What is an HPI Check and what does HPI stand for?
Have you ever asked yourself “What is an HPI Check” well, HPI stands for “Hire Purchase Information” or “Historic to Present Information” and relates to a simple service provided many years ago. Buyers of vehicles were able to use this service to check whether the car they wanted to buy had outstanding finance associated to it.
If a car owner takes a loan out to buy a car and doesn’t pay the loan off, the car belongs to the loan company. If he then sells the car to you, even though you bought the car in good faith, the vehicle can be taken off you.
If you were to ask HPI Ltd. what is an HPI Check. They would tell you it is the name of their Car History Report. HPI Ltd. have trademarked the term HPI. However, over the years an HPI check has become widely known in the car industry as the generic term for car history reports.
Why does the loan company want the car back?
The loan company has the right to repossess the vehicle from the new owner. They take it and sell it to recover the money they were not paid back.
Today’s comprehensive reports provide much more information than just outstanding finance. Data is available instantly on:
- Finance clear.
- Stolen.
- Insurance write off.
- Mileage history.
- Previous Owners.
- VIN Check.
Who Provides these Car History Reports?
There are several companies today that can you give you this type of information. Some are better than others. Without a doubt, HPI Check is the biggest and the best but MyCarCheck.com and AutoCheck.co.uk both provide excellent value for money.
What is an HPI Check – Will it let me check more than one car?
Most companies cater for this. Single checks are more expensive. If you know you will be looking at several vehicles, sign up for a Multi Check Product. These work out much better value for money in the long run.
To compare HPI Check Companies from a number of Providers simply look through the table below.