You can also via companies house check if a chattel mortgage is outstanding on the motorhome - as long as the company your buying from were the ones who took out the mortgage originally - as the charge has to be registered but funnily enough the onus is on the company thereafter to show it's been satisfied i.e. if they don't do the follow up for whatever reason then it'll still show as an outstanding charge. The other downside here is, using Unbeatable Hire as an example of a company selling on mortgaged MH's if you do a companies house search they currently have 467 charges outstanding. The details of the charge show the chassis number of the MH the loan is secured against but bearing in mind there are currently 467 registered as outstanding I don't think there's a search facility on the companies house web page that allows you to search the documents by chassis number. I think you'd have to pull up each charge then search the document for your chassis number which is a fair amount of work. I don't know if you can submit a request to Companies House to do such a search for you.The Logbook Loan risk is always there, but my personal opinion is that it is a low risk if you buy the MH from a well-established and reputable dealership. I bought mine new over 3 years ago, wasn't worried about any secured finance, and so far nobody has come forward to claim I don't own it. Mind you if they did try it on I would fight even if they took me to Court, where I haven't lost a case yet in which I am a litigant. They would regret it.
There is some due diligence you can do on the dealership via online research. A Companies House search provides a lot of valuable information about the Company and its directors. Filed annual accounts are helpful from a historical perspective, and give an idea of how stable the company was in the recent past, but won't tell you if the company is financially stable today. Searching against the directors' names is also useful if it reveals a history of failed businesses. It can be useful to have a friend in business who can check the company's creditworthiness on your behalf.
I have never met anyone who carried out a personal search of the Register of Bills of Sale at the High Court. I haven't done this either. I don't know if it is even possible under current Covid restrictions.
As well as that, you can find reviews posted online (including this forum) which give a subjective impression of the dealership and the way it does business - always a valuable tool.
Buying privately is a bit riskier with less statutory consumer protection. Much depends on how far you trust the seller but it must be worth asking if there is any finance on the MH you are interested in buying. As well as doing a HPI check.
Edit - a Companies House search doesn't cost anything.
Find and update company information - GOV.UK
Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return, officers, charges, business activityfind-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk
I'm not a legal person, the documents themselves are quite interesting I guess if you are one as regards what the lender expects versus what the borrower can/must do as regards the MH.
Dunno if any of that is helpful and best of luck to anyone finding themselves in this position as regards trying to keep hold of their faithful 'companions'.
