The Independent Records Check
Every paid check is run against ServiceStamp's own database of independent service records.
The ServiceStamp Independent Records Database holds service records documented by a nationwide community of owners and enthusiasts, each one backed by evidence held on file. Run any paid check and we cross-reference your vehicle against it automatically.
It is first-party data, built here and held nowhere else. No other provider can show it to you.
The Gap It Closes
Manufacturer databases only see what franchised dealers put into them. The moment a car moves to independent servicing, which is most cars past their warranty years, that work stops being recorded anywhere a buyer can check. The paperwork exists, but it lives in glove boxes and kitchen drawers.
The Independent Records Check closes that gap. When keepers of a car document that paperwork with ServiceStamp, the servicing becomes checkable again, and every paid report on that car since includes it. Manufacturer history tells you about the franchised years. The Independent Records Database picks up the story after that.
Where the Records Come From
Every record in the database was documented by someone who ran or cared for the car: owners and enthusiasts building a Digital Service Book from their service book pages, garage invoices and job sheets. The record is read from the document, confirmed by the person who holds the paperwork, and the evidence stays on file behind it.
These records are owner-provided, and your report says so plainly. That honesty is deliberate. A record that shows its origin and keeps its paperwork is worth more to a careful buyer than a smooth timeline that cannot say where it came from.
How a Record Earns Its Place
The database is deliberately harder to get into than a service book is to fill in. A record is only included in the Independent Records Check when all of the following hold:
The evidence is on file. A photographed invoice, stamped page or job sheet sits behind the record. Entries typed in by hand without a document never enter the database.
The keeper confirmed it. Nothing is included automatically. The person who holds the paperwork reviewed the record beside the source document and confirmed it.
The reading cleared a quality threshold. Records whose extraction cannot demonstrate a confident reading are left out, and parts receipts are excluded because a purchase does not prove a fitting.
The evidence still exists. If a contributor deletes the document behind a record, the record leaves the database. Checks query the database live, so it is gone from the next report, not archived into it.
What You See on Your Report
Matches appear in their own clearly labelled section, separate from the manufacturer history, on the report page and in the PDF. Each record shows the service date, the garage, the work performed and the mileage. The source documents are never shown, the contributor is never identified, and costs are never shared.
When the database holds nothing for your vehicle yet, the report still shows the check ran. The database grows as more owners document their cars, so the same check on the same car can find more over time.
Data You Will Not Find Anywhere Else
Vehicle data providers all draw on the same handful of industry sources, which is why their reports agree with each other. The ServiceStamp Independent Records Database is different: it is created on ServiceStamp, by the ServiceStamp community, and it is queried by ServiceStamp checks alone. It grows every day, one documented car at a time.
Alongside the manufacturer service records we recover for 39 brands, it means a ServiceStamp report can cover both halves of a car's service life: the franchised years and the independent ones.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the Independent Records Check?
- It is a check included with every paid ServiceStamp report. Your vehicle is cross-referenced against the ServiceStamp Independent Records Database, our own database of service records documented by owners and enthusiasts. Any matches appear in a dedicated section of your report, and the report confirms the check ran even when no records are held yet.
- Where do the records come from?
- From a nationwide community of owners and enthusiasts who document their cars with ServiceStamp. They photograph service book pages, garage invoices and job sheets into a Digital Service Book, and confirm every record against the source document. The evidence stays on file behind each record.
- Can I trust records that other owners documented?
- They are honest evidence and we present them that way. Every record in the database is backed by a document held on file, was confirmed by the person who holds that paperwork, and passed a quality threshold on the reading. On your report they are clearly labelled as owner-provided and shown separately from manufacturer history, so you always know exactly what kind of evidence you are looking at.
- What details are shown, and what stays private?
- A matched record shows the service date, the garage, the work performed and the mileage. The source documents themselves are never shown to anyone else, the contributor is never identified, and costs are never shared. If a contributor deletes their evidence, the record leaves the database, and because reports query the database live it disappears from future checks immediately.
- Will my own records appear on my report?
- Your own Digital Service Book records already appear on your reports in their own section, so the Independent Records Check deliberately shows you records from other contributors only. Buyers running a check on a car you have documented will see your records, without your documents, your identity or what you paid.
- How do I add my car to the database?
- Build a Digital Service Book. Photograph your service book pages and invoices, confirm the records read from them, and every confirmed, evidence-backed service record becomes part of the database that future checks on that car are run against.
Going further: check finance, write-offs and more
The Independent Records Check is included with the Service History Check and every check below. Whichever report you run, your vehicle is cross-referenced against the database as standard.
See what the database holds for your car
Every Service History Check and Full Vehicle Check includes the Independent Records Check as standard, alongside the manufacturer and MOT history.
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