General

1. In these terms and conditions (the "Conditions") the following expressions shall have the following meanings:-
   "we"/ "us"/ "ours" means or refers to HPI Limited, who provides the Information to you;
   "you"/ "your" means or refers to you, the customer, who submits the RAC Check and receives the Information (in each case subject to these Conditions);
   "RAC Check" means an enquiry submitted by you either online at the Website or by telephone to the RAC call centre;
   "Information" means the information supplied by us relating to a motor vehicle recorded on our electronic database in response to your RAC Check;
   "Contract" means the contract between you and us for the supply of the Information made subject to these Conditions; and
   "Website" means the rac.co.uk/checks website on the world wide web.

2. When you submit an RAC Check to us, this constitutes an offer by you to enter into a Contract with us for the provision of Information subject to these Conditions. A Contract will only come into existence between you and us when we provide to you the Information in response to your RAC Check. We reserve the right for any reason and without explanation to decline to enter into a Contract with you.

3. The Contract and all Information provided shall be subject to these Conditions which apply to the exclusion of all other terms, conditions and statements. We will despatch by post to your address (as notified to us by you with your RAC Check), a Certificate of Confirmation containing a written copy of the Information and these Conditions for your records.

4. When submitting your RAC Check at our Website, it is your responsibility to complete the request screens at our Website fully and correctly to ensure a prompt response by us. When submitting your RAC Check over the telephone to our call centre, you must provide our operator with accurate and complete information to ensure we are able to deal with your RAC Check promptly. It is also your responsibility when using RAC's services to notify us if we supply any Information which you know or suspect is incorrect or incomplete.

Charges

You will pay us our charges for the RAC Check at our current levels from time to time, by credit card or any other payment method we accept (details of which are available at the Website or from our call centre operator), before we send you the Information.

Driveaway

Norwich Union Direct Driveaway cover is underwritten by Norwich Union Insurance Limited. Registered Office: 8 Surrey Street, Norwich NR1 3NG. Registered in England No. 99122. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. For purpose of the Data Protection Act 1998, the data controller in relation to any personal data you supply is Norwich Union Insurance Limited. For our joint protection calls may be recorded and/or monitored. Cover not available in N. Ireland. Quotation valid for 60 days. Age restrictions apply. Norwich Union Direct may decline to quote in some circumstances

No right to Cancel

When making an RAC Check at our Website, you agree that you have no right to cancel the Contract under the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 after we have received and commenced processing your RAC Check.

Use of your Personal Data

We obtain and hold vehicle and associated data from many sources, including finance companies, insurers, vehicle owners and the police. This data is used to protect both those making searches and the owners of vehicles on RAC's registers. For that reason, you agree and consent to us disclosing relevant information about you (including your name, address and details of your usage of RAC's services) to any person to whom we consider that it would be expedient to do so, for the sole purposes of preventing, detecting or discouraging crime, for the apprehension or prosecution of offenders, or for the recovery of stolen vehicles or other property. Without limiting the foregoing, you expressly agree and consent to us disclosing any such information about you to:-

1. a person claiming to be owner of a vehicle against which you have submitted a RAC Check; or

2. the police or other law enforcement authorities.

Your use of the Information

The Information we provide to you is for your own personal use. Accordingly you must not sell, supply or otherwise disclose the Information to any third party, but you may supply free of charge a printed copy of the Information to any potential purchaser or the seller of a vehicle to which the Information relates (in the course of negotiating the purchase or sale of the vehicle) provided that the Information is in the form supplied by us (without amendment to any of the contents).

The HPI Guarantee & Exclusion/Limitation of Liability

1. The Information we supply to you includes data supplied to us from a number of sources, including third parties over whom we have no control. The RAC Check therefore includes a guarantee (the "HPI Guarantee") which is designed to cover key types of financial loss ("Loss", as described below at Condition 9) that you may suffer should your RAC Check provide any untrue, inaccurate or incomplete Information. You should ensure that you carefully read through these Conditions before relying upon the Information we provide, as the HPI Guarantee is subject to certain conditions and exclusions which may affect your ability to make a claim under it.

2. You agree, therefore, that we do not warrant that the Information is true, correct or complete and that we shall not:-

   1. (other than upon the terms of the HPI Guarantee) be liable in any circumstances for any loss or damage arising from any inaccuracies, faults or omissions in the Information, unless caused by our negligence or wilful default; and

   2. in any circumstances (including, without limitation, if we have been negligent) be liable for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage at all, or for any loss of business, capital, profit, reputation or goodwill whether caused by us, our servants or agents arising out of or in connection with the Contract or its subject matter.

