HPI Check: What It Covers, What It Costs, and What 'HPI Clear' Really Proves

Disclosure: hpi check is a Solera product. Caraxle sells a competing check, and our row is marked in the table below. Prices are from each company's own site on 28 October 2026.

"HPI clear" is one of the most common phrases in British used car adverts, and one of the least examined. It sounds like a certificate. It is a sentence the seller typed. Here is what the real HPI check covers, how its guarantee works, and what to ask before you rely on someone else's.

What is an HPI check?

It is a car history check sold by Solera under the hpi check brand, which says it has been protecting car buyers since 1938 [1]. The name stuck so well that "HPI check" is now used for any check of this kind, whoever sells it.

The full check costs £19.99 and HPI says it covers more than 80 data points [1]. Four of them decide most buying decisions:

• Outstanding finance, a loan or agreement still secured on the car;
• Write-off history, whether an insurer declared it a total loss;
• Stolen records, whether it is on the Police National Computer as stolen [1];
• Mileage discrepancies, readings that do not add up.

Citizens Advice describes the same kind of check, which it calls a private history check, as costing up to £20 and telling you whether the car is stolen, whether money is owed on it, whether it was written off and returned to the road, and whether the mileage is correct [2].

How does the HPI guarantee work?

The full check comes with a £30,000 guarantee [1]. Two details matter. The £9.99 Basic Check does not carry it, and it also leaves out mileage discrepancies and write-off details [1]. And the guarantee is activated by entering the car's VIN and V5C details [1].

That second detail is useful even if you never claim. To activate it you have to read the VIN off the V5C, and that is the moment to check it matches the VIN on the car itself. If the seller's log book and the car disagree, Citizens Advice's advice is to report the seller to the police [2], and no guarantee will help you with a car that is not what its paperwork says.

What does HPI clear in an advert actually prove?

On its own, nothing. It means the seller says a check came back with no markers. Before you treat it as evidence, ask to see the check itself and look at three things:

The date is the one sellers skip. Finance can be taken out against a car after a clean check, and anything reported since will not be on it, so a check from months ago describes the car as it was then. Plates matter too. HPI says one in four cars it checks has had its number plate changed [1], and its plate change check looks for anything outstanding on a previous plate [1]. When you compare checks, ask whether they follow the car across its previous plates, because a cherished plate transfer is exactly when history can get separated from the car in front of you.

What if the car was not HPI clear after all?

Keep the advert. Citizens Advice says that if a used car does not match the advert or description you were given, you might have a legal right to a repair, the cost of a repair, or some or all of your money back [3]. A screenshot of "HPI clear" next to a check that shows finance or a write-off is the kind of evidence that supports that claim. It is still far easier to find out before you pay than to recover the money afterwards.

How does an HPI check compare with the other routes?

Route	Finance	Write-off	Stolen	Mileage	Price
Seller says HPI clear	Only if you see the check	Only if you see the check	Only if you see the check	Only if you see the check	Free
Free GOV.UK checks [4]	No	No	No	MOT readings only	Free
HPI Basic Check [1]	Yes	No	Yes	No	£9.99
HPI full check [1]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	£19.99
Caraxle Full Check	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	£12.99

Source: hpi check, GOV.UK and Caraxle, checked 28 October 2026

The free GOV.UK services are the right first step and cost nothing. They show tax and SORN status, MOT expiry, first registration and the date of the last V5C [4], and the MOT history gives you the mileage at each test. They do not show finance, write-off or stolen markers, and keeper details have to be requested from DVLA in writing [4]. Our free car check guide walks through what each free service returns.

How often does a check find something?

More often than buyers expect. HPI says one in three cars it checks has an active finance agreement or loan against it [1]. Treat that as HPI's own figure about cars people chose to check, not a rate for every car on the road. It describes cars that someone was about to buy or sell, which is the market you are shopping in, and that is the point.

What does checking a shortlist cost?

If you are choosing between three cars, the route you pick changes the bill more than the brand does. We priced full history checks on three cars at Caraxle and HPI prices:

Full history checks on a three car shortlist, in pounds

Bought one at a time, three HPI full checks cost £59.97 and three Caraxle Full Checks cost £38.97. HPI's Multicheck of three full checks for £29.99 [1] is the cheapest of the three routes, if you already know you will check three cars. If you are checking one car, the Caraxle Full Check at £12.99 costs £7 less than HPI's single full check. Our HPI check alternative comparison sets those prices against the rest of the market.

What will an HPI check not tell you?

The condition of the car. Every line on a history check is a record someone filed: a lender registering an agreement, an insurer settling a claim, the police recording a theft, a tester noting the mileage. Damage that was repaired privately and never claimed on insurance leaves no record, and neither does a gearbox on its way out. A clean check means nothing was filed against the car. It does not mean nothing happened to it.

That is why the same Citizens Advice guidance that recommends a history check also tells you to view the car in daylight, preferably when it is dry so damage is easier to spot, to ask about its service history, and to take it for a test drive [2]. The check tells you whether the car is safe to buy legally. The viewing, the service book and a mechanic tell you whether it is worth buying.

What should you do with the result?

• Finance showing: do not pay the seller until the lender confirms it is settled. Our car history check guide explains where you stand if you buy a car that still has finance on it.
• Write-off marker: find out the category and have the repair inspected. Our write-off check page explains what each category means.
• Stolen marker: walk away and tell the police.
• Clean: good, now book an inspection, because no history check describes the brakes.

The short version

An HPI check is a good check with a well known name, and HPI clear is only as good as the check behind it. Ask to see it, match the registration, VIN and date to the car, and if any of the three is wrong, or the check is old, run your own. Whichever provider you choose, make sure it includes finance, write-off, stolen and mileage, because those are the four that decide whether the car is worth the money, or yours to keep.