UK Odometer Fraud Law in 2026: What Changed in April 2025

Odometer fraud in the UK is now prosecuted under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, not the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. The switch took effect on 6 April 2025. Traders who misdescribe mileage commit a criminal offence under section 237. Private sellers are caught instead by the Fraud Act 2006.

The short version

• The unfair trading rules in the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 were revoked and restated in Part 4, Chapter 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, in force 6 April 2025.
• One part of the old regulations survives: Part 4A, which gives consumers a private right of redress, stays in place until replacement regulations are made under section 233.
• Misleading a buyer about mileage is a misleading action under section 226, or a misleading omission under section 227 if you know the true figure and say nothing.
• Conviction under section 237 carries up to two years’ imprisonment on indictment, or a fine, under section 240.
• Private sellers fall outside the DMCC Act, but section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006 covers fraud by false representation, and carries up to 10 years on indictment.
• Carly’s analysis of 2.5 million UK cars found 16.25% showed mileage or VIN discrepancies, reported by Auto Express in October 2025.

Which law now governs mileage fraud in the UK?

Part 4, Chapter 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Section 225 prohibits unfair commercial practices. Section 226 defines a misleading action as a practice involving the provision of false or misleading information. Section 227 covers misleading omissions, including information given in a way that is unclear or untimely.

Enforcement sits with local weights and measures authorities, which is Trading Standards in practice, and with the Competition and Markets Authority under section 231.

If you read guidance written before April 2025, including our own earlier guide, you will see the 2008 Regulations cited instead. That reference is now out of date, and we have corrected it.

What happened to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008?

Most of them are gone. Regulations 3 to 18, which contained the general prohibition and the banned practices list, were revoked and re-enacted in the DMCC Act.

Part 4A survived. Regulations 27A to 27L give a consumer the right to unwind a contract, claim a discount, or claim damages after a misleading practice. Those provisions continue to operate until regulations under section 233 of the DMCC Act replace them.

For a used car buyer, that distinction matters. The criminal case against a dealer runs under the new Act. The civil claim to get money back still runs under the old Part 4A.

What is odometer fraud?

Odometer fraud is the misrepresentation of a vehicle’s recorded distance travelled to a person deciding whether to buy it, or at what price. It covers rolling a reading back, presenting a reading the seller knows to be wrong, and staying silent about a known discrepancy.

The offence is in the representation, not the tool. Owning a device is not the crime. Telling a buyer a figure you know to be false is.

Does the DMCC Act apply to private sellers?

No. The DMCC Act regulates traders. Selling your own car privately does not make you a trader.

That is not a loophole. A private seller who knowingly states a false mileage is making a false representation, dishonestly, to make a gain. That is the offence in section 2 of the Fraud Act 2006, and section 1(3) sets the maximum at 10 years on indictment. The penalty for a private seller is considerably higher than the two years a trader faces under section 240 of the DMCC Act.

There is also a trap for anyone tempted to sell “privately” to avoid the rules. Falsely claiming not to be acting for business purposes is itself a banned practice under the DMCC Act.

What counts as misleading a buyer about mileage?

More than lying outright. Business Companion, the Trading Standards-backed guidance service, sets out what traders are expected to do, and its April 2025 update reflects the new Act.

• Traders are expected to carry out checks to make sure the description is accurate.
• If the odometer reading is incorrect, you must not refer to it in any description.
• You must tell the buyer the true mileage if you know it. Failing to do so is a misleading omission.
• A disclaimer must be given in a timely way, and not buried where a buyer is unlikely to see it.

A disclaimer on its own does not rescue a description you never verified.

How do buyers actually check mileage?

Through the MOT record, which is public and free. The GOV.UK check MOT history service shows the mileage recorded at every test, using only the registration number. For cars, vans and motorcycles the record goes back to 2005.

That gives any buyer a dated series of readings. A reading that falls between two tests, or a gap that does not match the story a seller tells, is visible to anyone who looks. Servicing records, warranty entries and finance checks add further dated readings.

This is worth being straight about. Any period during which a vehicle covers distance that the odometer does not record will show up as an inconsistency against that public series if the vehicle is later sold. That is the practical reason disclosure matters, quite apart from the law.

What should you do before selling a car that has had a module fitted?

1. Remove the module. Return the vehicle to standard before you advertise it.
2. Establish the true figure. Work out the actual distance covered, using service records, tyre and brake wear, and your own records of any testing.
3. Disclose in writing. State that a module was fitted, over what period, and the best estimate of unrecorded distance. Put it in the advert and the sales invoice, not in conversation.
4. Do not quote the odometer alone. If you know the displayed figure understates the distance covered, do not present it as the mileage.
5. Keep your evidence. Retain dated records of the testing the device was used for and of the disclosure you gave.

If you cannot establish the true figure, say so plainly and price accordingly. An honest “mileage not warranted, module fitted 2024–2025, true distance unknown” is lawful. A confident figure you know to be wrong is not.

Where does that leave lawful testing use?

Unchanged, and unaffected by the April 2025 switch. Nothing in the DMCC Act makes it an offence to own or fit a module. Rolling-road sessions, dyno runs, track days and diagnostic work on private land are not sales, and no representation is being made to a buyer.

The line the law draws is at the point of sale, and it is drawn around what you tell the person buying. We set out the same position on our About SKF UK page: install it to test your vehicle in a controlled environment, and do not use it for deceitful purposes. The change in April 2025 changed which statute applies. It did not change that line.

Frequently asked questions

Did the law on mileage blockers change on 6 April 2025?
The law on selling changed, not the law on the devices. The unfair trading rules moved from the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 into Part 4, Chapter 1 of the DMCC Act 2024. Buying and fitting a module was not an offence before that date and is not an offence now.

Is it illegal to own a mileage blocker in the UK?
No. No UK statute makes possession or installation of such a module an offence. The offences arise when a vehicle is sold and the seller misdescribes the distance it has covered, whether by stating a false figure or by staying silent about a known discrepancy.

What is the penalty for clocking a car in the UK?
A trader convicted under section 237 of the DMCC Act 2024 faces up to two years’ imprisonment or a fine on indictment, under section 240. A private seller prosecuted under the Fraud Act 2006 faces up to 10 years under section 1(3). Courts can also make compensation orders.

Can I still claim compensation under the 2008 Regulations?
Yes. Part 4A of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, regulations 27A to 27L, was deliberately kept in force. It gives a right to unwind the contract, claim a discount, or claim damages, and it applies until regulations under section 233 of the DMCC Act replace it.

Does the DMCC Act cover cars sold on online marketplaces?
It covers traders using them. The Act reaches practices by traders that enable private individuals to supply products to that trader or another person, which brings marketplace operators into scope. A genuine private seller listing one car is judged under the Fraud Act instead.

How far back does the public mileage record go?
For cars, vans and motorcycles, MOT results on the GOV.UK service run from 2005, and Northern Ireland records from 2017. Each entry carries the mileage recorded at the test, so a vehicle tested annually since 2005 has around twenty dated readings available to any buyer.

Getting it right

If you run a module for testing, the compliant path is simple: remove it before sale, work out the real distance, and disclose in writing. That keeps you outside both section 237 of the DMCC Act and section 2 of the Fraud Act.

If you want to check what a module does before you buy one, our guide to what mileage blockers are and how they work covers the technical side, and installation instructions show what fitting involves. To find the module built for your vehicle, browse the SKF UK shop or contact our team and we will confirm compatibility.