Vehicle and Driving Testing Centre
Vehicle Registration
All motor vehicles used or kept on any public road in the Isle of Man must be registered in the Island and be licensed. Licences are issued for periods of 12 months.
At present there is no requirement for trailers to be registered, but draw-bar road-haulage trailers, and most other kinds of non-agricultural draw-bar trailers exceeding 2,000kg maximum laden weight, are nevertheless required to be licensed annually.
The initial registration and licensing of a vehicle may be undertaken at any Post Office. After initial registration of a vehicle, reminders for the annual renewal of the licence disc are sent out to owners and the licence can be renewed at local Post Offices or Treasury Agents, or at the Treasury Licensing Office in Douglas.
The current Vehicle Duty Fees document is available in PDF format can be viewed or downloaded by Clicking on the link below. Vehicle Duty is the charge made by Government for issue of a Vehicle Licence so that a motor vehicle or large draw-bar trailer that is kept in the Island may be used on public roads. It is sometimes known elsewhere by terms such as "Vehicle Excise Duty" or "Vehicle Licence Fee".
All United Kingdom, Channel Island, Irish or foreign registered motor vehicles brought into the Isle of Man from the United Kingdom, Ireland or any other country must be re-registered in the Island at the earliest opportunity if the owner is already resident in the Island, or as soon as possible after the owner takes up residence in the Island.
A vehicle registered elsewhere which accompanies a visiting driver during his/her visit here may remain for up to 12 months without being re-registered in the Island, provided that the visitor remains in charge of the vehicle and does not become resident here.
In order to register and licence a vehicle in the Isle of Man the following documents must be presented at the Treasury Licensing Office along with completed Application Forms for both Registration of the vehicle and its First Licence:-
- The current vehicle registration documents supplied by the manufacturer or his import concessionaire if the vehicle is new, or the appropriate registration documents from the country where the vehicle was most-recently registered. If any such documentation is not available or is incomplete the vehicle will be inspected and there will be a delay while the particulars of the vehicle are being established to ascertain whether it may be registered. (The documentation must include type-approval information for passenger-cars and goods vehicles under 10-years old). The Licensing Office may refuse to register a vehicle if it is not satisfied that the vehicle will be mainly used and maintained in the Island or the owner is a Manx resident student.
- A current certificate of motor insurance for the vehicle.
- If the vehicle is more than 3 years old at the time of the application for its first licence in the Island, or if it is an "annually-certifiable vehicle", it will also be necessary to produce a road-worthiness test certificate.
There is no periodic "MOT" for vehicles in general, though annual road-worthiness tests are required for "annually-certifiable vehicles" which include all articulated goods vehicles, large goods vehicles having more than 3 axles, buses, minibuses, passenger-cars that are to be used as public passenger vehicles (taxis or private hire cars), and hire-and-drive vehicles which are over 3-years old. Vehicle tests are undertaken by the Vehicle Testing Centre, Ballafletcher Road, Tromode, Braddan, near Douglas. An Application for the examination of a motor vehicle is available in PDF format. Click on the link below to download. For enquiries regarding the testing of vehicles contact the Vehicle and Driver Testing Centre.
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