Documents proving MoT exemptions offered to all classic owners

Enthusiasts were still getting stopped by police – who wrongly assumed their cars still needed an MoT – eight months after exempting historic vehicles from roadworthiness testing became law. The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC) intervened with a letter from the Department for Transport explaining the Vehicles of Historic Interest (VHI) class of taxation to any police at the side of the road – urging owners to print it out and keep it in their vehicles. Suffolk police prosecuted Triumph owner, Russell Banyard, for having no valid MoT showing on his VHI-eligible 1973 2.5 PI estate; further investigation by CCW revealed that the DVLA did not record VHI declarations and that its online Vehicle Enquiry Service (VES) states the MoT status of such classics with ‘no results returned’ – a situation which remains unresolved to this day. FBHVC communications officer, Wayne Scott, said: ‘There have been no further reports of issues around incorrect roadside stops by the Police for MoT-exempt cars. ‘The FBHVC has sought – and obtained – letters from the National Police Chiefs Council for England and Wales, and from Police Scotland, stating that the police recognise that, bar the very few ‘substantially changed‘ vehicles, all motorcycles, light vans and cars that are 40 or more years old are MoT-exempt whether or not an exemption claim has been made. ‘It would appear that in practice the MoT exemption scheme is now working without any serious hiccups’.