PPSR search: what it is, what it covers, how to run one

The Personal Property Securities Register is the Australian Government's national register of security interests over personal property, meaning almost anything that is not land or buildings. The Australian Financial Security Authority (AFSA) runs it. Lenders, lessors and suppliers register interests on it; anyone can search it. It replaced dozens of state and Commonwealth registers, including the REVS vehicle registers, in 2012.

A search tells you whether a registration exists against the thing or the person you searched, who the secured party is and when the registration runs. It does not tell you how much is owed; the register holds no balances.

• Motor vehicles, by VIN, chassis number or manufacturer's number. Cars, utes, motorcycles, trucks, and caravans and trailers that carry a VIN or chassis number. The vehicle search also returns the NEVDIS block: stolen status (except Tasmania), written-off status and registration details.
• Watercraft, by hull identification number (HIN). Boats and jet skis are searched this way; no NEVDIS data is returned.
• Aircraft, by their serial numbers, and some intellectual property.
• Other goods and whole businesses, through a grantor search: the register is searched by the organisation's ABN or ACN rather than by a serial number. This is how a buyer of a business or its equipment checks for interests over stock, plant and receivables.
• Individuals as grantors, by name and date of birth. A search by a person's details is permitted only for specific purposes set out in the legislation. It is a tool for lenders and professionals rather than a used-car buyer.

Go to ppsr.gov.au, choose the motor vehicle search, enter the VIN and your email address and pay $2.00 by card. No account is needed. The certificate arrives by email with a 16-digit search number, and you can reissue it free at any time with that number. If you enter the wrong number the PPSR still runs the search and charges you, and a manufacturer's-number search returns no NEVDIS data.

The one thing the PPSR will not do, through its website or its business channel, is accept a registration plate. The register indexes vehicles by serial number. Every site that offers a "PPSR search by rego" converts the plate to a VIN first, and so do we.

1. Enter the number plate and state, or a VIN, in the search box above.
2. We look up the plate through a vehicle-data service and show you the make, model and year. You confirm it is the right car before paying anything.
3. Choose the $12.95 certificate or the $27.95 report and pay by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. The $2.00 government fee is itemised inside the price.
4. We run the PPSR search on the VIN, attach the official certificate unaltered with its search number, and open a plain-English verdict page. Most arrive within two minutes.
5. Mistyped the plate, or the register returned no vehicle data? We re-run it free. No certificate delivered? Full refund.

The two phrases describe the same transaction. "PPSR search" is the register's own term and is what lawyers, lenders and business buyers say; it covers grantors and serial-numbered goods of every kind. "PPSR check" is what used-car buyers say, and almost always means the motor vehicle search by VIN. Our search box runs the vehicle search only. For a watercraft, aircraft or grantor search, use ppsr.gov.au directly.

A vehicle certificate has two parts. The PPSR section either states that no security interest or other registration kind is registered against the serial number, or lists each registration. Each shows the secured party, the registration period and the collateral class. The NEVDIS section shows stolen status, write-off status with damage codes, and the plate, expiry, make, model and colour held for the VIN. Our report page sets each item out in plain English and keeps the certificate PDF attached.