I read a letter in your column regarding lease purchase. HPI covers
hire purchase information, not lease purchase. Some finance companies don¹t seem to both to register lease purchases with
HPI because the vehicle is theirs until the end of the lease. Good title does not pass until the last payment so anybody disposing of the item is selling stolen goods, as they know it’s not theirs to sell. In my 40 plus years in the motor trade I have come across this a number of times and have known of my customers having to pay the lease to keep the vehicle. The only way of limiting the risk on a private purchase of a lease vehicle is to ask for sight the bill of sale (you don¹t get the original sale documents at time of delivery). Then make a phone call to the dealer. Sellers may not be impressed with your diligence but if they refuse, best to walk out on them.