In this age of data protection, there are very strict guidelines regarding personal privacy here in the UK. However, there are still some circumstances in which it’s possible to find out who a specific number plate belongs to.
If you’ve seen a car parked on your land or left abandoned and wondered “whose number plate is this?”, read on for some steps you might be able to take to find out.
Looking up a number plate with the DVLA
There is a wealth of information you can discover about a vehicle just by glancing at it, including how old it is. This is because modern UK plates include an age indicator. You can find out even more about a car by looking up its registration online with the DVLA. You can discover if a car is taxed, its current tax rate and when it expires. You can find the exact date it was first registered and when its MOT is valid until. If the car the plate belongs to has Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) status, you’ll see this along with when its last V5 registration was issued.
You can unearth plenty of information about the car itself too. The vehicle’s weight will be listed as well as its engine size. You can see the kind of fuel it requires and further information about its CO2 emission levels. What you won’t find immediately listed is who the vehicle’s registered keeper is.
How to find a car owner by its number plate
In some cases, it’s possible to discover the owner of a vehicle or its previous owner through the DVLA, but you must have what the organisations refers to as “reasonable cause”. Such causes are listed on the government website and include discovering a driver responsible for causing an accident and tracking down the keeper of a car that’s been abandoned. If a car has been parked on private land illegally, you can also trace the registered keeper via a request.
If you’re employed by an organisation that issues parking tickets or you hand out charge notices for acts of trespass, you’ll be able to trace the owner of a plate. If your firm traces individuals suspected of committing insurance fraud, you’ll also be able to access this information – and if you are tracing a motorist who has driven off without appropriate payment for services or goods, the DVLA can also help. In this last scenario, you can also contact the police directly for information when you report the theft.
How to find an address by using a licence plate number
Since they were first introduced in the early 20th century when the Motor Car Act was officially passed, vehicle registrations have included information about the area a car was first registered. While the system for plates has changed over the years, you can still discover this information if you know what to look for.
While privacy laws in the UK don’t allow you to find someone’s address from their plate number, here at New Reg, you can use our helpful tables and search function to discover the specific region where a vehicle was first registered.
How to buy a specific number plate
If you’ve seen a number plate you wish to buy on a car, you might want to approach its owner to find out if they’re willing to sell. The DVLA won’t provide you with this personal information in this instance. With a massive selection of personalised registrations available here at New Reg, you can select from private plates where the owners have already decided to sell. Using our filtering options and helpful suggestions, there’s a good chance you’ll find a character combination close to the one you’ve seen.
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