▸ Classification · Finance & Write-Off
Data sourced from DVLA, MIAFTR, contracted stolen-vehicle data 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.
If the report shows nothing of concern, ask to see the V5C in person and compare the VIN on the document to the one stamped on the chassis and printed on the dash. If the report flags something, raise it directly: a Category N write-off is not necessarily a deal-breaker, but a seller who claims a car has no history when MIAFTR shows otherwise is telling you something important about the rest of the conversation.
A buyer purchasing in good faith from a private seller may still lose the vehicle to the lender. The protection that exists under hire-purchase legislation is narrow and does not extend to trade buyers at all, which is why dealers check every intake and why a private buyer should not assume the law will rescue them.
Hire purchase ends with ownership once the final payment clears. PCP leaves a balloon payment that must be settled or refinanced before title passes. Lease and contract hire never confer ownership at all, so a private seller offering a leased vehicle cannot pass good title under any circumstances.
/ Brand consolidation
carhpiloan.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, contracted UK data providers for stolen-vehicle markers and the UK lender register for outstanding finance. The team 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 carhpiloan.com continue to resolve here. If you were referred to carhpiloan.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
Yes. Markers are permanent and surface at every future sale, quote and part-exchange, so the discount taken on the way in has to be weighed against the discount demanded on the way out.
Get a written settlement letter from the named lender, dated within 7 days of completion, confirming the balance and the lender's discharge on receipt. Pay the settlement portion to the lender directly, the residual to the seller.
Settlement letter first, payment of the settlement amount directly to the lender second, written discharge third, then the balance to the seller and the V5C to you. Paying the seller first is how buyers lose both car and money.
Only narrowly, and trade buyers are not protected at all. The statutory protection around hire-purchase title is limited, so it should never be relied on as a substitute for checking before payment.
/ Also in finance & write-off
See whether a UK car carries a stolen-vehicle marker on the register we query.
Spot a cloned car.
Check for outstanding finance registered against any UK vehicle
Find out if a car has damage history before you buy
See what crashed before.
Write-off? Find out.
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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.