The DVLA check-code walkthrough.
The free GOV.UK service that shows you what a renter 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 renter'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 renter grants that permission by sharing the code.
Step 1: the renter creates a check code
The renter 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 renter: 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 renter 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 using DVLA form D888/1, for a £5 fee paid to DVLA in Swansea. 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 builds this check into the renter's check-in link, so the DVLA result arrives on the booking alongside a verified identity and your signed agreement, without you keying in codes at the desk. See the DVLA check in KeyProof.
The licence check, done for you.
KeyProof runs the DVLA check on every renter from one link, and files the result on the booking.
Locked for life, any fleet size.
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