As if buying a car weren’t stressful enough, with visual checks, paperwork, insurance, road tax and just the sheer cost of it all, you also need to be aware of the chance of its being stolen. Yes, stolen! And we’re not just talking about old cars that have changed hands many times. These days, professional car thieves work in sophisticated, organised gangs and know exactly what to do in order to conceal their tracks to a remarkable degree. You need to have your wits about you and be as alert and savvy as possible before handing over your hard-earned cash for something which could be stolen – in effect, someone else’s property.
A stolen car check will reveal the date of theft, if there has been one, together with supporting information such as the particular police force in question. Quite often it is offered as part of a package along with other useful information, such as:
There is also the possibility of having a full car history report, which checks extra things such as financial and insurance history and claims, certificate of destruction and mileage anomaly. While it might seem a bit over the top, it is surely better to do the groundwork beforehand, so that you’re not left with a much bigger problem at some point down the line.
If you take the risk of not doing a proper car check that sifts through criminal history, from a private seller… and it turns out to be stolen, then the police are within their rights to reclaim it from you. You can also experience the possibility of being interrogated by the police, who will treat you as a potential suspect in their ongoing enquiries. The assumption would be that you have handled stolen goods and possibly knew you were doing so!
Your insurance company will be the next to get involved. They will not rush their decision-making process which can take months and will thoroughly want to rule out fraud before offering you a disbursement of sorts, or not. It is possible that you won’t receive anything, due in part to your lack of proper checking done before purchase. It is probable that, if you receive some sort of reimbursement, it won’t be for the same amount you originally paid to the person who sold it to you.