Vehicle checks
Previous owners check
See how many keepers a car has had before you become the next. The count is one of the checks in the CAR Confidence Score report. You run the free check first: it confirms the registration belongs to the car you mean.
How many owners has a car had?
The DVLA records each registered keeper of a car and prints the number of previous keepers on its V5C logbook. The CAR Confidence Score report shows that count before you travel. Nobody can give you the names. Keeper details are personal data that only the DVLA can release, for a lawful reason.
Previous owners or previous keepers: what the number counts
The DVLA registers keepers, the people responsible for using and taxing a vehicle. A keeper is usually the owner but doesn’t have to be. A leased car is kept by the driver and owned by the leasing company.
So a previous owners check is a count of previous keepers. Each time a car is sold and registered to someone new, the number goes up by one.
How to read the number of keepers
- Set the count against the car’s age. Several keepers in a short time is worth a question, because a car that keeps being passed on sometimes has a fault that keeps coming back.
- Look at when the logbook was last issued. A very recent date means the current keeper hasn’t had the car long.
- Ask how long the seller has had the car and why it is for sale. The answer should fit the record.
- At the viewing, find the number of previous keepers on the V5C and check it against the report.
Can you find out who owned a car?
Not from a car check, ours included. The law treats a keeper’s name and address as personal data.
The DVLA will give out a keeper’s details only to someone with what it calls reasonable cause. Its examples include finding out who was responsible for an accident and tracing the keeper of an abandoned vehicle. You apply to the DVLA by post and it charges a fee.
Once you are the keeper yourself, you can ask the DVLA about your own vehicle’s past.
GOV.UK: Request information about a vehicle or its registered keeper from DVLA
What a previous owners check can’t tell you
It doesn’t say how any keeper drove or looked after the car. Read it alongside the MOT history, which shows the mileage and the defects found each year, whoever had the car at the time.
FAQ
Questions people ask
Is the previous owners check free?
The free check confirms the car and shows its latest V5C issue date. The number of previous keepers is in the CAR Confidence Score report, with the finance, stolen and write-off checks.
Can I get the names of previous owners?
No. Car checks never show names or addresses. They sit with the DVLA, which gives them out only through its own postal request.
Is one owner from new better?
Often. But one keeper can neglect a car and four can look after it, so read the MOT history as well.
Where is the number of keepers on a V5C?
The V5C logbook shows the number of previous keepers along with the make and the VIN. Ask to see the logbook at the viewing and compare it with the report.
Is the registered keeper the legal owner?
Not always. The keeper is the person responsible for the vehicle. A car on finance or a lease can belong to the lender while someone else is its registered keeper.
Guides
More checks before you buy
Free car check
Check it before you go and see it
DVLA details, tax and MOT status, mileage and the full MOT history, free for any UK registration.