Why a registration lookup shows nothing
This page is for anyone whose registration search, vehicle History tab or public MOT check came back blank or with an error.
What does "No DVSA record found" mean after I search a registration?
When the DVSA has no record of the plate, or cannot be reached, the window "MOT History for (plate)" opens with the warning "No DVSA record found for (plate)", empty Details fields, and "No MOT history for this vehicle." on the History tab. The warning does not say which of the two causes applies. Work through these checks in order:
- Check the plate for typing mistakes, such as
0forOor1forI. - If the vehicle is under three years old, it has had no MOT, so there is nothing to show.
- Close the window, wait a minute and search again, in case the DVSA service was busy.
- Try the same plate on the public checker, which tells you which of "not found" or "service did not respond" applies.
Why does pressing Enter in the search box do nothing?
The search box only offers an MOT history row when the text looks like a UK plate of 2 to 8 characters. A longer string, or one with symbols, is treated as a page search and shows "No matches." unless it matches a page name. Remove spaces or punctuation and try again.
Why is a vehicle's History tab out of date or empty?
The History tab in a vehicle opened from the Vehicles list shows a stored copy. Search the registration in the top bar to fetch the latest from the DVSA.
Why does the public checker say I have made too many lookups?
The public checker allows 10 lookups in 10 minutes and 100 per day for each internet address. Offices behind one shared address share the allowance. Wait ten minutes. Signed-in staff can use the top-bar search instead, which is not subject to this limit.
Why does my vehicle show twice in the Vehicles list?
The list has one row per vehicle per test station. See Viewing the vehicles tested.
Why can't I edit the vehicle's make, model or registration?
Those fields are read-only because they come from the DVSA. Only the photo can be changed.
Reference
| Symptom | Likely cause | Action |
|---|---|---|
| "No DVSA record found for (plate)" | Unknown plate, vehicle under three years, or DVSA unreachable | Check plate, retry, try public checker |
| No MOT history row in search | Text is not a 2 to 8 character UK plate | Remove spaces and symbols |
| "No matches." in the search box | Text is neither a plate nor a page name | Retype |
| Stale History tab in vehicle window | Stored copy | Search the registration |
| "You have made a lot of lookups..." | Public checker rate limit | Wait about ten minutes |
| "The DVSA MOT history service did not respond." | DVSA outage or timeout | Retry in a few minutes |