In early 2025, UK police recovered multiple stolen vehicles, including Ford Fiestas and Range Rovers, and arrested around a dozen individuals in connection with a major vehicle theft operation (Essex Police, 2025).
Reports indicate that authorities have ramped up their efforts to combat car theft, with forces such as West Midlands Police and Essex Police increasing patrols in car parks and deploying intelligence-led operations to seize stolen vehicles (West Midlands Police, 2025; Essex Police, 2025).
Despite these efforts, car theft remains a significant issue, with over 61,000 vehicles reported stolen in 2024—equating to one every 8.5 minutes (Industry Reports, 2025). Given these statistics, the risk of unknowingly purchasing a stolen car remains high. To safeguard against buying a ringer, experts strongly advise running a police marker check before making any used car purchase.
How to tell if a car is stolen?
Unlike a damaged car, which you can spot from far away, a stolen car is not something you can identify by looking at it. It could be new, clean, and running perfectly. In other words, there are no significant signs of pinched vehicles. The only way to know about a ringer is through a police (pnc) stolen car check, and check if a car was stolen when buying a vehicle in the UK.
You may contact the Police directly to ask them: is my car stolen, or is this vehicle stolen? Or you can benefit from an instant report of car history.
Please tell us your car’s registration number; we will reveal its stolen history.
Understanding the importance of a police car check
An essential step in buying a used car is the police car check. This check assists you in determining whether a vehicle is the subject of an active criminal investigation or has been reported stolen.
You can avoid the financial and legal penalties of accidentally purchasing a stolen or illegally compromised vehicle by doing a police car check.
- Protecting yourself from buying stolen cars
- Avoiding legal trouble
- Ensuring the car’s true history
- Enhancing buyer confidence
Precautions you must take to prevent purchasing a stolen vehicle
In the UK, the buyer must find out whether a vehicle has been reported stolen.
Despite an unknowingly purchased stolen vehicle, authorities could still seize it. If the car had been purchased using a financing plan, money lenders might even demand that you pay them interest.
A stolen vehicle check is less light than some vehicles with outstanding loans may have.
There are several precautionary measures you must take while buying a car:
- Since you are making the transaction and stand to lose money if the V5 is fake, check the V5C, request a copy, and don’t be frightened. Ask to see the V5 document later if there are any justifications for where it is.
- Please verify the document’s authenticity by looking for the DVLA watermark to ensure it is not fake. See here for more advice on how to determine the V5’s authenticity.
- Please confirm that the VIN corresponds to the one on the V5C.
If you’ve already bought a flagged car, here’s what to do next after purchasing a stolen car by mistake, steps in detail.
What information does a report on a stolen car give me?
- Police Contact Info – Access relevant authorities for verification.
- Stolen Report Date – Confirm when the vehicle was reported stolen.
- Stolen Warning Flag – Check police or vehicle databases for alerts.
along with the review of key details, including:
- Mileage Records – Verify the accuracy to detect possible odometer fraud.
- MOT History – Check for any irregularities, failures, or advisories that may indicate issues with the vehicle’s condition.
How do you spot fraudulent vehicles with a police check?
Buying a used car can occasionally be dangerous because dishonest dealers may attempt to conceal the car’s actual history.
By comparing the car information with police databases, a police car check can assist you in identifying these counterfeit vehicles and ensure that the vehicle has not been reported stolen or connected to any illegal activity.
Here’s how identifying counterfeit cars can be enhanced by a police check:
Identifying Stolen Vehicles
- The vehicle’s identifying information is frequently changed by criminals to make it seem authentic.
- During a police car check, the vehicle identification number (VIN) and registration are compared to stolen vehicle databases.
- The check will reveal whether the car has been reported stolen right away, keeping you from purchasing a vehicle that might end up in the hands of the Police.
Are details from stolen car check reports reliable?
When you perform a car check with us, we search the stolen cars UK database held by the Police National Computer to identify if the vehicle was ever stolen. If it were, we would present you with the date of theft and police contact information (if available).
Our history checks are 100% accurate because we source data only from the Police National Computer, so there is no discrepancy. Moreover, they are super easy to execute; give us your vehicle’s registration number, and we will reveal its stolen history straightaway.
Remember, CarAnalytics car theft check is part of our premium service, and no free stolen check exists. Stolen checks starts from £4.99 and save you from losing thousands of pounds in returning the stolen vehicle. Besides knowing a vehicle’s stolen history, you will also see if it is written off, scrapped, high risk, clocked, or financed.
How do you know if the Police mark your car?
First, you should know that the UK Police mark a vehicle for various reasons. Depending on the reason, there are different “police markers.
For instance, “Section 59 markers” are placed on cars that exhibit antisocial activity, such as driving off-road without a permit, breaching the law repeatedly, etc. The Police also designate cars that have been taken with a stolen vehicle marking.
The cameras immediately highlight any vehicle on the road with a stolen status on the monitors. Unknowingly, purchasing and driving such a vehicle on any UK road will result in your immediate arrest.
If you search for police cars, you can find the police market. The information about the police-marked vehicles is stored in the national police database. Don’t worry about the accuracy; we directly obtain information about the stolen car from the Police marking service.
Frequently asked questions
A police marker is a flag placed on a vehicle by UK police to indicate it’s linked to crime—like being stolen, cloned, or used in illegal activity. These markers are stored in the Police National Computer and trigger alerts if the vehicle is seen on ANPR cameras or stopped on the road.
Enter the reg number into a police marker check tool like CarAnalytics. It will let you know if the vehicle is marked as stolen in the UK police database, helping you avoid risky purchases.
They use data directly from the UK’s Police National Computer, the most accurate source. You’ll get theft alerts, marker flags, and the exact date of the police report.
A police marker can stay on a car indefinitely until the police manually remove it. It depends on the reason it was flagged—like theft, cloning, or criminal use. If the issue is resolved, the marker may be removed, but only law enforcement can update or delete it from the national police database.
Making UK car data easy to understand, one blog at a time. As a part of CarAnalytics Content Team, Caron combines her SEO experts, data analysts, and digital writers dedicated to helping drivers make informed, confident car-buying decisions. She specialises in translating complex topics like MOT, write-off categories, and outstanding finance into clear, accessible guides.
From car tax and ULEZ rules to pricing trends and ownership tips, she covers every step of buying, selling, and owning a used car in the UK. Backed by real data and industry insight, our content aims to give readers clarity, confidence, and peace of mind. When she’s not writing, she is likely enjoying a quiet countryside drive.
