help!! HPI check clear when bought now a CAT D

[thestig1976]

Hi. We bought a car from a dealer 19 Oct 09. The dealer did a HPI on the car 11 Sept 09 and it was totally clear. Now we have gone to part ex the car and it is appearing as a Cat D. It had the accident 10 May 09 so 4 months prior to the HPI check and didnt show up.

We have contacted HPI and as the check was done by the dealer we do not have a contract with them so cannot claim off them. HPI told us that the Cat D was put on the register in Nov 09 a month after we bought the car!!!! So it took the insurance company 6 MONTHS to inform HPI!!!

The dealer has said its nothing to do with him. The car cost us £15000 and is partly on finance. Where do we stand!!! Help please!

[subsea99]

Get on the phone to the finance company straight away and explain your circumstances.

[Rovinghawk]

The dealer's check was part of the purchase contract; it's his problem.

If in doubt, offer to go to court.

RH

[subsea99]

Get on the phone to the finance company straight away and explain your circumstances.

[E30M3SE]

^^^^^ This, the finance co will be interested as they are the legal owners of that car until you have made all you payments.

[thestig1976]

Hi everyone and thanks for your replies. Just to let you know a few things that we have been told this afternoon.

We have been talking to trading standards who have said that our contract is with the dealer but as the dealer did the appropriate HPI check at the time and it came back clear then he is not at fault.

I have spoken to the legal team at the finance company and have forwarded both copies of the HPI checks to them and they said that they will look into it but there is probably nothing they can do and this will take up to 56 days!!!

How can we not have any comeback when we bought a car in good faith with an up to date HPI check and then they update the register 6 months later. I cant believe that we have lost all this money!!!

[carreauchompeur]

Don't panic. There will be remedies to this. In any case you haven't lost ANYTHING at the moment. Provided the car has been decently repaired it simply means it's worth slightly less as a Cat D.

[TomJS]

thestig1976 said:

Hi everyone and thanks for your replies. Just to let you know a few things that we have been told this afternoon.

We have been talking to trading standards who have said that our contract is with the dealer but as the dealer did the appropriate HPI check at the time and it came back clear then he is not at fault.

I have spoken to the legal team at the finance company and have forwarded both copies of the HPI checks to them and they said that they will look into it but there is probably nothing they can do and this will take up to 56 days!!!

How can we not have any comeback when we bought a car in good faith with an up to date HPI check and then they update the register 6 months later. I cant believe that we have lost all this money!!!

I suspect you will claim from HPI who will then claim from the insurer for failing to notify the write off promptly. You might also be able to claim from the dealer, on the basis that he HAS to inform you if a vehicle was written off, but did not. If you have legal insurance on your home or car insurance then it's time to talk to them. As stated above the finance company may also help - though their interest is limited if you are paying them money on time etc.

[Monkeylegend]

TomJS said:

You might also be able to claim from the dealer, on the basis that he HAS to inform you if a vehicle was written off, but did not. .

Try reading the OP's post again.

[TomJS]

Monkeylegend said:

Try reading the OP's post again.

The dealer might well say it's nothing to do with him. That may well not be true.

[Engineer1]

Unless the dealer either possesses a time machine to be in receipt of information before the information exists or the dealer purchased the car from a salvage yard/ body shop there is no way the dealer can be liable.

[calibrax]

Lesson to be learned here... don't rely on a dealer's HPI check, get your own so you are covered if the HPI info does turn out to be incorrect.

[Engineer1]

If the dealer is covered by HPI's insurance thn you may be in luck that they will be able to settle everything, but I suspect any resolution will involve goodwill rather than legal threats.

[thestig1976]

calibrax said:

Lesson to be learned here... don't rely on a dealer's HPI check, get your own so you are covered if the HPI info does turn out to be incorrect.

This wouldnt have helped as Trading Standards have said that HPI gave us the correct information that they had on file at the time of the check. It is the insurance company who were 6 months late in giving HPI the information. So we wouldnt have been able to claim off HPI if we had done our own.

[pinchmeimdreamin]

Was ths a proper HPI check or something like TXTcheck

[thestig1976]

pinchmeimdreamin said:

Was ths a proper HPI check or something like TXTcheck

It was a proper full HPI check

[Haytch]

Thought this was quite rare, when looking at a new car the dealer proposed something that cost £100 but it was to cover this exact situation.

[robsco]

Haytch said:

Thought this was quite rare, when looking at a new car the dealer proposed something that cost £100 but it was to cover this exact situation.

We sell this to cover for this unlikely event; I've always found it a load of toss to be honest, but this post confirms that it does occasionally happen. Out of the dealer's hands I'd say, he's done everything he needed to do at point of sale. I'd report to my finance company ASAP in this situation.

[duckson]

Any way to find out who the insurance company is who dragged their heels for so long?
Do they not have to declare it in a specific time frame?

[Dracoro]

http://www.hpicheck.com/furniture/guarantee.html

NOT transferrable.

Guarantee for 2 years.

ALWAYS do your own check.

You get what you pay for too, the cheap ones don't check everything and only cover a relatively small amount. HPI cover £30k, most the cheap ones are a few K if that.