Common V5C scams
Your car’s registration document, or V5C, is a summary of its details and history along with its owners. It’s a print-out of what information is held on your car at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). The V5C is one of the most important documents when buying or selling a car, but it logs only who is the registered keeper – and they may be different from the legal owner. Since October 2002 it has been illegal to sell a car without a valid V5C, so don’t ever accept an excuse that it has been lost as you can apply for a replacement easily enough. When buying a car, the registered keeper should be the person you are buying from, and the VIN, or chassis number, should be the same as the one on the car. Because the V5C is a summary of the car’s details on the DVLA database, there are a few scams that can catch you out, often when you’re buying a car.