Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions is using the introduction of new tougher MOT rules to remind company motorists that their car needs an MOT by law when it reaches three years of age.

As average company car replacement cycles increase – Hitachi Capital’s rate is currently at 40 months - more company motorists than ever are being affected by the MOT.

“Many drivers have been driving a car provided by their company for many years and may have forgotten about the need for an annual MOT once their car is three years old,” explained Tim Bowden, Hitachi Capital’s head of operations.

“We spend time in the run up to a car’s MOT getting in touch with the driver and reminding of their responsibilities as part of our duty of care commitment.

“This has worked very well and currently our MOT non-compliance figure is just 0.02% compared with a national average of below 3%.”

The 20 new checks added to the standard MOT cover the growing number of electronic features on cars, effectively modernising the test beyond its emissions and mechanical parameters. While there are no penalty points for not having a valid MOT a driver could be fined £1,000.

“VOSA, who are responsible for MOT tests, don’t issue vehicle owners with an MOT test reminder, which is why we have our very proactive process in place,” said Bowden.

“With the additional checks in place it could mean a car entering an MOT with a warning light lit up could now fail a test. That could mean a car being taken off the road until the problem is fixed which is a major unplanned cost.”