Check a Car for Outstanding Finance
A car with unsettled finance belongs to the lender, not the seller. £3 tells you before you pay.
Outstanding finance is the most common nasty surprise in used-car buying: the seller took out a hire purchase, PCP or logbook loan against the car and never settled it. Legally the finance company owns the vehicle until the agreement is cleared — and they can repossess it from you, the innocent buyer, after you’ve paid.
Our £3 check reports finance agreements recorded against the vehicle — lender, agreement type and date — alongside the stolen marker, write-off category, scrapped status, keeper history, plate changes and valuation. If finance shows up, you ask the seller for a settlement letter before a penny moves.
What the finance check shows
- Active HP, PCP and lease agreements recorded against the vehicle.
- Logbook loans — the highest-risk case, common on cheaper private sales.
- The recording lender and agreement date, so a settlement can be verified.
- Combined with keeper history to spot cars flipped quickly with debt attached.
- Included in the same £3 as the stolen, write-off and history checks.
The seller says the finance is nearly paid off — is that OK?
Only in writing: ask for a settlement figure and either have it cleared before purchase or pay the lender directly as part of the deal. ‘Nearly paid off’ with nothing in writing is how buyers end up with repossessed cars.
Can a finance company really take the car off me?
Yes — until an agreement is settled, the lender owns the car. Innocent-purchaser protections exist in narrow circumstances for HP/PCP, but proving them is slow and uncertain. The £3 check is how you avoid needing them.
Does the check work on any UK vehicle?
Yes — enter the registration and you get the finance position plus the full history report in minutes. One check is also free to re-use on our insurance quotes for 30 days.
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