Roadworthiness of your vehicle is an absolute must when you apply for a new van insurance quote. The older the vehicle, usually, means the cheaper the cover quote. But you will not be insured at all if you van fails its MoT.
With the recent improvements in technology with onboard management systems electronically controlling everything from the cab temperature to fuel consumption, the existing UK MoT was due a overhaul in line with the leaps and bounds we have seen in recent times. If you’ve been for your van MoT already this year, you’ll have seen a few categories therein new to the clipboard tick sheet as the mechanics gave your van a clean bill of health or found something you weren’t expecting to have to repair that’s not been there before.
That will be because of amendments made to the base MoT test for cars and light commercial vehicles made by the European Commission to ensure that all critical components that govern a car or van’s performance are duly checked every year, once the vehicle has surpassed the tender age of three. Passenger transport vehicles, namely buses and coaches, along with heavy goods vehicles, will also have revamps to their base test in line with new technology.
Many of the new articles that will appear on the revised MoT are indeed electrical; it may seem that there is more to trip the van driver up on but, some of the components that are now included do actually contribute to your eligibility for cheaper van insurance, so it is worthwhile having he new inspection.
It would be a terrible shame if you were to be involved in an incident and your van insurance didn’t pay out because the component attributed to be at fault, whatever that was, had not been inspected correctly to the new EU legislation guidelines.
Vans registered after the first of January this year will have the mandatory three year wait but any registered prior to the beginning of the year will be subjected to the tests when next your MoT is due.
One word of warning – some of the components on the new MoT checklist are extremely expensive to replace if they fail after their warranty has expired. If you are considering buying a new van with the latest all singing and dancing electronic controls, it may be worth investigating beforehand how much some of the articles are to replace that you cannot legally drive without or would make your van insurance null and void if dysfunctional by checking the full list of items now governed by the UK MoT.