Checking outstanding finance - which service to go for?

Ebe_Scrooge

It's worth just mentioning - if you're buying from a reputable dealer, they'll usually have done an HPI check themselves anyway. To protect themselves, more than anything, because they would end up in a heap of trouble if they sold a car which did not legally belong to them due to finance being outstanding on it.

EdGasketTheSecond

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

It's worth just mentioning - if you're buying from a reputable dealer, they'll usually have done an HPI check themselves anyway. To protect themselves, more than anything, because they would end up in a heap of trouble if they sold a car which did not legally belong to them due to finance being outstanding on it.

That should be true but on the Radio 4 program 'You and Yours' (in August this year), a couple had bought a motor home from a dealer for £50K. Some time later they got a knock on the door late at night to say it had been re-possessed as there was finance on it. Sure enough the motor home was no longer outside; it had been taken. Meanwhile the dealer had gone out of business. Basically they have lost £50K and can't do anything about it. With hindsight they say they should have done their own HPI check but knew nothing about it at the time.