▸ History & Provenance · UK Network
smarthpi.com takes the forensic route through UK vehicle data. Where a basic check reports a flag, this one reports the flag, the source, the surrounding record and what a careful buyer should do about it next. AI-Scored History Check applies AI risk scoring to every UK vehicle report. See not just the data — see the risk. Read on for what each finding means in practice and where a check stops being enough on its own.
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.
Work top-down: outstanding finance first, because it is the only finding that can cost you the car and the money. Then theft and write-off markers, which decide whether the vehicle is legally and commercially what the advert claims. Mileage, plate history and MOT advisories come next — they rarely end a purchase on their own, but together they tell you how honestly the car has been described.
If a UK lender has an open agreement against the vehicle, that agreement legally follows the car rather than the seller. Buying a car under outstanding finance — even unknowingly — can leave the new owner liable for repayment or the vehicle subject to repossession. The check returns the lender's name, the agreement type (HP, PCP or lease) and the start date, with the recommended next step being a settlement letter from the lender before any money changes hands.
Running a check on your own car before listing gives you the same picture the buyer will see. If there is a settled finance agreement still showing, or an old Category N from a previous owner, it is far better to disclose it in the advert with the paperwork ready than to have a buyer discover it on the driveway with cash in hand.
/ Brand consolidation
smarthpi.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 smarthpi.com continue to resolve here. If you were referred to smarthpi.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.
Walk away. Any legitimate UK seller has no reason to object to a vehicle check — they should be running one themselves before listing.
Keep the PDF for at least two years. If a dispute later arises with the seller or with an insurer, the dated report is the primary evidence that the issue was either declared or undeclared at the point of sale.
It is worth doing before selling. You see exactly what a buyer will see, and any historic marker from a previous owner can be disclosed in the advert with the paperwork ready rather than discovered on the driveway.
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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.