Guidance

Tell DVSA you are closing your MOT centre

How to tell the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) that you're closing one or more of the MOT centres in your business.

• From: Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
• Published: 19 September 2019
• Last updated: 1 February 2024 — See all updates

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

You can only close an MOT centre if you hold one of the following roles:

• authorised examiner principal (AEP) – one of the business owners or directors
• authorised examiner designated manager (AEDM) – the person who oversees the management, operation and quality of all MOTs in the business

Tell DVSA you are closing

Fill in the online form to tell DVSA you’re closing one or more of your MOT centres.

You need:

• your authorised examiner (AE) number
• the MOT centre numbers of all the centres you’re closing (sometimes called a vehicle testing station number or VTS number)
• the date you want to close your centre

What happens next

Once the centre has closed, DVSA will remove any roles assigned to this centre.

You need to:

• destroy your certificate of authorisation (VT9) securely, for example by shredding it – do not send it back to DVSA
• cancel your Direct Debit to buy MOT slots if you have one set up

Get a refund for unused MOT slots

If you closed all the MOT centres in your business

You will automatically get a refund for any unused slots if you’ve closed all the MOT centres in your business.

If you paid for your slots by credit or debit card, you’ll get a refund to the card you used.

If you paid for your slots by direct debit, cheque or postal order, DVSA will send your refund by cheque to your business address.

It can take up to 28 days to process your refund.

If other MOT centres in your business are still open

You will not automatically get a refund for unused test slots if other MOT centres in your business are still open. The slots will stay in your account for your other MOT centres to use.

You can apply for a refund and reduce your MOT slot balance if your balance is too high.

If you want to reopen the MOT centre

When an MOT centre has been closed, it’s classed as ‘surrendered’ for a year.

This means you can more easily reopen the centre within a year if:

• you still have the right to use it
• the site plans and layout of the building have not changed

If you want to open it after a year, you need to open it as a new MOT centre.

Fill in the MOT centre application form to ask for it to be reopened in either case.

Published 19 September 2019
Last updated 1 February 2024 + show all updates

1. 1 February 2024

   Replaced the email address to close your MOT centre with a link to an online form. Added information about getting a refund for unused MOT test slots.

2. 19 September 2019

   First published.