How a vehicle owner trace works

Stage 1: Your request

You complete the request form with your email address, first name, last name, the vehicle registration number and your reason for the search. The reason is a required field. A request without a clear reason cannot be considered.

Please describe what has happened in your own words. Useful detail includes the date and place of the incident, what was damaged or what is owed, and who else has been told, for example the police, an insurer or a solicitor.

Stage 3: Screening for a lawful purpose

Our team of private investigators treats the keeper's details as confidential personal data under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Before any trace is carried out, we assess three things.

1. Purpose. Is there a documented, lawful reason to identify the keeper, such as a reasonable cause of the kind the DVLA recognises?
2. Necessity. Is identifying the registered keeper necessary to achieve that purpose, or can it be achieved another way, for example through the police, an insurer or the local council?
3. Requester. Do we know who you are and are you the right person to receive the information?

We may ask for evidence. Examples include a police reference number, an insurance claim number, photographs of damage, a repair estimate, a letter from a solicitor, a court reference or a copy of an agreement. If you are instructing us on behalf of another person, we will need their written authority.

We decline requests that do not pass this stage. This includes requests where the purpose appears to be personal, such as tracing a former partner or someone who does not want to be found. Our acceptable use and lawful purpose policy sets out the criteria.

Stage 5: The trace

We carry out the trace using the sources appropriate to the case. We take into account the date of the incident, because the keeper on that date may not be the current keeper.

Stage 7: Release to the verified requester

Results are sent only to you, the verified requester, in writing. The report states what has been released, the basis on which it has been released and the conditions on its use. In summary:

• the information may be used only for the purpose you gave us;
• it must not be passed to anyone who does not need it for that purpose;
• it must not be used to contact the person in a way that amounts to harassment, or to publish their details;

Our tracing work is limited to the registered keeper. We release only the information needed for your stated purpose. We do not provide a person's home address simply because it was requested.

Examples

A request we can accept. "My car was damaged in a supermarket car park on 12 May. A witness took the registration. I have a repair estimate and the police reference." The purpose is a damage claim, the evidence is specific and identifying the keeper is necessary.

A request we will query. "A van has been outside my house for weeks." We would ask whether it is abandoned, who has an interest in the land and what steps have been taken, including a report to the council.

A request we will decline. "I need to find the owner of a car I saw outside my ex's address." The purpose is personal and may put someone at risk. We would not proceed, and we would not discuss the reasons at length.