Up to £14.9 million could have been lost due to avoidable MOT failures in the 2023/24 financial year, according to new research. The figures say there were 7.5 million failed tests during this period, of which roughly 2.59 million could easily have been prevented with better preparation. Drivers are now being urged to perform a few simple checks before their vehicle’s MOT for the peak testing month.

The statistics come from Go.Compare car insurance, which used a combination of survey data and official DVSA testing figures to estimate how much is being needlessly lost at testing centres last year. Overall, there were 32.6 million MOTs for class three and four vehicles (cars, vans and passenger vehicles with up to 12 seats) in the last financial year, around a fifth (23%) of which were failed.

It states that just under 1.4 million failures were due to issues with lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment, while roughly 710,000 were because of problems with the  vehicle’s tyres. Another 461,000 failures came under the visibility category (i.e. the windscreen and wipers). Yet, each of these parts can easily be checked and rectified ahead of the MOT itself.

The comparison site found around one in 10 motorists miss the window for a free retest when their car fails, meaning they have to pay for a second test. As the maximum cost of an MOT is £54.85, just under £15 million could have been lost due to avoidable MOT failures within a single year.

Despite being easy to check, the “lamps, reflectors and electrical equipment” was the most common defect category for MOT failures in the last year. A quarter of failures involved issues with these parts.

The second most common factor was issues with the vehicle’s suspension, which contributed to just under a fifth of all failures, while problems with brakes was a factor in 16%.

Other categories like tyres and visibility were also frequent factors, leading to 12% and 8% of failures respectively, even though they’re easy to check at home beforehand. This places them fourth and fifth on the list of most common causes.

Tom Banks, car insurance expert at Go.Compare, says: “Taking your car to get its MOT done can be a nerve-wracking experience, so it’s important that you prepare for it properly to avoid incurring any needless extra costs. Our research shows that millions are lost every year just because drivers fail to do a few simple checks before the test, so make sure you don’t make the same mistake.

“Check that all the bulbs are working properly and replace any that you need to, then measure the tyre pressure and take a look at the tread depth to see if it meets the minimum requirements. You should also look for damage to the car’s windscreen and wipers, before testing the washers. Remember to remove any parking stickers, like those from festivals, from the windscreen, too.

“Remember, your car won’t be road legal if it fails its MOT, meaning your insurance will become invalid as well. If it fails, you’ll need to get the issues rectified before you can drive it again.”

More information on preventing avoidable MOT failures can be found on Go.Compare’s website.