What the free check cannot tell you
Our free check covers MOT, tax and mileage from official DVLA and DVSA records. It is a good start, but the biggest risks in buying a used car are not in those records. A car can have a spotless MOT history and still belong to a finance company, have been written off by an insurer or be recorded as stolen.
The full history check answers those questions. Our licensed data supplier draws on finance company records, the insurance industry's write-off register and police stolen vehicle records, and the report puts the results alongside the free data in one place.
What is in the report
Finance: if a lender is still owed money, you see the lender, the agreement type, start date, term and agreement reference, and the lender's phone number. Write-off: the category, date and type of loss. Stolen, scrapped and high-risk: whether the police record shows the car as stolen, whether a certificate of destruction has been issued, and whether a company or the police has registered an interest.
History: the number of previous keepers and when the car changed hands, every plate change with dates, colour changes, and imported or exported markers. Identity: the last five characters of the VIN and the engine number, to match against the car and the logbook. You also get mileage from every recorded source, a valuation and the specification, and a Vettly Score that uses every check.
Prices and how it works
One check costs £4.49, while other well-known history checks cost up to £19.99. Three cost £10.99 (£3.66 each) and ten cost £29.99 (£3.00 each). Unused checks stay valid for 24 months and work on any car, so a pack makes sense when you are comparing a shortlist. See pricing for the details.
The report is ready in seconds. We email it to you, save it in your account and give you a link you can share or print. Have a look at the sample report to see how it is laid out. If you buy a pack, the checks you have not used sit in your account until you need them.
What it does not cover
We check records, not the car itself. The report is not a physical inspection or a test drive, it does not include service history held by garages or the manufacturer, and it is not insurance or a warranty. Use it alongside a careful viewing: our used car buying checklist takes you through the rest.
If the report finds a problem, each item tells you what to do next, from asking the seller to settle finance to walking away from a stolen car. Our guides to outstanding finance and write-off categories explain two of the findings in more depth.