Number plate check

A number plate check tells you which car a registration belongs to and what the official records say about it. It's the first thing to do when you see a car for sale: put the plate in and make sure the details match the car in the advert.

What a number plate check shows

For free, you'll see the make, model, colour, engine size, fuel type and first registration date recorded against the plate, plus tax status, MOT history and every recorded mileage. The Standard check (£4.99) goes further and shows every registration the car has ever carried, when each one changed, and any colour changes, along with the write-off check. The Full check (£8.99) adds finance and stolen checks.

Why the plate history matters

Private plates are hugely popular and completely legal. People put them on, take them off when they sell, and move them between cars. So a car with a few registrations in its past is normal.

The reason to check is that a plate change is also the simplest way to put distance between a car and its history. A car that was written off, or that someone would rather you didn't look up, can be harder to trace once it's on a new plate. The Standard and Full checks link all of a car's registrations together, so its history follows it whatever it's wearing today.

Check the plate belongs to the car

A number plate check only tells you about the car registered to that plate. If the plates have been swapped or copied, you'll be reading another car's history. That's how cloning works: a stolen car is given the plates of a similar legal car, and a quick online check comes back clean.

So when you see the car:

• Check the make, model, colour and engine size match what the plate check says.
• Find the VIN on the car (usually at the base of the windscreen and on a door pillar) and make sure it matches the V5C logbook exactly.
• Make sure the plates look right: correct font, correct spacing, and made by a registered supplier, usually named at the bottom of the plate.

Our guides on VIN numbers and spotting a cloned car go into more detail.

How to tell a car's age from its number plate

Current UK plates have two letters, two numbers, then three letters, such as AB19 CDE. The two numbers are the age identifier. In March it's the year (19 means March to August 2019). In September it's the year plus 50 (69 means September 2019 to February 2020). A private plate can make a car look older, but never newer, so the free check's first registration date is the reliable answer. Our guide on how to read a UK number plate explains the whole system.

Can you find the owner from a number plate?

No, and no legitimate number plate check will show you. Keeper names and addresses are protected by the DVLA and only released in limited cases, such as to the police or to a company with reasonable cause, like a car park operator. What you can see is everything about the car itself, which is what you need when you're buying.