Missing an MOT is a criminal offence. Driving without valid road tax costs up to £1,000. An lapsed car insurance could leave you personally liable for thousands in damages.
These aren't things you want to manage from memory. SimpliHome tracks every vehicle in your household with automatic renewal reminders and direct access to DVLA MOT data — so staying legal and covered requires zero effort.
#Adding a Vehicle
Go to Cars in the main navigation.
To add a vehicle:
- Click Add Vehicle
- Enter the registration number (number plate)
- Click Look Up
SimpliHome queries the DVLA database automatically. Within seconds, it retrieves:
- Make, model, and year
- Current MOT status and expiry date
- Full MOT history (pass/fail records, mileage at each test)
- SORN status if applicable
- Review the retrieved details and confirm
- Add a nickname if you want (e.g., "Tom's Car", "The Van")
- Click Save
Your vehicle is now registered and its MOT data is in SimpliHome.
#What SimpliHome Tracks Per Vehicle
Beyond the automatically retrieved MOT data, you can record:
#MOT
- Current MOT expiry date (auto-populated from DVLA)
- MOT history with results and mileage (auto-populated)
- Preferred MOT garage
#Road Tax (Vehicle Excise Duty)
- Renewal date
- Annual cost
#Car Insurance
- Provider
- Policy number
- Renewal date
- Annual premium
#Breakdown Cover
- Provider (AA, RAC, Green Flag, etc.)
- Policy number
- Renewal date
- Cover level (roadside only, national recovery, etc.)
#Warranty
- Provider
- Start and end date
- What's covered
#Parking Permit
- Permit number
- Zone
- Expiry date
#Documents
- Upload MOT certificates, insurance documents, V5C logbook, service history
#MOT Tracking in Detail
The MOT section is the most powerful part of vehicle tracking in SimpliHome.
#Automatic DVLA Lookup
When you add a vehicle, SimpliHome fetches its complete MOT history from the DVLA API. This includes:
- Date and result of every MOT test
- Mileage recorded at each test
- Failure reasons and advisories
- Current MOT expiry date
This history is useful for understanding a vehicle's condition over time — a car with several failures and a rising mileage between tests tells a different story to one with clean tests.
#Refreshing MOT Data
After an MOT test, refresh the data in SimpliHome:
- Open the vehicle record
- Click Refresh MOT Data
- SimpliHome re-queries the DVLA and updates the record
The new MOT expiry date, result, and any advisories will appear in the history.
#MOT Renewal Reminders
SimpliHome sends email reminders before your MOT is due to expire. You'll typically get a warning:
- 1 month before — time to book
- 1 week before — time to book urgently if you haven't
- On the day — final reminder
Configure reminder timing in Settings → Notifications.
#Road Tax Reminders
Enter your road tax renewal date and SimpliHome will remind you before it expires. In the UK, road tax auto-renews via direct debit by default, but:
- If you've opted out of auto-renewal, you need to actively renew
- Tax reminders ensure you don't forget to check
- A vehicle that's SORN'd when it shouldn't be risks a penalty notice
#Insurance Tracking
Vehicle insurance in SimpliHome is separate from the general Insurance section (which handles home and life insurance). It lives within the vehicle record itself.
To add insurance to a vehicle:
- Open the vehicle record
- Scroll to the Insurance section
- Click Add Insurance
- Enter the provider, policy number, renewal date, and annual cost
Why track vehicle insurance separately?
Because it's linked directly to the car. If you sell the car, the insurance tracking goes with it. If you have three cars with three insurers, each car's coverage is visible from its own record.
#Breakdown Cover
Breakdown cover is often forgotten about until you need it — and when you need it, finding the policy number while stranded on the hard shoulder is stressful.
SimpliHome keeps:
- Provider details and renewal date
- Policy or membership number
- Cover level (roadside, national recovery, European cover, etc.)
Add breakdown cover to each vehicle so the information is always accessible from your phone.
#Multiple Vehicles
SimpliHome supports as many vehicles as your Circle has. Each vehicle is tracked independently, so you can see:
- The household's combined renewal schedule
- Which car needs attention next
- A vehicle that's due for multiple renewals at once
The dashboard shows the nearest upcoming vehicle renewal so you always know what's coming.
#Uploading Vehicle Documents
Store important documents against each vehicle:
- MOT certificate
- V5C registration document
- Insurance certificate or schedule
- Service history records
- Finance agreement
To upload a document:
- Open the vehicle record
- Click the Documents tab
- Click Upload
- Select the file
Documents are stored securely and accessible from any device — useful when you need them at the garage or during a police stop.
#What Happens When You Sell a Vehicle
When a vehicle leaves the household:
- Open the vehicle record
- Click Delete or Archive
Confirm the removal. The vehicle and all its records are removed from your active vehicles. This keeps your dashboard and renewal alerts relevant to vehicles you actually own.
#Tips for Getting the Most from Vehicle Tracking
Add all vehicles immediately. The registration lookup takes 10 seconds. Add every car now and you immediately have an accurate MOT status for each one.
Set the right renewal dates. MOT dates come from the DVLA automatically, but road tax, insurance, and breakdown cover need to be entered manually. Block out 20 minutes to add all the renewal dates when you first register a vehicle.
Upload the insurance certificate. Having the insurance document accessible on your phone means you can show proof of cover if ever asked — no digging through the glove box.
Check advisories after each MOT. If an MOT advisory is issued (something that doesn't fail the car but needs attention soon), note it in the SimpliHome record. That way it's not forgotten by the next MOT.