▸ Classification · HPI / Provenance
Data sourced live from DVLA, MIAFTR, PNC and the UK lender register at lookup time.
Typical lookup completes in under one second from the UK.
Built and supported in the UK as part of the consumer side of the network.
/ Insurance shortcuts
Most people checking a vehicle on freecarhpi.com need cover for it within the same day or week. Rather than send you back to a comparison site, the four panels below route directly to UK specialists for the most common short-notice insurance situations.
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Category A means the vehicle must be crushed in its entirety and never re-registered. Category B requires the bodyshell to be destroyed; only mechanical parts may be reused. Category S indicates structural damage that has been professionally repaired. Category N covers non-structural damage repaired to a roadworthy standard. The check returns the recorded category, the year of the entry and, where the insurer has shared it, the recorded damage type.
If a UK police force has logged the vehicle as stolen on the Police National Computer, that marker is returned in the check. PNC is updated by police forces themselves, so a 'no marker' result reflects the position at lookup time. The check should be re-run on the day of collection for any private purchase, since the record can change between viewing and handover.
For vehicles over £10,000, ex-fleet stock, anything advertised as 'just imported' or any car where the registered address sits a long way from the listing, treat a summary check as a starting point rather than the verdict. A full HPI-grade report, a pre-purchase inspection at the seller's address and a finance settlement letter where applicable are the three layers that catch the cases a quick lookup will not.
/ Brand consolidation
freecarhpi.com is now part of Expert Car Check — the consolidated UK vehicle-data platform that several of these older brands have joined. The data sources are unchanged: DVLA's vehicle record, DVSA's MOT history, MIAFTR for write-offs, the Police National Computer feed for theft markers and the UK lender register for outstanding finance. The team, the underwriting partners and the support contact are the same. What's changed is that the work that was previously spread across several smaller brands now sits in one place, which keeps response times tight and the underlying registers maintained against current DVLA schemas. Bookmarks and historic links to freecarhpi.com continue to resolve here. If you were referred to freecarhpi.com by a previous report, broker or print listing, this is the right page — there is no further redirect to chase.
Visit expertcarcheck.com →/ Common questions
Raise it directly with the seller before any money changes hands. A Category N marker is not always a deal-breaker but a seller who denies the marker exists is telling you something separate about the rest of the transaction.
Yes. The same lookup engine covers cars, vans, motorbikes and HGVs, and the report adapts to the vehicle class — van checks include plated weights, motorcycle checks include frame and engine number verification, HGV checks include operator licence notes.
Walk away. Any legitimate UK seller has no reason to object to a vehicle check — they should be running one themselves before listing.
A basic free check returns MOT, tax and a stolen marker. A full HPI check adds outstanding finance, insurance write-off categories, full mileage history with anomaly detection, plate change history and provenance flags. For any purchase over a few thousand pounds, the full check is the relevant one.
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One field. A typical lookup completes in under a second, using the same UK vehicle records relied on by trade buyers and insurers.