The Importance of Doing a Stolen Boat VIN Check

Should you do a stolen boat VIN check before buying a used one? The answer is a YES as not doing one can land you in serious trouble even after you have made the full payment. But before going into the details, what is VIN, and its equivalent to a boat?

VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) is a unique 17-digit number that is imprinted on cars, bikes, caravans, and other vehicles. For example, in cars, you will find it on the doorpost on the driver’s side or the dashboard portion nearest to the windscreen. The VIN provides a lot of information about the vehicle such as make, model, year of manufacture, and other information. Once you check the VIN with the online PPSR register maintained by the Government of Australia, you will know whether your intended purchase is genuine or a stolen one.

The same is relevant when you do a stolen boat VIN check. It is an assurance that your investment in the used boat will not go waste. However, while a VIN check is commonly used for a boat too, strictly speaking, it is HIN or Hull Identification Number for VIN.

The HIN is also called the Boatcode and offers the following information - the country of make, the manufacturer, the date of manufacture, and the serial number. The HIN is a series of numbers and alphabets that are printed on a plate and attached permanently to the hull of a vessel. With a stolen boat VIN check, all this information will be with you in seconds.

So, how do you do a stolen boat VIN check or rather, a HIN check?

Before parting with your money for buying a boat, take the VIN and visit a website that is authorized by the government to provide PPSR search reports for vehicles. Log in, download a form, and fill in all the particulars of the boat including the VIN. Make the required payment, the amount depending on the extent of details you need for the boat. Once done, hit the Submit button. Within seconds, a concise report will be sent via SMS, and a detailed report by email. Check the report to know if the all-clear has been given for the used boat.

What happens if you do not do a stolen boat VIN check? If it is really a stolen boat, the check will alert the authorities and the boat will be seized and restored to the rightful owner. For small bikes, in such circumstances, the loss might be little but just think that a boat that you paid $15,000 for being repossessed from you! Your loss will be very substantial.

Another critical reason for a stolen boat VIN check is to know if financial dues are outstanding on the boat. In such cases, the title cannot be transferred to your name unless the outstanding is cleared.