Section Six of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA)’s Code of Practice states that the vehicle manufacturer must notify the DVSA as soon as possible once a safety defect has been identified, and include information about the make and model of the vehicles, third party components which may be involved, a description of the defect and estimated number of vehicles affected, and the potential risk to safety caused by the defect.

Vehicle manufacturers must then contact owners of affected vehicles (e.g. in writing by letter) to notify them about the recall, and the next steps to get any defects identified, repaired.