Salvage Prophet vs RAC Vehicle History Check: which one do you need?

RAC's check runs £9.98 to £29.97 by tier. What each tier covers, what our free checker already gives you, and when the RAC's extra data is worth paying for.

DATA · 4 min read

The short answer

RAC Vehicle History Check is a paid, tiered UK report from the roadside-assistance brand, priced £9.98 for its Basic check up to £29.97 for its Multi Check, with no subscription. Our free Vehicle History Checker gives you the official DVSA MOT history, mileage timeline and any Copart UK auction record we hold, at no cost, before you spend anything. If the free check leaves a gap, our own Full HPI Report at /hpi-check now covers the same licensed write-off, finance and stolen-marker data the RAC's paid tiers charge for.

What each RAC tier actually covers

All three RAC tiers, Basic (£9.98), Full (£14.99) and Multi Check (£29.97, its most-promoted option), include reported-stolen status, insurance write-off information, import/export records and outstanding debt details. Only the Full and Multi tiers add the parts most buyers actually want: outstanding finance, mileage discrepancies, complete MOT history, previous owner count and full plate-change history. In other words, the cheapest £9.98 tier does not include a finance check or a mileage check, the two things most people assume any vehicle history check includes by default.

Why the RAC name carries weight here

The RAC is one of the UK's best-known roadside-assistance brands, and that trust transfers naturally to a vehicle-check product carrying the same badge. Like every paid provider in this space, the underlying registers are shared industry-wide, the MIAFTR insurance write-off database, finance company records and the DVLA/police stolen-vehicle marker, not exclusive RAC data. What the higher tiers add beyond that shared data is RAC's own aggregated common-problem and MOT-fault notes for the model, plus a £30,000 data guarantee on qualifying claims.

Get a graded deal ticket for your lot →

What our free checker covers without any tier at all

We read directly from the DVSA MOT history API, so the full MOT and mileage timeline, every test, advisory and odometer reading, is free and instant with no tier to pick or upgrade to. Add the VIN and we also check it against our own salvage auction records. For a straightforward UK-only car, most of what the RAC's Basic and Full tiers exist to answer, mileage consistency, MOT pattern, current tax and MOT status, is already covered free.

Where you now have a direct alternative to the RAC's paid tiers

Confirmed insurance write-off category, outstanding finance and stolen markers sit in registers only licensed commercial providers can query. The RAC is one; we are now one too. Our Full HPI Report, 5 credits per lookup with no subscription needed, pulls that same MIAFTR write-off, finance and stolen-marker data on top of the free MOT and mileage picture, in one report, without stepping up through a £14.99 or £29.97 tier to get it.

The practical order to do it in

Run our free MOT, mileage and status check first, it costs nothing and takes seconds. If the car has a clean UK-only paper trail, that is often enough to bid with confidence without buying anything. If real money is on the line, run our Full HPI Report for the confirmed write-off, finance and stolen data, or the RAC's Full or Multi Check if you specifically want its aggregated common-problem notes or the £30,000 guarantee alongside it. Either way, skip the RAC's £9.98 Basic tier if finance and mileage are what you actually came for, since that tier does not include them.

Run our own Full HPI Report, 5 credits, no subscription

Related guides

All 109 salvage guides