The short answer
On 23 September 2026 a UK car history check cost between £3.99 and £39.99 for a single report, depending on the provider and what the report includes. The two most-searched prices: an hpi check® is £19.99 (its Basic tier is £9.99, its three-pack £29.99), and a carVertical report is £39.99 (two for £51.98, three for £62.97). Carhealth's full report is £19.99, or from £9.99 a report on bundles and the weekly plan.
The spread is not random. Below about £5 you are usually buying a report without the outstanding finance check. Between £8 and £10 you can get finance, write-off and stolen from a couple of providers. Around £15 to £20 you get the same plus a £30,000 data guarantee, or an AI reading of the history. At £40 you are paying for international records. This guide walks through each price point so you know what you are, and are not, buying.
- Free (£0): MOT history with mileage at every test, tax and SORN status, DVLA vehicle details. From GOV.UK, or in one place on the Carhealth free check. Never includes finance, write-off or stolen records.
- £3.99 to £4.99: write-off and stolen checks without the finance check (Total Car Check Silver £3.99, mycarcheck Basic £4.99).
- £8.49 to £9.99: the cheapest full checks with finance, write-off and stolen (mycarcheck £8.49, Total Car Check Gold £9.99, hpi check® Basic £9.99 but without write-off details or mileage discrepancies).
- £14.99 to £19.99: full check plus either a £30,000 guarantee (the AA £14.99, hpi check® £19.99) or an AI reading of the history with a buyer's guide and salvage photos (Carhealth £19.99).
- £39.99: carVertical, built on international sources, for cars with a history outside the UK.
- Bundles change everything: two to five reports bring most providers down to £3 to £11 a report.
- The finance check is the one that protects your money. Whatever you pay, make sure it is in.
What you get at each price
All prices and inclusions were read from each provider's own UK website on 23 September 2026 (carVertical's pricing page as captured 22 September). "Not listed" means the item was not on the page we read, not that the provider cannot supply it.
£0: the free checks
| Source | What you get |
|---|---|
| GOV.UK MOT history | Every MOT since 2005: pass or fail, mileage at each test, what failed, next due date |
| GOV.UK vehicle enquiry | Tax rate and expiry, SORN, MOT expiry, first registration, V5C issue date, engine, fuel, CO2, export status |
| Carhealth free check | Make, model and colour, full MOT history, tax status and due date, recorded mileage readings, in one view |
| mycarcheck free check | MOT status and history, valuation, make and model, AI insights (its page states finance, stolen and write-off are excluded) |
| CarCheck.co.uk free check | Make, model, MOT and tax dates, mileage registrations, recalls, export, scrapped |
What no free check includes: outstanding finance, insurance write-off category, police stolen record, keeper count. Those come from licensed databases that charge per lookup. If a site offers them "free", it is a registration lookup with a paid upsell behind it. Our free HPI check explainer goes through this in detail.
£3.99 to £4.99: write-off and stolen, no finance
| Provider | Price | Includes | Leaves out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Car Check Silver | £3.99 (5 for £9.99) | Written-off check, stolen, plate changes, keepers, DVLA fields, £10,000 guarantee | Outstanding finance (that is in Gold) |
| mycarcheck Basic | £4.99 | Write-off, stolen, export, scrapped, plate transfers, specs, AI insights | Outstanding finance (its page says so) |
These are useful if finance is genuinely not a concern, for example a 15-year-old car sold by a long-term keeper. HPI's own homepage says 1 in 3 cars it checks has an active finance agreement or loan against it; skipping that check to save £5 is the wrong economy.
£8.49 to £9.99: the cheapest full checks
| Provider | Price | Includes | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| mycarcheck Comprehensive | £8.49 (2 for £9.99 in its autumn sale, 5 for £19.99) | Finance, write-off, stolen, export, valuation, AI insights | No data guarantee stated |
| Total Car Check Gold | £9.99 (3 for £14.99, 5 for £19.99) | Finance, log book loans, valuation, ex-taxi, write-off, salvage history, stolen, import and export, scrapped, VIN, plates, keepers, 50+ checks | £30,000 guarantee |
| hpi check® Basic | £9.99 | Its page says: no guarantee, and write-off details and mileage discrepancies not included | A different product from the £19.99 full check |
At this price point the two labelled "£9.99" are not equivalent: Total Car Check's Gold includes finance, write-off and a guarantee; hpi check®'s Basic excludes write-off details. Read the tier, not the number.
