The scary bit is not the possibility of a £25 fine for expired MOT but that if you don't have a valid MOT it invalidates your insurance so effectively you are driving without insurance. For those not in the UK, here it's illegal to drive without insurance (as in - they can take your licence away from you illegal) and having a car without a valid tax disc can get you a hefty fine. To get a tax disc you have to have an insurance certificate (valid for that car) and an MOT certificate (unless it's less than 3 years old) and a form saying that it's your car. Take all that plus £150 to a main post office and god help you if someone has mis-written/ mis-typed the registration number on any of the documents (as my insurance agent once did). Jude who's car is off the road at the moment having failed it's MOT by having the clutch give up under the strain of the rolling road test!