Car Data Check
Useful Information
About Finance Agreements
If a loan or hire purchase agreement secured on a car is still outstanding and you buy the car, the finance company will retain a legal interest in it until the loan is repaid in full – they may even repossess it. You may believe that as an innocent purchaser you would retain good title on a vehicle in this situation. However, you would have to prove your status as an innocent purchaser to the finance company which, in practice, is an extremely difficult and lengthy process.
What to do if Finance is recorded
The details of the agreement and the finance company are shown in the AA Car Data Check report. You should contact the finance company and ask if the agreement has been fully repaid. If it has, ask for written confirmation and only consider buying the vehicle once you have it.
If it is outstanding, ask the vendor to obtain a settlement figure from the finance company (they will not supply this to you as it is considered to be personal data and is covered by Data Protection).
You can confirm this figure with the finance company. You should then pay the outstanding sum directly to the finance company, and pay any balance to the vendor. If the settlement figure is greater than the asking price, both you and the vendor should pay the finance company together.
The finance company should automatically contact Experian to remove the data from the vehicle.
What is Unit Stocking?
Unit Stocking is a motor dealer's finance agreement. If you are buying from a dealer and this shows on your report, talk to the dealer about it and ask for confirmation of their liability in writing if you have any concerns.
The exception to the above is Unit Stocking, which is a motor dealers finance agreement. If you are buying from a dealer and this shows on your report, talk to the dealer about it and ask for confirmation of their liability in writing if you have any concerns.
If you would like more information about a finance agreement please contact Customer Services.
What does High Risk mean?
If the car is recorded as being at 'High Risk' it usually means that a third party has an interest in the vehicle and is trying to track its movement within the market to prevent it being sold on without good title. It often relates to a finance agreement, or a dispute over ownership. It is not connected with the physical condition of the vehicle.
What happens next?
You should not proceed with the purchase until our Service Support Team have fully investigated it on your behalf. They will contact you once they have a response from the company who recorded the interest.
Please note that if a car appears on this database, we are obliged to inform the company that registered the 'High Risk' of the details of the check.
Stolen Vehicle Database
The Police National Computer (PNC) is updated by the police each time a vehicle is reported stolen. If you check a vehicle which appears on this database, we are obliged to inform the Police. Our Service Support Team will then contact you with any further information available.
Do not consider proceeding with the purchase until you have received written confirmation from our Service Support Team that it has been recovered. If you buy a stolen vehicle it remains the property of the true owner or their insurance company who can repossess it.
Cloned Or Ringed Vehicles
A "clone" or "ringer" is a vehicle which has been stolen and has been given a false registration number and VIN. If this has happened, the data supplied will be for a different, but identical, vehicle. A clone or ringer is not covered by AA Car Data Check Insurance.
The data supplied will not identify this situation but you can reduce the risk of buying a clone if you follow our Buying Advice.
