Tips and Hacks

Coming round once a year it can be easy to forget the date of your MOT, and driving around without one is a no-no. Fire up the internet, and visit the DVLA MOT Reminder website. Enter your details, complete the registration process, and peace of mind is waiting for you (or a rapid test booking…)

Buying a car is a big financial commitment, so avoiding stolen cars is high up most people’s priorities. There’s no guaranteed way to know for sure that a car is legit, but there are some practical steps you can take to stack the dice more in your favour. The DVLA car checks website guides you through a series of steps designed to give you greater confidence that you’re parting with cash for something that won’t have the police at your door.

No problem – and you can check any car in the UK! Just head over to the Ask MID website, enter the reg and you’ll see whether the car is insured or not. It’s worth noting that it can take a few days for details of new policies and changes to policies to appear on MID.

If you’re not the most organised person in the world, and want to avoid a potential fine, the lovely people at the DVLA have a free service. Mosey on over to the DVLA vehicle checker website, enter the reg, confirm the car make and colour, and it’s right there in front of you.

Although it was over a year ago, E10 petrol changed the game for unleaded petrol, and you need to ensure you fill up any car you buy with the right fuel. Head over to the DVLA E10 petrol checker website, select the car make, and a list of models and their compatibility with E10 petrol will be shown. Nice.

If you like the past, and would like to undertake some car related genealogy, the good people at the DVLA have a free service that lets you see the MOT history for a car. Saunter over to the DVLA MOT history website (which is free), enter the reg, confirm the car make and colour, and Bob’s your uncle. To get all of the information you’ll need to verify your entitlement to see that data by entering some more info.

The CO2 emissions for a car have a big impact, including how much road tax you pay, and the impact that driving will have on the environment. If you want to find out the CO2 emissions for a car, the DVLA vehicle checker website provides this info for free. Enter the reg, confirm the car make and colour, and it’s right there on the screen.

If you no longer need to tax your car, you can apply for a refund on your vehicle tax – otherwise known as Vehicle Excise Duty. Just visit the DVLA Vehicle Tax Refund website and follow the instructions.

The car group of a car is often used by car insurance providers when they are calculating the cost of providing cover. A car group is one way of putting the thousands of makes and models of cars into “buckets” of risk – being a reflection of their performance, value, desirability of theft, cost of repair, and more besides.

If you want to find out whether a car is taxed or not, the DVLA vehicle checker website has a free service. Simply enter the reg, confirm the car make and colour, and there you go.

Registering a car as off-road from an insurance and legal point of view can make financial sense in certain circumstances. The DVLA Make a SORN website is a free service. Simply enter the reg, confirm the car make and colour, and you’re on your way.

Ghost brokers operate in the shadows of car insurance in the UK, often targeting inexperienced drivers, or those with a poor driving history. Selling fake certificates they rip people off, leaving them uninsured and at risk of fines. Our in-depth article on How to Spot Ghost Brokers shines a light on this dark practice.

Vehicle tax and SORN (Statutory Off-Road Notification) cannot be passed on when a vehicle changes hands. This applies even if money isn’t exchanged for the vehicle – for example between family members.