very quick turnaround, the Larne MOT station is 3 minute drive from the ferry terminal! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil3747 Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 5 hours ago, erictcleric said: Also bear in mind that there's no relaxing of MoT rules at the moment, so if your MoT expires you can still expect a fine if its on the road for any reason. Plus your insurance will be invalid.聽 I see a lot of dealers are offering a collect and return service now. Since my car's warranty expires mid May I might need to take them up on that.聽 Not strictly true....if your MOT has expired and you were unfortunate enough to then have an accident, then insurance companies can use this as an excuse to reduce their payout on the claim...last one I heard of was a 20% reduction, although this was a while back. I have never heard of anyone having their insurance policy terminated because of an expired MOT. If the car is un-roadworthy then possibly, but it would be down to the assessor who subsequently inspects the car. Obviously the best case is to keep your car MOT'd and not take the chance !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 34 minutes ago, Phil3747 said: Not strictly true....if your MOT has expired and you were unfortunate enough to then have an accident, then insurance companies can use this as an excuse to reduce their payout on the claim...l 聽 Really? https://www.directlineforbusiness.co.uk/van-insurance/knowledge-centre/running-your-van/driving-without-MOT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Heaton Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 Why would we have to drive slower, there's no cars on the road.聽聽馃榾 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 2 minutes ago, Guy Heaton said: Why would we have to drive slower, there's no cars on the road.聽聽馃榾 I also thought this but then realised on Monday...the ones are left (other than essential workers) are the ignorant ones that use the same amount of courtesy on the road as they do when buying toilet roll... Honestly the standard of driving was awful compared to the same time on a normal Monday, despite there being so few cars on the road! 馃槷聽 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Heaton Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 You could be right aye. 聽 I am enjoying the silence of much fewer cars, but still get the screechers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted March 25, 2020 Author Share Posted March 25, 2020 MOT tests, hot off the press.聽 6 month extension... https://www.lbc.co.uk/hot-topics/coronavirus/what-happens-mot-test-covid-lockdown/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ennvoqation Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 5 hours ago, Guy Heaton said: Why would we have to drive slower, there's no cars on the road.聽聽馃榾 Actually there's lot of essential traffic on the road, some of which will be taking advantage of the low-volumes of traffic to get patients to hospital faster or other emergencies. As I drove to work today (I'm a essential worker covering infrastructure) I saw an increase of cyclists, runners and idiots walking in groups some of which wasn't even paying attention to their environment.聽 I've聽had two near misses with vehicles driving too fast or in the middle of the bend and thinking there was no-one else on it. Reducing your speed and increasing your awareness means you're less likely to have an accident or respond in a way that it's more controllable,聽say if a tyre blows out That happens no matter how good a driver you are. That means your car is likely to get abandoned where it sits (no recovery trucks, etc) if it's in a 'safe' place, and you risk the emergency services to exposure if they attend and more importantly take desperately needed resources from areas that's needed.. If you get taken聽to hospital because of injuries you're also more likely to catch Covid-19 as it's been shown these are contagion hot spots. That's why I said drive slower or just don't go out at all. Enjoy the days relaxing in your house. If I'd a choice I'd love to not have to travel to work and if things continue we're likely to get stricter rules requiring passes like Germany,聽France and other countries.聽 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isetta Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 mot exemption mentioned on this link also https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-8150599/Motorists-granted-six-month-exemption-MOT-testing-30-March.html it says you get 6 month extn and the law change applies for 12 months. So if my next mot is due 28 feb 2021 they are already saying it is extended until 28 August 2021as far as I can see. 聽You sometimes see cars advertised as 13 months MOT, now some could advertise 18 months MOT (except you cant go out to view a car). Seems a bit radical to say the law change applies for 12 months聽 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil3747 Posted March 26, 2020 Share Posted March 26, 2020 Been told today that Direct Line's policy in relation to vehicles driving around with expired mot's is that they will have their client's vehicle inspected, post-collision, and if any defects are found which contributed/caused the collision, then they will not pay out !! So this basically reinforces the fact that vehicles must be maintained in a roadworthy condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sussamb Posted March 26, 2020 Share Posted March 26, 2020 Always been the case, don't expect your insurer to pay out if your vehicle is in an unroadworthy condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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