Frequently Asked Questions

Free Car Tax MOT Check is a free UK vehicle checking service. Enter a registration plate and instantly see official DVLA and DVSA data — tax status, MOT status and full MOT history, plus vehicle details like make, colour, fuel type and engine size. No sign-up, no email and no card required.

Yes. The basic check — tax status, MOT status, full MOT history and vehicle details — is completely free with no account or payment needed. We're also building paid report tiers (Plus, Pro, Complete) with deeper checks like outstanding finance, stolen vehicle and write-off records; these are marked as coming soon on our pricing page.

No. You can run a free check on any UK registration without creating an account, entering an email address, or providing any payment details.

Free checks are sourced directly from the official DVLA Vehicle Enquiry API and the DVSA MOT History API — the same government systems used by GOV.UK. We don't estimate or guess any of this data; it's returned live from the official source each time you search.

The free check uses two official UK government data sources: the DVLA (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) for tax status and vehicle details, and the DVSA (Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency) for MOT history. Paid report tiers, when live, will add further data sources for finance, stolen and write-off checks.

Tax status and due date, MOT status and expiry date, full MOT test history with advisories and defects, make, colour, fuel type, engine size, CO2 emissions and first registration date.

We cover the vast majority of UK-registered vehicles. Very recently registered vehicles may not have complete data yet, and very old vehicles may have limited MOT history (DVSA digital records generally start around 2005).

Enter your registration plate on our homepage or on the free MOT check page. We instantly show your current MOT status (valid or expired), the exact expiry date, and the result of your last test — pulled directly from DVSA.

Enter your registration and we'll show you the current tax status and, if taxed, the exact due date — straight from the DVLA. This is the same information shown on the official GOV.UK vehicle tax checker.

An advisory is something the tester noticed that isn't yet bad enough to fail the test, but is worth monitoring or repairing soon. It doesn't affect whether the car passed, but a pattern of repeated advisories for the same issue is worth investigating before buying.

A minor defect doesn't fail the MOT but should be repaired soon. A major or dangerous defect fails the test immediately and the vehicle must be repaired before it can be driven again (except to a pre-booked repair or MOT re-test).

DVSA's digital MOT records generally start from around 2005. Vehicles registered before digital record-keeping began may have limited or no MOT history available.

Driving without a valid MOT (except directly to a pre-booked MOT test) is illegal, can result in a fine of up to £1,000, and will almost certainly invalidate your insurance.

Driving without tax can result in an automatic penalty (typically £80, reduced if paid promptly) or a court fine of up to £1,000. DVLA uses ANPR cameras to detect untaxed vehicles automatically, even if the car is parked on a public road.

Yes. MOT and tax status lookups by registration plate are public information and don't reveal who owns the vehicle. This is useful when checking a car before you buy it.

SORN stands for Statutory Off Road Notification. It's a formal declaration to the DVLA that a vehicle is off the road and won't be driven or parked on public roads. A SORN vehicle doesn't need to be taxed or insured, but it must be kept off public roads.

Our free tax check will show you if a vehicle's current status is SORN rather than taxed. This is pulled from the same DVLA data used for the standard tax status check.

No — not on public roads. Driving or leaving a SORN vehicle on a public road can result in a fine of up to £2,500. The only exception is driving directly to a pre-booked MOT test.

If you buy a vehicle that's already SORN and don't intend to tax and insure it immediately, you need to either re-declare SORN in your name or tax the vehicle straight away — you can't simply leave it under the previous keeper's SORN.

Tax status, MOT status, full MOT history, and vehicle details (make, colour, fuel, engine, emissions) — all free, permanently, with no catch.

We're building three paid tiers — Plus, Pro and Complete — adding extended vehicle specs, full outstanding finance checks, stolen vehicle checks, write-off/salvage category checks, mileage verification, keeper history and market valuations. These are shown as coming soon on our pricing page and aren't available to purchase yet.

Not yet — our paid tiers are still being finalised. The free check is fully live today; when premium reports launch, pricing and exact features will be confirmed on our pricing page.

We don't have bulk pricing live yet. If you need to check multiple vehicles regularly, get in touch through our contact form and we'll let you know when bulk options are available.

For free checks, we don't ask for your name, email or any personal identifying information — you only enter a registration plate. We may log basic anonymised analytics (like page views) but don't tie searches to a personal identity, because we never collect one for free checks.

Yes. The site is served entirely over HTTPS with SSL/TLS encryption, and we don't ask for or store payment card details for free checks.

Yes, the site is fully responsive and works on any smartphone, tablet or desktop browser.

The registration plate is the only piece of information needed to query the DVLA and DVSA public data APIs — that's how vehicle lookups work in the UK. We don't need any other personal details for a free check.

Our free data is pulled live from the DVLA and DVSA — the official government sources — so it should match what's shown on GOV.UK. If something looks wrong, it's worth double-checking the registration was entered correctly, or checking directly on GOV.UK's own vehicle checker. If you spot a genuine discrepancy, let us know through our contact form.

Use our contact form — we aim to respond as quickly as we can.