£14.99 to £19.99: full check plus a guarantee or an explanation
| Provider | Price | What the extra buys |
|---|---|---|
| The AA | £14.99 (5 at £6 each) | HPI-provided report: finance, stolen, write-off, mileage, keepers, plate transfers, V5C match, VIN; £30,000 guarantee |
| hpi check® | £19.99 (3 for £29.99) | 80+ data points: finance, write-off, stolen, keepers, scrapped, logbook check, mileage discrepancies, plate changes, valuation, MOT history, VIN; £30,000 guarantee; support seven days a week |
| Carhealth | £19.99 (2 for £29.99, 5 for £54.99, weekly plan £9.99 for 2 codes) | Finance, write-off with category, stolen, mileage, full MOT history, keepers, plate changes, scrapped, imported, exported, taxi check, valuation, salvage auction records with photos where they exist, plus an AI reading of the whole history, a buyer's guide for the model and its common faults. No data guarantee; full refund where no data is found, 14-day refund on unused reports |
This is where most buyers should sit for a car worth more than a few thousand pounds. The choice inside the band is between a financial backstop (the AA and hpi check® both state £30,000) and a report that reads the data for you (Carhealth). Neither is wrong; they are different products at similar prices.
£39.99: international records
| Provider | Price | What the extra buys |
|---|---|---|
| carVertical | £39.99 (2 for £51.98, 3 for £62.97) | Reports built from "over 1,000 international sources" (their description): damage and write-offs, mileage, unpaid fines and debts, stolen, timeline, market value; "report return guarantee" |
If the car was first registered in Germany, Poland, France or anywhere else before coming to the UK, a UK-only check will show you its UK life and nothing before it. That is carVertical's case, and it is the reason for the price. For a car that has always been in the UK, its UK pricing page does not itemise the UK records the British services list, so check what you are getting.
The two prices people search for most
How much is an hpi check? £19.99 for the full hpi check®, £9.99 for the Basic check (which its page says leaves out write-off details and mileage discrepancies and has no guarantee), and £29.99 for a MultiCheck of three. Read from home.hpicheck.com on 23 September 2026.
How much is a carVertical check? £39.99 for one report, £51.98 for two (£25.99 each), £62.97 for three (£20.99 each). Read from carvertical.com/gb/pricing as captured on 22 September 2026. There is no free carVertical report; its page says each report requires paid database access.
For a row-by-row comparison of those two against Total Car Check and Carhealth, see carVertical vs HPI vs Total Car Check.
How to spend the least without missing the thing that matters
- Run the free check first on every car you are considering. It filters out cars with a broken MOT record, a mileage that runs backwards or a long SORN before you pay anything.
- Pay for one full check on the car you are serious about, and make sure the tier you buy lists outstanding finance. It is the record most likely to cost you the car.
- If you are checking several cars over a few weeks, buy a bundle or use a weekly plan. Most providers drop to £3 to £11 a report that way.
- Pay for the guarantee if the car is expensive and you want a financial backstop; pay for the explanation if you want to know what the findings mean for that model and what to look at in person.
- Never pay £40 for a UK-only car unless you have a reason to believe it lived abroad.
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How we compiled this
Prices and inclusions were read from: home.hpicheck.com, carvertical.com/gb/pricing (captured 22 September 2026), totalcarcheck.co.uk/Prices, mycarcheck.com, theaa.com/vehicle-check, carcheck.co.uk, gov.uk/check-mot-history, gov.uk/get-vehicle-information-from-dvla and carhealth.co.uk/pricing, all on 23 September 2026 unless stated. We have not tested the reports against the same vehicle for this article and make no claim about any provider's accuracy. Prices change; we re-check this page quarterly, and you can tell us if something is out of date.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest car history check with a finance check?
On 23 September 2026, mycarcheck's comprehensive check at £8.49, then Total Car Check Gold at £9.99. Both list outstanding finance, write-off and stolen.
Is a £19.99 check better than a £9.99 one?
Not automatically. Total Car Check Gold at £9.99 lists the same core records as hpi check® at £19.99, with the same £30,000 guarantee figure. What the £19.99 tier from Carhealth adds is the AI analysis, buyer's guide, common faults and salvage photos. Compare what is listed, not the price.
Why is carVertical more expensive?
Its reports are built on international sources, which is what an imported car needs and a UK-only car usually does not.
Does a more expensive check have better data?
For a UK-registered car, the core records (finance, write-off, stolen, keepers, MOT) come from the same kinds of licensed sources whoever you buy from. Price differences mostly reflect guarantees, extras like AI analysis or salvage photos, international coverage, and the provider's business model.
How much is a Carhealth check?
£19.99 for one full report; £29.99 for two; £54.99 for five; or £9.99 a week for two report codes. The free check of the public data costs nothing. Details on the pricing page.
Prices verified 23 September 2026. Carhealth Ltd is not affiliated with any other provider named. hpi check®, carVertical, Total Car Check, mycarcheck, CarCheck.co.uk and The AA are trade marks of their respective owners.