# Who Owns This Car? Finding a Vehicle's Owner in the UK

> Can you find out who owns a car from its number plate? What a reg check shows, how many owners it has had, and how to ask the DVLA for keeper details.

What you can check by number plate, why owner names are private, and the legal ways to get a keeper's details from the DVLA.

## Can you find out who owns a car from its number plate?

Not from a public website. In the UK the name and address of a vehicle's registered keeper are personal data, held by the DVLA, and no free online check, including this one, will show them. Any site that claims to give you the owner's name from a number plate alone is not telling the truth.

What you can see, by registration, is the vehicle's own history: how many people have owned it, when it last changed hands and when its log book was issued. And there are proper routes to the keeper's details when you have a good reason.

## What a check by registration shows

- **Free:** the make, model and colour, MOT history and mileage, tax status, and the date the last V5C log book was issued. A recent log book date often means a new keeper.
- **Full report:** the number of previous keepers and the date of each keeper change, number plate and colour changes, plus [outstanding finance](https://carcheckup.co.uk/outstanding-finance-check), [write-off](https://carcheckup.co.uk/written-off-vehicle-check) and [stolen](https://carcheckup.co.uk/stolen-car-check) records. See our [previous owners check](https://carcheckup.co.uk/dvla-previous-owners).

Keeper names and addresses are never shown, in the free check or the full report.

## How to get the keeper's details legally

**Ask the DVLA.** You can ask the DVLA for the registered keeper's name and address with form V888, if you have "reasonable cause". Examples the DVLA accepts include:

- the vehicle was involved in an accident or incident with you;
- it is parked on your private land, or abandoned there;
- you need to contact the keeper about a parking charge on private land (parking companies use this route).

Curiosity, or wanting to contact the seller of a car you saw for sale, is not reasonable cause.

**After an accident.** Drivers involved in an accident must stop and give their name, address and the vehicle owner's details. If the other driver drove off, report it to the police within 24 hours. To find the other vehicle's insurer, use askMID's free service for people involved in an accident; see our [car insurance check](https://carcheckup.co.uk/ask-mids) guide.

**A vehicle abandoned on the street.** Report it to the local council, which can trace the keeper and remove it.

## Buying a car: check the seller is the keeper

When you buy a used car, ask to see the V5C log book and photo ID. The name and address on the V5C should match the seller and the place you view the car. The V5C also shows how many former keepers the car has had.

The registered keeper is not always the legal owner. A car on finance belongs to the finance company until the agreement is paid off, and if you buy it, the lender can take it back. An [outstanding finance check](https://carcheckup.co.uk/outstanding-finance-check) shows whether money is still owed.

## Who owns this car: FAQs

**Can I find out who owns a car for free?** No. Only the DVLA can release a keeper's details, through form V888 and only with reasonable cause. Free checks show the vehicle's history, not its owner.

**Can I see how many owners a car has had?** Yes. The V5C shows the number of former keepers, and the full report lists each keeper change by date.

**Can the police tell me who owns a car?** The police will not give out keeper details on request, but they will act if the car was involved in a crime, a hit and run or an accident where the driver failed to stop.

**Is the registered keeper the owner?** Not always. The keeper is the person who keeps and uses the car. A finance company or a lease company may be the legal owner.

**Why was a new V5C issued recently?** Usually because of a new keeper, but also a change of address, plate or colour, or a replacement for a lost log book. The free check shows the date; the full report shows which it was.

Run the check: enter a UK registration or VIN at https://carcheckup.co.uk/who-owns-this-car (free: DVLA details, MOT history and mileage readings; finance, write-off, stolen, keeper records and the mileage anomaly check are in the full report). HTML page: https://carcheckup.co.uk/who-owns-this-car