Version 2026-10-01
These terms apply when your organisation uses Orbis to check a driver's licence record with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). They are between Covase Ltd ("Covase", "we", "us") and the organisation whose administrator accepts them ("you").
Your administrator accepts these terms for your organisation in Orbis, and by doing so confirms that they are authorised to. Orbis records who accepted, when, from which IP address, the version accepted and the fee schedule shown below.
Covase Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 05569777. Registered office: Woodgreen Farm Barns, Mead Lane, Upper Basildon, Berkshire, RG8 8NA. VAT number 866 3107 19. ICO registration Z1127101.
| Free checks | One free DVLA check per organisation in total, whether run from orbisio.co.uk or in Orbis. |
|---|---|
| Pay on use | £4.99 per check, pay on use, invoiced monthly. |
| Orbis Essentials | A DVLA licence check for every driver on your fleet, once a year, included in Orbis Essentials at £6.95 per vehicle per month. Included: one DVLA licence check per driver per 12 months. |
1.1Through Orbis you can ask DVLA for a driver's licence record: their entitlements, endorsements, penalty points and any disqualifications. We make each request under Covase's Access to Driver Data (ADD) agreement with DVLA, contract reference ECM_16119.
1.2The result is DVLA's record at the moment of the check. We show it as DVLA returned it and do not change it.
1.3Orbis is a product of Orbis IO Ltd, operated by Covase. Covase supplies the DVLA licence check service under these terms.
2.1Your organisation's free checks are shown in the fee schedule. They are a total for your organisation: a check run from the free licence check on orbisio.co.uk counts toward them.
2.2Once the free checks are used, a further check runs only after your administrator has accepted these terms. Each further check is then charged at the pay-on-use rate in the fee schedule, unless Orbis Essentials includes it (section 5).
2.3Pay on use has no subscription, minimum spend or set-up fee.
3.1A check is one request to DVLA for one driver's licence record.
3.2A check is charged, or uses a free check, only when DVLA returns a licence record. If DVLA finds no matching licence, or the DVLA service cannot be reached, the check is not charged.
3.3When you send a driver a consent request, one check is set aside for that driver. It is charged only if the driver gives consent and DVLA returns their licence record. If the request expires unanswered, the check is released.
3.4If the same request is retried after it has been charged (for example, a driver submits the same consent form twice), the retry is not charged again. A new check of the same driver is a new check.
4.1Pay-on-use checks are invoiced monthly in arrears. Each invoice lists the checks charged in that month.
4.2We do not take card details in Orbis. You can pay an invoice by bank transfer to the account shown on it, or by card over the phone. Invoices are due within 30 days of the invoice date.
4.3Prices in the fee schedule exclude VAT. VAT is added at the rate in force when the check is charged.
4.4If you dispute a charge, tell us within 30 days of the invoice date. We will check it against the record Orbis keeps of each check.
5.1Orbis Essentials is a subscription charged per vehicle per month at the rate in the fee schedule. It includes one DVLA licence check of each driver in any 12 months.
5.2Your administrator can ask for Orbis Essentials in Orbis. It starts when Covase confirms it, once the per-vehicle subscription has been agreed. Until then, pay on use applies.
5.3Under Orbis Essentials, a further check of the same driver within 12 months of their included check is charged at the pay-on-use rate.
5.4To move from Orbis Essentials to pay on use, contact us. The change takes effect when we confirm it. Ending the subscription is covered by the terms agreed for it.
6.1You must not request a check unless the driver has authorised your organisation to obtain their DVLA licence information and you hold a record of that authority. When you send a consent request through Orbis, the driver's completed consent form is that record. When you request a check from orbisio.co.uk, you confirm on the form that the driver has authorised the check and has been given the Driver Privacy Notice, and that you are authorised to request it.
6.2You may use the information only to confirm the driver's entitlement to drive for employment or fleet-compliance purposes. You must not sell it, publish it or pass it to anyone else unless the law requires you to.
6.3You must keep the information secure, limit access to the people who need it, and keep it no longer than that purpose requires.
6.4You must tell us straight away, and in any case within 24 hours, if you suspect that DVLA information obtained through Orbis has been lost, misused or accessed without authority. Covase has to report such incidents to DVLA.
6.5You must give us the information we reasonably ask for to show that a check was authorised, including when DVLA audits Covase's use of the ADD service.
6.6You are responsible for every check requested by your users or through your account, including through the Orbis API.
6.7DVLA sets these conditions for every organisation that receives information through the ADD service. A breach can lead DVLA to suspend Covase's access, so we may suspend your checks under section 8.
7.1Covase processes drivers' personal data as a controller to make each check, as described in the Driver Privacy Notice. The notice explains what we hold, why, and for how long.
7.2You are a separate controller of the results you receive and use. You need your own lawful basis, and you must meet your own obligations under UK data protection law.
7.3Driver data is hosted in the UK. Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dpo@covase.co.uk.
8.1We may change these terms or the fee schedule by giving your administrator at least 30 days' notice by email. The new version is published on this page with a new version number, and it applies to checks requested after it takes effect.
8.2You can stop using pay-on-use checks at any time. To close your organisation's DVLA checks account, contact us. Charges for checks already made remain payable.
8.3We may suspend checks for your organisation, with notice where we can give it, if an invoice is unpaid 14 days after it is due, if we reasonably believe a check was requested without the driver's authority or otherwise in breach of section 6, or if DVLA suspends or ends Covase's access to the ADD service.
9.1We take reasonable care to request and display each record accurately. The record itself is DVLA's: we are not responsible for errors in it, or for the DVLA service being unavailable.
9.2Our total liability to you under these terms in any 12 months is limited to the charges you paid for DVLA checks in that period. We are not liable for loss of profit or for indirect or consequential loss.
9.3Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.
10.1These terms and the fee schedule are the whole agreement for DVLA licence checks. Other Orbis services are covered by their own terms.
10.2These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.
Covase Ltd · hello@orbisio.co.uk · 0345 369 7105