Do You Know How To Check Mot History Of Your Vehicle Instantly?

By Author: Car services in reading
Total Articles: 265
Comment this article

Making their underlying data available isn't always at the top of the DVSA's queue of priorities when they build services. That's because they're creating services that will make it easier, clearer, and faster for millions of people to acquire what they need from the government.

However, it is critical that they make their data public. They've gotten to a pretty excellent spot with making their MOT data available thanks to insight and a lot of strong user research (for readers outside the UK, the MOT is the annual check that vehicles have to make sure they meet basic vehicle safety, roadworthiness, and exhaust emissions standards).

The DVSA makes the majority of their data available through the MOT history checker service to examine a vehicle's MOT history. It's one of the top 10 government services, with 4.5 million monthly visits (including 18,000 on Christmas Day!).

The DVSA totally revamped this service in 2015. However, it wasn't merely a like-for-like replacement.

The user needs the vehicle's number plate and either the current MOT certificate ...
... number or the vehicle's logbook (V5C) number to utilise the old service.

The previous service gathered customer input. 'If I knew my certificate number, I wouldn't need to check this service,' and 'I'm thinking of buying this vehicle, but I don't know these things,' were common themes.

In fact, a lot of the criticism was vehement (and colourful) about how badly this previous service had fallen short of consumer expectations! However, under their previous style of working, acting on this input was not a quick procedure.

Make Things More Open; It Improves Things.
This prompted the DVSA to reconsider the service and consider how it might be made as transparent as feasible.

To address the demands of users who didn't have all of the necessary documentation or who were considering purchasing a car, the former service's obstacles had to be removed.

That means debating how restricted some of this data's access should be.

That's exactly what they did. As a consequence, you can check a vehicle's MOT history and Car check MOT status of a vehicle with just the number plate, and you'll have access to practically all of the data that the old service had.

Businesses Requirements Being Met.
The DVSA understood the majority of users were individuals, people forgetting when their MOT testing service was due, people considering about purchasing a car and people selling cars based on their study. However, the DVSA have discovered that several large vehicle dealerships also utilised their data.

This was logical. MOT data may reveal a lot about how well a vehicle has been maintained. It's part of a vehicle's history, which reputable vendors will discuss with potential purchasers.

It was evident that there was a need to make it easier to acquire enormous volumes of MOT data without having to visit the service hundreds or thousands of times to type in number plates.

As a result, we developed an application programming interface (API). This is a method for one computer to access data or services stored on another computer, usually through the internet.

The MOT history API allows permitted third-party organisations to have access to vehicle MOT test history, including:

MOT test date
MOT expiry date
Test result
Mileage reading
MOT test number
Reasons for failure and advisory notices
First MOT due date for new vehicles
So Far, How Has the API Been Used?
Making the API open attracted more potential consumers of our data who hadn't shown up during our original user study. This is because they had not anticipated being able to access the data in this manner.

As we've grown, we've gained a greater understanding of new users' demands, allowing us to increase their access.

When we built the API, we agreed that we'd only restrict access if we thought the data's usage may be illegal. We haven't had to decline anything yet.

In fact, we've discovered the polar opposite. All of the uses of our data that we are aware of are clearly for the public interest, such as increasing road safety or safeguarding consumers.

Here are a few examples of how our data has been put to use:

At auctions, providing vehicle information to potential purchasers.
Car insurance firms use our information to determine how well vehicles are maintained (and hence influencing the price of insurance)
Car mileages for vehicles for sale are being verified.
Detecting possible mileage fraud
Developing mobile applications to warn drivers when their MOT is due and the reasons why their car is likely to fail.
Providing compliance data to businesses with big fleets of vehicles
For the Benefit of the General Public, Public Data is Collected.

The DVSA is frequently questioned if they may (or should) charge for access to this information. After all, it does assist businesses in increasing their profits.

As previously said, all of the uses they've witnessed have been for the greater benefit. So, if they charged, not everyone would utilise the data, not all of the experiments with it would take place, and they wouldn't perceive the public good.

The DVSA's slogan is that this is public information and that the public is responsible for their MOTs. The DVSA's role is to make the most of that MOT in terms of road safety and other advantages and releasing their data in this way isn't expensive.