PistonHeads > Gassing Station > General Gassing > Speed, Plod & the Law > Bought a stolen car - Advice needed
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dr.pepper

Original PosterOriginal Poster

482 posts

21 months

[news] 
Wednesday 4th November quote
A close friend of mine purchased an accident damaged Vauxhall Astra 3 months ago. Before he bought the car, he HPI'd it and it came back clear. He then had it repaired and took it for a VIC test, which it passed.

This morning his car was seized from him and he was told it was stolen. He is pretty much at wits end trying to figure out what he can do.

I would greatly appreciate any advice that you guys can offer.

markmullen

7,659 posts

61 months

[news] 
Wednesday 4th November quote
Where did he buy it? Dealer? Private? Auction? Ebay?

Deva Link

8,997 posts

72 months

[news] 
Wednesday 4th November quote
Did he buy it privately, or from some sort of dealer?

If private, did he abide by all the terms of the HPi check, especially buying from the address on the V5C and not paying cash?

Rollcage

1,406 posts

19 months

[news] 
Wednesday 4th November quote
Never a good situation - if he has bought privately he will be pretty much knackered. If from a trader then he has a glimmer of hope.

Not much else to add - doubt HPI will be much help either.

Engineer1

1,868 posts

36 months

[news] 
Wednesday 4th November quote
If he has the HPI result he should have a case with someone, and I would assume that the first port of call is the HPI company.
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poo at Paul's

308 posts

2 months

[news] 
Wednesday 4th November quote
If he passed a Vic check, how can they now say its nicked? But also, if HPI clear, why did it need a VIC check? Only need one for cat c for them to issue a V5.

Sounds like you need some more info.

HRG.

39,746 posts

66 months

[news] 
Wednesday 4th November quote
Doesn't the HPI include insurance against this sort of thing?

dr.pepper

Original PosterOriginal Poster

482 posts

21 months

[news] 
Wednesday 4th November quote
Thanks for the replies. Just going to add some more info as the OP was a bit vague.

He bought the car privately and paid by cash. The Hpi check indicated that the car was a CAT C but it didn't say anything about the car being stolen.

Oddly enough, the car still got through a VIC check despite being stolen?

Engineer1

1,868 posts

36 months

[news] 
Wednesday 4th November quote
Sounds like a foul up some where, maybe someone put it down as the wrong category?

Gareth79

1,597 posts

73 months

[news] 
Wednesday 4th November quote
Engineer1 said:
Sounds like a foul up some where, maybe someone put it down as the wrong category?
Or that it was reported stolen, and not subsequently marked as recovered and disposed of?


dr.pepper

Original PosterOriginal Poster

482 posts

21 months

[news] 
Wednesday 4th November quote
I hope so. The Police advised my friend that the car had been stolen from Scotland and would now be returned to it's rightful owner.

My friend is seeing a solicitor tomorrow morning, but it doesn't look too good for him at this point.

HRG.

39,746 posts

66 months

[news] 
Wednesday 4th November quote

At HPI, we work hard to ensure that the data we receive and manage is the best available but no data source is perfect. That's why your HPI vehicle check includes the HPI Guarantee. Subject to the HPI Guarantee Terms & Conditions, the HPI Guarantee provides up to £30,000(£15,000 for written off vehicles) reimbursement of financial loss you suffer arising from inaccurate or incomplete information we supply to you as part of the HPI Check. As you'd expect from HPI, the cover is the most comprehensive available today.

filthstreet

218 posts

20 months

[news] 
Thursday 5th November quote
Has the private seller disappeared with the cash? cough baseballbat cough

Deva Link

8,997 posts

72 months

[news] 
Thursday 5th November quote
HRG. said:
At HPI, we work hard to ensure that the data we receive and manage is the best available but no data source is perfect. That's why your HPI vehicle check includes the HPI Guarantee. Subject to the HPI Guarantee Terms & Conditions, the HPI Guarantee provides up to £30,000(£15,000 for written off vehicles) reimbursement of financial loss you suffer arising from inaccurate or incomplete information we supply to you as part of the HPI Check. As you'd expect from HPI, the cover is the most comprehensive available today.
As I noted above though, you have to abide by HPI's T's & C's to take advantage of the guarantee. The two usual traps are not buying from the address on the V5C, and paying cash. (From memory cash is OK up to a fairly low level).

Jasandjules

21,357 posts

56 months

[news] 
Thursday 5th November quote
Deva Link said:
and paying cash.
I fail to see why paying cash should be an impediment to any guarantee.

Deva Link

8,997 posts

72 months

[news] 
Thursday 5th November quote
Jasandjules said:
Deva Link said:
and paying cash.
I fail to see why paying cash should be an impediment to any guarantee.
I guess due to the ability to trace the transaction in the event that it was fraudulent.

Anyway, doesn't matter why, it's in HPI's T's & C's.

So there's the HPI Guarantee:
http://www.hpicheck.com/furniture/guarantee.html

and then there's the HPI Guarantee Terms & Conditions:
http://www.hpicheck.com/furniture/termsAndConditio...

""12.6 The HPI Guarantee will not cover you for "cloned" vehicles (a "cloned" vehicle being a vehicle that has been stolen and given a false identity, normally that of an identical vehicle), where the purchase price of the vehicle was greater than £3000 and the purchase of the vehicle was made with cash. (The other terms of your guarantee are not affected.) We recommend that all vehicles are paid for via the banking system, such as, cheque or Bankers draft.""

Edited by Deva Link on Thursday 5th November 10:45

Jasandjules

21,357 posts

56 months

[news] 
Thursday 5th November quote
Yes, I wasn't denying that the term was there, I was questioning whether or not a court would uphold such a term as being reasonable, especially when between a consumer and a business. I fail to see how such a term is reasonable when purchases may often be made in cash (drawn out of a bank etc) and unless such a term was brought to your attention before you engaged the HPI check.


Deva Link

8,997 posts

72 months

[news] 
Thursday 5th November quote
Jasandjules said:
Yes, I wasn't denying that the term was there, I was questioning whether or not a court would uphold such a term as being reasonable, especially when between a consumer and a business. I fail to see how such a term is reasonable when purchases may often be made in cash (drawn out of a bank etc) and unless such a term was brought to your attention before you engaged the HPI check.
A court would probably think you were a bit stupid for handing over a large wodge of cash. In the legal system's eyes, cash = dodgy.

hora

4,890 posts

38 months

[news] 
Thursday 5th November quote
Gareth79 said:
Engineer1 said:
Sounds like a foul up some where, maybe someone put it down as the wrong category?
Or that it was reported stolen, and not subsequently marked as recovered and disposed of?
+1 but how do you get round this? If its returned to the previous owner- how do you know they receive the car back and how do you communicate/find out this? Contact the insurance company who paid out?

Dracoro

2,874 posts

72 months

[news] 
Thursday 5th November quote
dr.pepper said:
A close friend of mine purchased an accident damaged Vauxhall Astra 3 months ago. Before he bought the car, he HPI'd it
Proper HPI or a cheapo one with much lower guarantees?
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