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Reports and Records - Unofficial Guide to the DVLA VIN Check

For helpful and convenient driving licence and vehicle advice:

Telephone : 0904 194 0305

Calls cost £1.50 per minute plus network extras


Advice provided is available free of charge from DVLA

Advice you can trust, when you need it
We provide helpful and convenient advice regarding United Kingdom driving licence, vehicles, MOT, SORN and tax disc including advice on the following:

  • Change of address of UK driving licence
  • Renewals of UK driving licence
  • Lost or stolen of UK driving licence
  • Learner and new driver information
  • Register a vehicle
  • Who to notify when you buy or sell a vehicle
  • Making changes to your registration
  • Taxing your vehicle
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  • SORN a vehicle
  • Locations and Hours

Helping you make the right choice
Please ensure that you are fully versed with the website Terms of Use and Disclaimer before using the DVLA Guide Information service. Calls cost £1.50 per minute when called from a BT landline. Calls from mobiles and other networks may cost more. Network extras may apply. Please ensure that you have the permission of the bill payer.

If you need to apply for, renew or replace a licence, or have any other vehicle enquiry, you may also contact Drivers' Customer Services, Correspondence Team, DVLA, SA6 7JL or the Vehicle Customer Services, DVLA, SA99 1AR. You also may be able to use the vehicle and licensing services at a Post Office®.

Getting the vehicle history report for your car isn“t rocket science, but there“s a definite technique to doing it correctly. To start with, you need the vehicle VIN number which can be found in several locations throughout the car. By law the VIN number must be prominently displayed in the driver“s side door well, the dashboard, on the engine block and on any paperwork that identifies the car and its owner.





VIN Check - Is it Stolen?

Every year hundreds of thousands of vehicles are stolen and many find their way back into the market place. Unscrupulous sellers take the risk that most potential buyers do not do any checks, they just get carried away by a shiny car/van at a “bargain” price. If you buy a stolen car/van you will lose the car/van and your money.

Our database currently holds more than 8 million finance records for car/vans bought on HP or other finance agreements. Many people do not realise that they must pay for the vehicle in full before they can sell it, and others deliberately try to offload their debts. Either way the car/van will be repossessed by the finance company if you obtain it before the finance agreement is cleared, and you will lose your money.

Every year around 500,000 vehicles are written-off by insurance companies. Many written-off vehicles are repaired and are returned to the road, but would you want to buy one? While some have only cosmetic damage which may be remedied by a re-spray or a new panel, others sustain major damage and require skilled repairs. A VIN check will identify a written-off vehicles and will enable you make a knowledgeable decision to accept or reject the car/van.