What is an HPI check?
An HPI check is a UK vehicle history report that confirms whether a vehicle is stolen, has outstanding finance, has been written off by an insurer, has mileage discrepancy, or has had its plate, colour or keeper details changed. The term comes from Hire Purchase Information, the original provider; today it's a generic term for any vehicle provenance check.
Running a vehicle history check is the single most cost-effective protection step in a UK used car purchase. A check costs £3.99 (£2.50 for subscribers) - the same vehicle bought with hidden finance can be repossessed at any time, even years later, and the buyer has no automatic right to compensation under UK law.
What's included in a DealerPricing history check
Every check covers the main UK provenance records and bundles the results into one downloadable report.
- Stolen vehicle check (Police National Computer / PNC)
- Outstanding finance check (HP, PCP, conditional sale registers)
- Insurance write-off check covering Cat A, B, S and N (MIAFTR)
- Mileage discrepancy detection across all MOT records
- Plate change history (cherished transfers)
- Colour change history (DVLA-recorded)
- Previous keeper count and transfer dates
- Export, import and scrappage markers
- Full MOT history from 2005 with advisories and defects
- DVLA vehicle details, current tax and MOT expiry
Why a DealerPricing history check costs £3.99
A full HPI Check® is £19.99 on HPI's own site. DealerPricing checks the same categories of record (police stolen, outstanding finance, insurance write-off, mileage and DVLA data) for £3.99 because the platform is built primarily for motor traders who run hundreds of checks per month - the unit economics are different to a one-off consumer check.
For one-off buyers the price is £3.99. There's no signup, no subscription and no recurring charge. For DealerPricing subscribers (plans from £70/month) the price is £2.50 per check, deducted from the account balance.
(HPI is a registered trade mark of its owner; DealerPricing is not affiliated with or endorsed by HPI Group.)
When should you run a vehicle history check?
Always before paying any deposit on a used vehicle, and before final purchase if any time has passed between deposit and collection. Vehicle records can change between those two events - particularly finance status - so the check is most valuable run as close to handover as possible.
Dealers also run history checks on their own stock when buying at auction, on trade-in, or before listing a vehicle for sale, so the provenance report can be supplied to the eventual retail buyer as part of the sale.