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\u2019s possible to find out who a specific number plate belongs to.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve seen a car parked on your land or left abandoned and wondered \u201cwhose number plate is this?\u201d, read on for some steps you might be able to take to find out.<\/p>\n
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\u2019ll see this along with when its last V5 registration was issued.<\/p>\n
You can unearth plenty of information about the car itself too. The vehicle\u2019s 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\u2019t find immediately listed is who the vehicle\u2019s registered keeper is.<\/p>\n
In some cases, it\u2019s 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 \u201creasonable cause\u201d. 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\u2019s been abandoned. If a car has been parked on private land illegally, you can also trace the registered keeper via a request.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re employed by an organisation that issues parking tickets or you hand out charge notices for acts of trespass, you\u2019ll be able to trace the owner of a plate. If your firm traces individuals suspected of committing insurance fraud, you\u2019ll 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n