14/03/2025
Regulation 27(1)(e) of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002 permits the disclosure of vehicle keeper information to those who can demonstrate a reasonable cause for needing it. Each request is looked at on a case-by-case basis and a decision is made based on the information provided by the person making the request.
The DVLA require a completed application before they can assess any request.
They may provide details of the registered keeper of the vehicle on a date of event. This may not match the details of the insured (for example). However, this does not mean they were not the legal owner of the vehicle.
The DVLA provide the following general advice:
- We record the registered keeper of a vehicle for tax collection and law enforcement purposes.
- We do not record the owner of a vehicle
- We cannot become involved in disputes about vehicle ownership.
Taxation Cancellation
Vehicle tax (including any Direct Debit (DD) mandate) is cancelled when we receive notification of an ‘event’. An event is when a vehicle has been
- sold or transferred to another party,
- taken off-road,
- scrapped or
- exported.
When a vehicle is sold or transferred to a new keeper, they are responsible for taxing it immediately, or for making a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN).
A vehicle can also become untaxed if a DD mandate in place for the tax is cancelled by the bank or the mandate holder. In such cases, as vehicle tax is payable for full calendar months, the tax would be valid until the last day of the last month that was paid.
The tax ending on any other day within the month would usually indicate a change of keeper or a sale to trade.
The DD mandate holder is not necessarily the registered keeper of the vehicle as we will accept payment of tax from a third party on behalf of the registered keeper. However, the registered keeper is always responsible for ensuring a vehicle is kept within the law.
A DD can continue to run after a vehicle has been sold or transferred to a new keeper, but this does not mean the vehicle is currently taxed. This is because we will only cancel the tax if we receive a relevant notification from the registered keeper linked to the tax. If a relevant notification is not received and the mandate is not otherwise cancelled, payments will continue to be taken.
Vehicle tax is not transferrable, any payments made cannot be passed to a new keeper. Therefore, evidence of DD payments leaving a bank account cannot necessarily be relied upon as confirmation a vehicle was taxed.
Example:
The tax for the vehicle, registration number ending ODC ended on 25 November 2022. As shown on gov.uk, the vehicle has not been taxed since this date and was therefore not taxed on the date of event.
The information provided to you confirms that the person you have confirmed as the insured was not the registered keeper of the vehicle concerned on 2 December 2022, and the vehicle was not taxed on this date.
If they dispute the keeper or tax details we hold, they will need to contact us directly and we will advise them accordingly.
The Register of Keepers
The aim of the vehicle register is to provide an accurate and up to date record of all vehicles, including the names and addresses of their keepers.
However, in maintaining the register we depend heavily on information provided by individuals and the motor trade being accurate and up to date.
We are responsible for holding and maintaining over 46 million vehicle records and we receive tens of thousands of items of mail daily in addition to only online enquiries and transactions.
Due to the size and nature of our operation, we largely accept information supplied to us in good faith. However, we do carry out various manual and automated security checks. If we have reason to doubt the validity of an application, I can assure you we have the appropriate processes in place.
Legislation allows us to take enforcement action against untaxed vehicles. We operate a comprehensive package of measures to tackle vehicle tax evasion. These range from reminder letters and fixed penalties, through to court prosecutions and the wheel clamping/removal of untaxed vehicles. Working with the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB), we can also take enforcement action against uninsured vehicles under Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE).
However, while such enforcement action is within our remit, suspected fraud is a broad subject that covers many scenarios spanning vehicle details, taxing and keepership. Ultimately it usually falls under a criminal or civil matter and any actions taken depend on the nature of the case.
As the vehicle record holders, we assist the police, and we act on information given to us by the police or on the instructions of a court order to update our records accordingly.
Suspect Fraud
If you suspect fraud in terms of the insurance claim you are considering, you should report your concerns to the police.
The police are defined in the Data Protection Act (2018) as a ‘competent authority’, they have legal power to process personal data for law enforcement purposes. Information is released from our records to the police under Regulation 27(1)(b) of the Road Vehicles (Registration and Licensing) Regulations 2002. The police do not need to demonstrate reasonable cause to receive information from us for law enforcement purposes, and certain information is accessible to them via the Police National Computer (PNC). The police have legal powers to conduct criminal investigations and to take the appropriate action.
We do not have the same legal powers as the police, but we do assist them with their enquiries.
If you do not wish to report the matter to the police for it to be investigated through the criminal justice system, or if the police deem it to be a civil matter, you may wish to seek legal advice. We will not release the additional information unless instructed to do so by a court order.
It is not a matter for the DVLA to decide on the merits of individual disputes or to arbitrate in any civil disputes between motorists and private companies. Ultimately such matters may only be resolved between the parties concerned or in a court of law.
The outcome of any investigation is not disclosed to a third party.
DVLA ref: 0395566-C6Y4P/C107687117
DVLA Complaints Team
