1. Introduction
This Privacy Policy explains how Sawtry Media Limited (trading as "MOTChecker.co.uk"), Company Number 05080337, collects, uses, stores and protects your personal information when you use our website at motchecker.co.uk (the "Service").
We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
2. Data Controller
The data controller is Sawtry Media Limited, Eco Innovation Centre, Peterscourt, City Road, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE1 1SA. You can contact us at hello@motchecker.co.uk.
3. Information We Collect
3.1 Account Information
When you create an account, we collect your email address, first name, last name, and optionally your company name and mobile phone number.
3.2 Vehicle Search Data
When you perform a vehicle check, we record the registration number searched, the date and time of the search, your IP address, and browser user agent. This is necessary to provide the Service and to manage usage limits.
3.3 Payment Information
Payments are processed securely by Stripe. We do not store your full card details. We retain your Stripe customer ID, subscription status, and transaction records for billing purposes.
3.4 Technical Data
We automatically collect IP addresses, browser type and version, device information, pages visited, and referral sources for security, analytics and service improvement.
3.5 Garage and Reminder Data
If you save vehicles to your Garage and enable tax or MOT reminders, we store your vehicle selections and reminder preferences. If you enable SMS reminders, we store and use your verified mobile number to send reminder messages.
4. How We Use Your Information
We use your personal data to:
- Provide and maintain the Service, including vehicle checks, valuations, tyre data and MOT station searches
- Manage your account, subscriptions, credits and usage
- Send tax and MOT expiry reminders by email and/or SMS where you have opted in
- Process payments and prevent fraud
- Send essential service communications (e.g. password resets, verification codes)
- Monitor and improve the security and performance of the Service
- Comply with legal obligations
5. Legal Basis for Processing
We process your data on the following legal bases:
- Contract: Processing necessary to provide the Service you have signed up for
- Consent: Where you opt in to SMS and email reminders
- Legitimate interests: Security, fraud prevention, service improvement and analytics
- Legal obligation: Where required by law (e.g. financial records)
6. Data Sharing
We do not sell your personal data. We share data only with:
- DVLA and DVSA: Registration numbers are sent to government APIs to retrieve vehicle and MOT data
- Third-party data providers: Registration numbers are sent to trusted industry providers to retrieve technical specifications, valuations and tyre data
- Stripe: Payment processing
- SMS provider: To deliver SMS reminders and verification codes to your mobile number
- Email service provider: To deliver transactional emails
7. Data Retention
- Account data is retained for as long as your account is active, plus 12 months after deletion
- Vehicle check snapshots are retained for 12 months
- Search logs are retained for 12 months
- Payment records are retained for 7 years as required by HMRC
8. Your Rights
Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:
- Access your personal data
- Rectify inaccurate data
- Erase your data (subject to legal retention requirements)
- Restrict processing
- Data portability
- Object to processing
- Withdraw consent at any time (e.g. by disabling reminders)
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at hello@motchecker.co.uk.
9. Security
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including encrypted connections (TLS/SSL), secure password hashing, and access controls. However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure.
10. Children
The Service is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this page will be revised accordingly. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
12. Contact
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or wish to make a complaint, please contact us at hello@motchecker.co.uk or write to Sawtry Media Limited, Eco Innovation Centre, Peterscourt, City Road, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, PE1 1SA.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.