The Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation’s (IAAF) proposal to turn the current maximum MOT fee cap into a legally mandated floor has triggered widespread debate across the UK workshop sector.

While many garage owners and technicians argue that the fee needs to be substantially higher to cover rising overheads, IAAF Chief Executive Mark Field has stepped forward to clarify why a uniform £54.85 minimum is the single most strategic tool for lobbying the government and protecting workshops.

Speaking exclusively to Garage Matters, Mark acknowledged the trade’s frustration but warned against a fractured industry message.

“I agree with all the garages who are posting that the fee should be a lot higher than £54.85,” Mark said. “It should. And we’re not going to get there, unfortunately, just by shouting out random numbers on what we think it should be. But if you work with the IAAF and if we can go to the government with a consistent message, then we’ll start to move the dial to where we want it to be. And that starting point for us as a federation, we believe, is £54.85.”

MOT fee debate: Is a £54.85 minimum fee enough?

To highlight the unique economic stagnation facing testing stations, Mark draws comparisons to other public charges and documents that have repeatedly seen regular statutory price increases.

“It’s important because if you look over the last 16 years, the price of traveling internationally using a passport has gone up, the price of using a TV, such as a TV license, has gone up,” said Mark. “The MOT is the only thing that hasn’t gone up in that time.”

A central pillar of the federation’s strategy is securing a floor price without disrupting the broader regulatory landscape.

Mark added that pushing for an entirely new, inflated fee immediately could invite unwanted official scrutiny over when and how often vehicles are tested.

Related: Stagnant MOT fee threatening national testing capacity, warns IGA

“Whilst it should be a lot higher than what we’re asking it for, we have to be sensible in what we’re trying to do and trying to move the government to looking at a minimum fee because what we don’t want to do is we don’t want to jeopardise the current testing frequency which ensures that vehicles are the safest on UK roads,” he said. “It’s important that we start with the minimum being £54.85.”

By choosing the current £54.85 maximum limit as the new statutory minimum, the IAAF is intentionally bypassing political roadblocks. Because the consumer cannot legally be charged more than the current cap anyway, workshops are not asking lawmakers to place any additional financial burdens on motorists.

Instead, the baseline price floor targets the widespread practice of steep discounting and loss-leading strategies that devalue workshop labor. Mark stressed that this approach establishes a unified baseline from which to articulate the escalating scale of investments workshops must regularly fund.

“We’re not asking the government to impose any additional costs on the consumer because the maximum they can charge is that fee,” he said. “But what it is, it’s a starting point for us to lobby the government and to raise the issue that the amount of investment that garages have to make now is considerable to carry out MOT testing.”