Data sources
Every dataset behind Motoring Insider's pages and reports, who publishes it, the licence we use it under and how often we refresh it. The credit lines each licence asks for are on the attribution page.
1Vehicle Enquiry Service API
- Publisher
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0Used through DVLA's API with our own key, on DVLA's API terms.
- Refreshed
- Live, at each lookup. A result can be reused for up to about an hour.
- Used on
- Free vehicle check
- Premium Vehicle Reports (paid)
- My Garage reminders
2MOT History API
- Publisher
- Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA)
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0Used through DVSA's API with our own credentials, on DVSA's API terms.
- Refreshed
- Live, at each lookup. A result can be reused for up to about an hour.
- Used on
- Free vehicle check
- Premium Vehicle Reports (paid)
- My Garage reminders
3Anonymised MOT tests and results
- Publisher
- Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA)
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0
- Refreshed
- Once a year, when DVSA publishes the next full year of tests.
- Used on
4Vehicle and equipment recall information
- Publisher
- Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA)
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0
- Refreshed
- Downloaded by hand from DVSA's recall service, then rebuilt. Last downloaded 31 October 2026.
- Used on
5Driving test and theory test data: cars (DRT tables)
- Publisher
- Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA)
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0
- Refreshed
- After each DVSA release. Practical test tables (DRT121F, DRT122A, DRT122C) and theory test tables (DRT111A, DRT112A).
- Used on
6Vehicle licensing statistics (VEH tables)
- Publisher
- Department for Transport (DfT)
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0
- Refreshed
- Each quarter, after DfT's release. Tables VEH0105, VEH0120, VEH0142, VEH0156, VEH0160, VEH0206, VEH0220 and VEH0256.
- Used on
7Road safety open data (STATS19 collisions and casualties)
- Publisher
- Department for Transport (DfT)
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0
- Refreshed
- Once a year, after DfT publishes the previous year's data.
- Used on
8Electric vehicle public charging infrastructure statistics (EVCI tables)
- Publisher
- Department for Transport (DfT), for the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0
- Refreshed
- Each quarter, after DfT's release.
- Used on
9Population estimates (mid-year)
- Publisher
- Office for National Statistics (ONS)
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0
- Refreshed
- Once a year, after the ONS release.
- Used on
10ONS Postcode Directory, and postcodes.io lookups
- Publisher
- Office for National Statistics (ONS); lookups through postcodes.io
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0Also contains Ordnance Survey, Royal Mail and GeoPlace data (credit lines on the attribution page).
- Refreshed
- Postcode areas: rebuilt from each directory edition we take. Postcode search boxes: live, at each search. We do not store your postcode.
- Used on
11Local Authority District boundaries, December 2025 (the middle of each council)
- Publisher
- Office for National Statistics (ONS)
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0Also contains Ordnance Survey data (credit line on the attribution page).
- Refreshed
- By hand, when the list of councils changes.
- Used on
12Fuel Finder
- Publisher
- The Fuel Finder scheme, for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)
- Licence
- Statutory scheme, under its terms of useFilling stations must report prices under the Motor Fuel Price (Open Data) Regulations 2025. The scheme's terms do not allow the raw data to be passed on, so we show prices on our pages only and never offer them for download.
- Refreshed
- Every 30 minutes.
- Used on
13OpenStreetMap (public charging stations)
- Publisher
- OpenStreetMap contributors
- Licence
- Open Database Licence (ODbL) v1.0Kept apart from all our other data. The database we derive from it is available on request.
- Refreshed
- Every week.
- Used on
14Open Charge Map
- Publisher
- Open Charge Map contributors and data providers
- Licence
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)Each charger also names its own data provider and licence, shown with it on the map. For example, UK National Chargepoint Registry records are under the Open Government Licence v2.0. We take only records marked as open data.
- Refreshed
- Every week.
- Used on
15Vehicle history data from Experian, through One Auto API (plus taxi, advert, valuation and salvage records)
- Publisher
- One Auto API, supplying Experian and other data providers
- Licence
- Commercial licenceBought for each paid report. Used in Premium Vehicle Reports only, never on the free pages.
- Refreshed
- Live, when a paid report is ordered.
- Used on