The full story of a used car — not just the shiny bits.
A full car history check reveals everything that's happened to a UK car — MOT passes and failures, mileage readings over time, number of previous keepers, whether it's been reported stolen, whether there's outstanding finance, and whether it's been written off by an insurer. SortedCheck's free tier covers MOT and the DVLA basics. Our paid tiers add stolen, finance and write-off data, backed by a £10,000–£30,000 data guarantee.
Free tier covers MOT, DVLA and ULEZ — upgrade for stolen, finance and write-off. Free PDF report by email.
The free DVLA & MOT check above is informational only — no data-accuracy guarantee. Upgrade for stolen, finance, write-off and mileage checks, backed by a £10,000–£30,000 guarantee.
Enter a registration above to start. All paid checks include a professional branded PDF report emailed to you.
"History" on a UK car covers far more than how many people have owned it. It is a chain of records held by separate bodies — DVLA, DVSA, finance houses, the insurance industry, and the police — that together describe the legal, mechanical and commercial life of the vehicle. A history check brings as much of that record into one place as the law allows.
Every change of registered keeper is recorded by DVLA on the V5C registration certificate. A vehicle with five keepers in seven years is not necessarily a problem — fleet, lease and ex-rental cars often pass between business and private keepers — but it can be a sign that successive owners have moved the car on quickly. Note that "registered keeper" is not the same as "owner": a vehicle financed on hire purchase has the lender as the legal owner until the final payment is made, even though the V5C will show the customer as the keeper.
Cherished or personalised plate transfers are recorded by DVLA, as are colour changes when the keeper reports a respray. A car that has changed colour or carried multiple registration marks during its life is not automatically suspect, but unexplained changes are worth asking the seller about — particularly if the V5C does not show the change.
Hire purchase, PCP and conditional-sale agreements are registered against the vehicle on a commercial finance database. If finance is outstanding when you buy, the lender retains legal title and can repossess the car even after you have paid the seller. The Hire Purchase Act 1964 (Part III) gives a private purchaser in good faith and without notice some protection, but trade buyers and informed buyers cannot rely on it. Always confirm there is no outstanding finance before paying. SortedCheck's Protected paid tiers query the same finance database that the major brands use.
When an insurer declares a vehicle a total loss it is logged on the Motor Insurance Anti-Fraud and Theft Register (MIAFTR), run by the Association of British Insurers. Since October 2017 the categories are:
A "previously notified salvage" marker on the V5C tells you the vehicle has been written off at some point — but the marker alone does not say which category. A paid history check returns the category and date.
The Police National Computer (PNC) is fed by police forces when a vehicle is reported stolen. Buying a car that turns out to be on the PNC means you can lose the vehicle and the money — title cannot pass from a thief. Stolen markers are part of the paid Protected tiers; the free tier does not query the PNC.
DVSA records the odometer reading at every MOT test. The history will show whether the mileage has accumulated normally, dropped between tests (a clear flag for clocking), or barely moved on a car the seller is describing as "daily-driven". Odometer manipulation is an offence under the Fraud Act 2006 and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
The free check covers DVLA registration data and DVSA MOT history. A paid Protected check adds outstanding finance, insurance write-off category, stolen-vehicle markers, salvage-auction records, plate and colour change history, keeper count and the Experian-backed data-accuracy guarantee.
There is no fixed answer. A 12-year-old car with five keepers is unremarkable. A two-year-old car with four keepers should make you ask why each owner sold so quickly — it can indicate a known fault the previous keepers tried to move on rather than fix.
No. If finance turns out to be outstanding the lender can repossess the car from you. The Hire Purchase Act 1964 protects some private buyers, but the protection is conditional and trade buyers do not benefit from it. A paid finance check is the only way to verify.
Keeper details are personal data protected under the UK GDPR and the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002. They are not in the free DVLA Vehicle Enquiry Service. The aggregate count of keepers is available from commercial datasets and is included in the Protected paid tiers.
MOT history, mileage history and anomaly detection, keeper-change dates, plate and colour changes, stolen check, outstanding finance check, and insurance write-off category (A/B/S/N) — all available in our paid tiers.
It covers condition (MOT, mileage, emissions) and tax/MOT legality — great for a first look. It does NOT cover title or fraud risks: stolen, finance, or write-off. For those, upgrade to a paid tier.
Stolen-vehicle register (PNC via Experian), outstanding finance register, write-off category, salvage auction records, and a data-accuracy guarantee of up to £30,000 if anything we report turns out to be wrong.
Gov.uk does MOT only. A full history check bundles MOT + DVLA + stolen + finance + write-off + fraud analysis into one view, with a financial guarantee on the data. Buying a stolen or finance-encumbered car can cost you the whole purchase price — the £9.99 tier is cheap insurance.
Standard tier: £10,000. Protected £20K: £20,000. Protected £30K: £30,000. If a record we miss (e.g. undisclosed finance) causes you a loss, we refund up to that amount under the guarantee terms.