Independent Garages Seek Raise of Car MOT Cap to £95

Overview

• The Independent Garage Association is campaigning for the statutory maximum fee for a car MOT to rise from £54.85 to at least £95, a 73% increase it says is needed to cover higher operating costs.
• The IGA says garages face rising bills for labour, rent, equipment, fuel, energy, compliance and staff training that have eroded margins and led some sites to cut MOT test capacity.
• The IGA and other industry bodies have a meeting with the Department for Transport scheduled for 21 October to formally press for a fee review and negotiate possible changes.
• If the cap stays unchanged the IGA warns motorists could see longer waits and fewer local testing options as garages prioritise more profitable work over MOTs.
• The MOT system employs about 66,000 testers at roughly 23,000 garages and carried out around 33 million car tests last year, and ministers have recently raised fees for HGVs, trailers and buses as a precedent for change.