HPI & Bill of Sale Act (Log Book Loan) Protection

[Fireblade69]

After deciding to spend up to 15k on a nice 996 and coming across a few potentials that were tempting, but not quite there, I recently saw an episode of watchdog which highlighted the danger of Log Book Loans being taken out on cars and then the cars sold and the loan defaulting and the car being reposessed from the new owner who knew nothing about it! The scary thing was that they ran a HPI check on it first and it showed up nothing so the new owner thought they were boxing clever.

Now I don't want to spend 15 large on a car only to have to have it taken away, legally, by a finance company so after some investigation I noted that HPI will cover you for up to £30k if it turns out that you got stitched up provided you follow their guidlines.

Now, being the cynic that I am, I'm thinking Payment Protection styley, I.E. They'll only pay out if it's stolen by a one legged chinese dwarf wearing a toupee during a full moon with Jupiter rising in Capricorn or am I too cynical? I don't want to pay through the nose trade and funnily enough, don;t trust most of them that aren't well known specialist and I've seen a nice private one which I want to get properly inspected, including HPI, to ease my concerns but this might be a risk too much.

Does anyone have any experience of HPI enough to advise?

[Fireblade69]

POORCARDEALER said:

Yes, you are, the buck stops with the trader.....trader would then have to sue the person who sold them the car etc

I'm pretty sure a trader would be covered by some sort of insurance scheme. Failing that, they'd probably try to wiggle out of it if it is a business killer which a £15k loss may well be in this climate.

As this is a private deal and I'm relying on the honesty of someone I haven't met as yet, what about accepting a signed statement from them that includes something along the lines of, "As the legal owner of this car, I can confirm that I have no finance outstanding on *car & reg* where said finance is binding against the ownership of said car" or something which is signed by the current owner, myself and possibly a witness. I could then use this as evidence that the owner committed fraud if there was any outstanding unregistered loan against the care and use this as proof if it went to claims court.

Any lawyers in the house care to comment?

Also liking the register at another adress but not sure if that is legal. Anyone have any advice on that?

I've also checked the HPI site and they will cover for this kind of fraud provided you follow the buyers guidelines which, unsurprisingly, I can't find.

[Fireblade69]

I decided to play it safe and go through a reputable dealer. Paying a premium for peace of mind shouldn't have to the case and the law needs changing.