The DVLA check-code walkthrough.
The free GOV.UK service that shows you what a hirer can actually drive, and any points or disqualifications the photocard hides. Here is the process, step by step, and who does what. It sits alongside the longer read on checking a hirer’s licence.
Informational, not legal advice. This describes the public GOV.UK process as a convenience. Always follow the live instructions on GOV.UK, and note its own warning: “It’s a criminal offence to obtain someone else’s personal information without their permission.” The check-code route works precisely because the hirer grants that permission by sharing the code.
Step 1: the hirer creates a check code
The hirer does this, not you. They go to the GOV.UK “View or share your driving licence information” service and sign in with three things: their driving licence number, their National Insurance number, and their postcode. They then choose to share their licence, which generates a check code.
Step 2: they send you the code and the last 8 characters
To run the check you need two things from the hirer: the check code they just generated, and the last 8 characters of their driving licence number. The code is useless without the licence digits, so ask for both together.
Step 3: you run the check on GOV.UK
Go to the GOV.UK “Check someone’s driving licence information” service and enter the last 8 characters of the licence number and the check code. The record comes back: which vehicle categories they can drive, any penalty points or endorsements, and any current disqualification. This is the record a forged card cannot produce.
Step 4: use the code in time, it does not last
A check code is valid for 21 days and can only be used once. In GOV.UK’s own words, “you can only use the code once, you have to get another code to do another check.” So generate it close to the hire, and if you need to check again later, the hirer creates a fresh code.
No online access? The postal route
A business that cannot use the online service can apply to check a driver’s details by post instead, using the form and current fee published on gov.uk. The online check-code route is faster and free, so it is the one to reach for at a handover.
One limit worth knowing: GB licences only
The check-code route covers licences issued in Great Britain. Northern Ireland, EU and other foreign licences have no DVLA record to compare against, so the physical document, a passport, and a face match have to carry the whole weight instead. See the red-flag checklist for what to look at on the card itself.
KeyProof collects the share code and licence digits through the hirer’s check-in link, so the code is waiting on the booking when you run the gov.uk check, and the dated record files alongside the verified identity and your signed agreement. See the DVLA check in KeyProof.
The licence check, on every hire.
KeyProof collects the share code from every hirer through one link, and files the dated record of your gov.uk check on the booking.
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