Buying a motorbike from a reposession company

Charliezoo

I've been offered a good deal on a bike but I'm wondering if it could be more hassle than its worth.

It belongs to a repo company at the moment, they removed it off some private land it had been parked on for 10 months when the land owners complained it was causing an obstruction and needed it removing. The repo company HPI checked it and it was clear, they contacted the DVLA and they sent the repo company a new V5 effectively signing ownership over to them (I presume the DVLA did lengthy checks before doing so).

I'm wondering if this is something I should avoid, could the old owner suddenly appear and demand his/her bike back? Could some previously unknown finance company start demanding money? I would of course get my own HPI check before buying but wondered if this story sounded plausable or whether I should leave well alone! It would be a shame as the repo company are selling it at a really good price, if I did go for it is there any insurance or anything I can do to protect myself from any potential future problems?

paddedjohn

I cant see a problem as long as the HPI checks are clear, my only concern would be the original (possible rightful) owner recognising the plate and trying to get the bike back off me if they 'lost' it under suspicious circumstances, but even this senario probably wouldnt happen.

forgotmyname

Only insurance to cover yourself from losing out is only paying a figure that you are willing to lose
if the worse happens. Is it fairly new or fairly old? £££ Hundreds or thousands?

DVLA lengthy check ??? They would have sent a letter to the previous registered keepers address
saying someone is registering it. Thats the extent of their lengthy check.

They get 30 days to reply but you may get the new book before then.

Could be unwanted but also could be missing without the previous owners knowledge, Maybe stored
in a friends garage, They fall out & he dumps the bike without telling him or moves?

King_Nothing

V5 is only proof of registered keeper, it's not proof of ownership, the real owner could crop up and have a legal claim on the bike is the way I would view it. I'd personally avoid and look for a bike elsewhere.