3. We do not limit or exclude our liability for death or personal injury arising from our negligence or that of our servants or agents.

4. Our entire liability (except for death or personal injury arising from our negligence or that of our servants or agents) in respect of all claims arising out of or in connection with the Contract shall not exceed the amount payable under the HPI Guarantee.

5. We shall not be liable for the accuracy of, or any loss or damage arising from, any Information we supply to you as a result of any incomplete or inaccurate data or information you supply to us or as a result of any other fault attributable to you.

6. Except as expressly provided in the Contract, all other conditions, terms and warranties, express or implied by statute or otherwise are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

7. Each provision of this Condition 7 is to be construed as a separate limitation applying and surviving even if for any reason one or the other of the said provisions is held inapplicable or unreasonable in any circumstances, and shall remain in force notwithstanding the performance of the Contract.

Duration of HPI Guarantee

The HPI Guarantee is effective for a period of one year from the date of your RAC Check (the "Guarantee Period"). No claims submitted outside this period will be considered.

What your HPI Guarantee does and does not cover

1. The Loss which the HPI Guarantee covers means:

   1. a reduction in the market value of the vehicle where the vehicle has been established to our satisfaction as having been written off/declared an “Insurance Loss” or

   2. in the event you fail to acquire good title to the vehicle, our choice of:-

      1. the vehicle's market value (calculated as described below); or

      2. a sum necessarily paid or payable to acquire good title to the vehicle;

      as incurred by you as a direct result of inaccurate or incomplete RAC Check information relating to a vehicle's condition, its financial status, or its theft. Any payment made is limited to the purchase price or the retail market value of the vehicle, whichever is the lower .If the vehicle is purchased below retail value, any payment made under the HPI guarantee will be adjusted to reflect this.

The Loss excludes any loss you suffer which is not a reasonably foreseeable consequence of us providing the inaccurate or incomplete information to you. A loss is foreseeable if it could be anticipated by you and us at the time the RAC Check is made. The Loss also excludes any actual or anticipated profit which you would have made, and any item of improvement, including any addition or alteration, made to the vehicle by you.

For the purpose of quantifying your Loss, the market value of the vehicle will be calculated by reference either to the price you paid for it or its retail value as evidenced by Parker's Guide (adjusted for mileage and condition at the time of purchase), whichever is the lower. We reserve the right to inspect any vehicle which becomes the subject of a claim under the HPI Guarantee, at our own cost. If we do provide an independent inspection, its conclusions will be final, unless they contain an obvious error.

Limit of Indemnity

The maximum limit of indemnity under the HPI Guarantee in respect of a failure to acquire good title is £5,000, where you have supplied us with the Vehicle Identification Number ("VIN"), Vehicle Registration Mark ("VRM") and the serial number and issue date from the Vehicle Registration Document ("V5/Logbook") at the time of your RAC Check, prior to purchase of the vehicle.

Where your claim relates to a reduction in the market value of the vehicle, the HPI Guarantee will not exceed 20% of the market value, or £1,000 whichever is the lower.

Conditions of HPI Guarantee

1. To qualify for the HPI Guarantee, you must do the following before buying your vehicle:

   1. you must ensure that the vehicle is accompanied by a full and current V5/Logbook from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, and provide us with the serial number and issue date from it;

   2. you must check that all the vehicle information provided by us as part of the RAC Check matches the vehicle itself and the corresponding V5/Logbook, and you must notify us immediately of any discrepancies so that we can investigate. This information includes, but is not limited to, the vehicle's make, model and derivative, engine size, colour, transmission, fuel type and door plan;

   3. you must check that the date of first registration of the vehicle we provide as part of the RAC Check matches the date on the corresponding V5/Logbook;

   4. you must provide the VIN to us prior to purchasing the vehicle and check that all the VIN markings on the vehicle match each other and the corresponding V5/Logbook; and

   5. you must obtain a written statement or receipt signed by the seller of the vehicle, containing details of the vehicle's VRM and mileage, the date of purchase, the amount paid and the seller's name and address.

   6. If the vehicle is bought privately then you must purchase it from the keeper and at the address stated on the V5. You must verify the identity of the seller against those on the V5.

2. In the event you are made aware of a potential claim, you must make reasonable efforts to contact the seller of the vehicle (either by telephone, or if a dealer purchase, by visiting the premises) in order to resolve the issue and recover the loss, unless expressly requested not to do so by the Police. We reserve the right to withhold settlement of any claims until we are satisfied that all reasonable efforts have been made.

