Outstanding Finance

About Finance Agreements

If a loan or hire purchase agreement 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 and they may 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 AutoCheck 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.

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