Salvage Prophet vs carVertical: which car history check is worth it?
Comparing a free official-data UK check against carVertical's paid multi-country report. What each actually gives a UK buyer, and when you need which.
DATA · 4 min read
The short answer
For a UK-registered car, start with our free Vehicle History Checker: it pulls official DVSA MOT history, mileage timeline and any salvage auction record we hold, at no cost. carVertical is a paid, per-report service built around aggregating data from many countries, which is genuinely useful for imports but is not the cheapest route to a straightforward UK check.
What carVertical actually is
carVertical is a European vehicle-history provider that sells reports pulling together mileage, registration and damage records from a wide network of countries, and markets its records as blockchain-logged. That multi-country reach is its real strength: if you are importing a car or chasing a history that crosses borders, it can surface things a UK-only source cannot. Reports are sold individually or in bundles, and pricing and exact coverage change, so check their site for the current rate before you buy.
What our checker does differently
We are UK-first. The Vehicle History Checker reads straight from the DVSA MOT history API, the same official record an MOT tester writes to, so the mileage timeline and advisories are exactly what the government holds. It is free to run, and if the car has passed through a Copart UK auction that we have logged, that shows too, which no general history provider offers because it is our own first-party auction data.
Is carVertical worth it for a UK car?
If the car has only ever been registered in the UK, most of what carVertical can tell you, the free UK checks already cover: MOT history, mileage and advisories from gov.uk, tax and MOT status from the DVLA, all free. Where carVertical earns its fee is a car with any history abroad, a grey import, or a buyer who wants an aggregated multi-country cross-check on top of the UK record. For a domestic UK car, run the free check first and only pay for anything if it flags a gap.
Data source versus price
The confirmed insurance write-off category, outstanding finance and stolen markers are not free anywhere in the UK, because they sit in the MIAFTR and finance registers that are only licensed to approved providers, ourselves included. That is true whether you buy through us, carVertical or any other checker. What differs is what you pay for the same class of data and whether you get the UK salvage-auction angle thrown in. Compare on what is actually in the report, not the brand name on the front page.
The practical order to do it in
Run the free MOT and status check first, always, it is instant and costs nothing. If the car is a straightforward UK example and nothing looks off, that is usually enough. If it has any import history, an unclear paper trail, or you are about to spend serious money, add one paid full check for the confirmed write-off and finance data, ours or otherwise. Do not pay for five reports on five cars: filter free, then pay once on the one you are serious about.