Exclusions of HPI Guarantee

1. Information we provide on a vehicle's description, value, mileage and accompanying documentation (its V5/Logbook or MOT) is not covered by the HPI Guarantee.

2. The HPI Guarantee does not guarantee the condition of any vehicle.

3. Unless we subsequently confirm that a discrepancy or fact is no longer applicable, the HPI Guarantee will not cover any Loss which:

   1. results from any discrepancy or fact revealed by your RAC Check (including discrepancies between the VRM and VIN of your vehicle);

   2. relates to a vehicle which is recorded on our Stolen Vehicles and/or Security Watch registers; or

   3. relates to a vehicle which your RAC Check indicates has a mileage discrepancy or has been the subject of an odometer change.

4. The HPI Guarantee will also not apply if:

   1. you conduct the RAC Check after buying the vehicle;

   2. we have not received full payment for the RAC Check;

   3. your claim arises from an event that occurred after the RAC Check was carried out;

   4. the vehicle is registered outside mainland Britain at the time of conducting the RAC Check, for example, in Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man;

   5. you buy the vehicle outside mainland Britain, for example if you source it yourself from mainland Europe, Northern Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man;

   6. you intentionally supply us with incorrect or incomplete information, or do not co-operate with us and our agents (and, in any case involving stolen vehicles, the police) in progressing your claim under the HPI Guarantee;

   7. you are unable to provide us with reasonable proof of payment for the vehicle;

   8. you are actually aware at the time of your RAC Check of relevant information relating to the vehicle (for example, that the vehicle is stolen, or is or has been an insurance write-off) and this subsequently forms the basis of your claim under the HPI Guarantee;

   9. we do not consider that the vehicle has been purchased in a reasonably prudent manner, including but not limited to whether you have followed any guidelines we may produce from time to time; or

   10. the vehicle has been damaged, but has not been established to our satisfaction as having been written off/declared an Insurance Loss.

   11. if the purchase price of the vehicle is 30% below the retail market value

   12. if the vehicle is purchased without a valid MOT test certificate, where required.

   13. the vehicle purchased is registered with a VRM under a “Q” prefix or suffix

5. If a vehicle is recorded on our Condition Inspected register (which shows that the vehicle was once "written off"), you cannot make a claim under the HPI Guarantee based on any reduction in value of that vehicle as a result of its prior registration on our Condition Alert register (which contains lists of "written off" vehicles).

6. The HPI Guarantee will not cover you for “cloned” vehicles (a “cloned” vehicle being a vehicle that has been stolen and given a false identity, normally that of an identical vehicle)

7. We reserve the right to refuse any claim if you sell the vehicle (without having obtained our prior written permission) after the time which you became aware of any interest that is recorded on our Condition Alert register, Outstanding Finance register, Security Watch register or Stolen Vehicles register.

8. RAC's data sources are UK-based. Therefore, if the vehicle has been previously registered in another country, the RAC Check will only reveal information relating to the period after it was first registered in mainland Britain. Accordingly you cannot make a claim under the HPI Guarantee for any Loss resulting from the vehicle having been previously registered outside mainland Britain or any event which occurred prior to first registration in mainland Britain (whether or not the RAC Check displays an import marker in relation to the vehicle).

9. Any loss arising as a result of a fraudulent transaction which prevents legal title being passed to you.

Claims Procedure

1. If you wish to make a claim under the HPI Guarantee, you must inform us as soon as possible after you become aware of the events giving rise or potentially giving rise to the claim (and in any event within the Guarantee Period).

2. We will issue a claim form for you to complete and return, together with evidence of the RAC Check, your proof of purchase for the Vehicle and other relevant documentation. Your claim will be dealt with by our administrators, who will contact you promptly.

Miscellaneous

1. You may not transfer, assign or in any way make over to any third party the benefit of the Contract or any part of it (including without limitation the HPI Guarantee).

2. Neither you nor we shall be liable to the other for any delay in or failure to perform any of our respective obligations under the Contract due to any cause beyond your or our reasonable control.

3. Nothing contained in these Conditions will affect any of your statutory rights relating to the services which we supply to you if you are a consumer.

4. You agree that you are under no duty or obligation to obtain the Information and you accept that electronic receipt of the Information shall constitute actual notice of the Information, for the purposes of paragraph 22 of Schedule 4 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

5. If any provision of the Contract is held by any competent authority to be invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part, the validity of the other provisions of the Contract and the remainder of the provision in question shall not be affected.

6. This Contract shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law, and you agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.