How do I check someone's driving licence?

Ask the driver for a DVLA check code, which they generate free from the "View or share your driving licence information" service. Send that code and their licence number to the API and the DVLA record comes back in one call. The code lasts 21 days and is single-use, so the check always happens with the driver's knowledge.

Can I check a driving licence without the driver knowing?

No, and you should be wary of anything that claims otherwise. Access to the DVLA record requires either a check code the driver generates or a mandate they have signed. There is no lawful lookup by name or licence number alone.

Do we need the driver's permission?

Yes, and the share code is how it is given. The driver generates the code themselves from the DVLA service, so a check cannot be run without their involvement. The code is valid for 21 days.

Does this cover Northern Ireland licences?

Yes. GB and Northern Ireland licences are both covered.

What is the difference between a share code check and a mandate?

A signed mandate (the old D796 route) gives an organisation standing permission to check on the driver's behalf and typically lasts three years. A share code is per-check and driver-initiated. The share code route is quicker to set up and needs no paper, but the driver has to generate a code each time.

Do you cover grey fleet drivers?

Yes. the check is on the licence, not on a vehicle you own, so it works the same for an employee driving their own car. Pair it with an MOT status check on the vehicle to cover both halves of the duty of care.

Is there a minimum volume?

No. Checks are priced per licence with no contract and no minimum, from £1.50 on the entry tier down to £1.10 at the highest volume tier.

For fleets, rental and driver agencies

Check someone's driving licence against the DVLA record, in one call.

Check a UK driving licence against the DVLA record using the driver's licence number and a share code. Entitlements, endorsements, live points and photocard expiry come back in one call, so a revoked licence doesn't sit unnoticed on your grey fleet for six months.

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From £1.10: per licence check at Tier 5
One call: entitlements, endorsements and points
GB & NI: licences covered

What gets in the way

Paper mandates and D796 forms sitting in a filing cabinet
No idea whether a driver picked up points last month
Grey fleet drivers who have never been checked at all
An annual check cycle that treats a clean licence and an eight-point licence the same
A motor insurer asking for evidence you cannot produce

What you can do instead

Verify entitlement, endorsements and live points against the DVLA record
Re-check on a risk-based cycle rather than one date a year
Hold a dated, auditable record of every check you have run
Catch a revoked or expired licence in days rather than at renewal

How it works

Three steps

Collect the share code

The driver generates a DVLA share code from the "view your driving licence" service. It is valid for 21 days and is what gives you permission to see the record.

Call the endpoint

Send the licence number and the share code. Entitlements, endorsement codes, points and photocard expiry come back in one response.

Store the outcome

Keep the result and the date against the driver. That record is your evidence of the check, and what sets the next re-check date.

How to check someone's driving licence

You cannot look up another person's driving licence without their involvement, and any service that offers to is not reading the DVLA record. The lawful route has two parts. The driver generates a check code from the DVLA "View or share your driving licence information" service, which is free and takes about a minute; the code is valid for 21 days and can only be used once. You then send that code together with their driving licence number, and the DVLA record comes back: categories they are entitled to drive, endorsement codes with dates and points, the current points total, and the photocard expiry date. The alternative is a signed mandate, the old D796 route, which gives standing permission for around three years and suits drivers you check repeatedly. Either way, the permission is the driver's to give, and the record you get is the DVLA's rather than a copy of it.

What a licence check actually tells you

A DVLA licence check returns the categories the driver is entitled to drive, any endorsement codes recorded against them with their dates and penalty points, the current points total, and when the photocard expires. Between them these answer the question a fleet manager actually has, which is not "does this person have a licence" but "is this person legally entitled to drive the vehicle I am about to give them, and has anything changed since I last looked". A licence can be revoked without the holder volunteering it, and a photocard can expire while the entitlement remains valid: the two are different problems and the check distinguishes them.

How often should you re-check?

There is no statutory interval. Most fleet policies work on risk: annually for a clean licence, every six months from three to eight points, and quarterly above that. What matters more than the exact numbers is that the interval is written down, applied consistently and evidenced: an insurer or an HSE investigator will ask what your policy was and whether you followed it, not whether you picked the same intervals as everyone else. Check your motor policy wording too, since some insurers set a minimum frequency as a condition of cover.

Grey fleet is where most policies fail

Employees driving their own cars on company business are the largest group of drivers most organisations never check. The duty of care is the same as for a company vehicle, but the process usually is not: no lease renewal to trigger a review, no fleet system holding the record, and often no list of who is doing it. A licence check keyed on the driver rather than the vehicle is the only practical way to cover them, and it is worth pairing with an MOT status check on the vehicle itself.

Recommended APIs

Where to start

Driving Licence Checking

Verify a UK driving licence by number and DVLA share code in seconds.

From £1.10 / lookup

Vehicle Details

DVLA registration data by VRM — make, colour, fuel, CO₂, tax and MOT status.

From 4p / lookup

MOT History

Every DVSA MOT test, mileage reading and advisory for a vehicle.

From 2p / lookup

Where it gets used

Common jobs

Driver onboarding

Check entitlement before a new starter is handed keys, as a gate in the onboarding flow rather than a form someone chases afterwards.

Periodic re-checking

Drive the re-check interval from the points total returned by the previous check, so a driver who picks up points is automatically moved onto a shorter cycle.

Agency and temporary drivers

Verify a licence at the point of placement, when a driver may be on site for a single shift and there is no time for a paper process.

Rental and hire

Confirm entitlement for the category of vehicle being hired at the counter or in the app, before the keys change hands.

FAQ

Driver & licence checking questions

How do I check someone's driving licence?: Ask the driver for a DVLA check code, which they generate free from the "View or share your driving licence information" service. Send that code and their licence number to the API and the DVLA record comes back in one call. The code lasts 21 days and is single-use, so the check always happens with the driver's knowledge.
Can I check a driving licence without the driver knowing?: No, and you should be wary of anything that claims otherwise. Access to the DVLA record requires either a check code the driver generates or a mandate they have signed. There is no lawful lookup by name or licence number alone.
How often should we check an employee's driving licence?: There is no statutory interval. Most fleet policies work on risk: annually for a clean licence, every six months from three to eight points, and quarterly above that. Your motor insurer may set a minimum in the policy wording, so check that before setting your own.
Do we need the driver's permission?: Yes, and the share code is how it is given. The driver generates the code themselves from the DVLA service, so a check cannot be run without their involvement. The code is valid for 21 days.
Does this cover Northern Ireland licences?: Yes. GB and Northern Ireland licences are both covered.
What is the difference between a share code check and a mandate?: A signed mandate (the old D796 route) gives an organisation standing permission to check on the driver's behalf and typically lasts three years. A share code is per-check and driver-initiated. The share code route is quicker to set up and needs no paper, but the driver has to generate a code each time.
Do you cover grey fleet drivers?: Yes. the check is on the licence, not on a vehicle you own, so it works the same for an employee driving their own car. Pair it with an MOT status check on the vehicle to cover both halves of the duty of care.
Is there a minimum volume?: No. Checks are priced per licence with no contract and no minimum, from £1.50 on the entry tier down to £1.10 at the highest volume tier.

Official registers

Vehicle records from the DVLA Vehicle Enquiry Service, MOT records from the DVSA MOT History API.

Charged on delivery

You are charged on a successful lookup. A lookup that returns nothing costs nothing.

No lock-in

No contract and no minimum. Credits last 12 months; monthly plans are rolling.

UK data protection

You act as controller and we act as processor for delivery, under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Try it on your own data

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