The Used Vehicle Information Package (UVIP): the seller's obligation

The seller's obligation

Ontario states it directly: "As the seller, you are legally required under the Highway Traffic Act to provide this package to a buyer when you sell a pre-owned vehicle." It is the seller's document to obtain and hand over, not the buyer's.

Cost, and how to get it

Cost is $20. Payment can be made by Visa or Mastercard. There are two ways to buy it:

• •Online, mailed within 5 business days of your online purchase, with up to 10 days of delivery time
• •Same-day, at any ServiceOntario centre

What it contains

• •Vehicle details and Ontario registration history
• •Vehicle lien information
• •Retail Sales Tax information, including the average wholesale value of the vehicle: the minimum value on which Retail Sales Tax (RST) will apply

What happens if a seller skips it

Ontario's UVIP page states the offence without naming a dollar amount: "It is an offence under the Highway Traffic Act for the seller to not provide the buyer with a used vehicle information package."

The dollar figure comes from a different official source: the Ontario Court of Justice's consolidated set-fines Schedule 43 sets the fine at $140 for failing to provide or deliver a valid information package (HTA s.11.1(1)). That set fine excludes the victim fine surcharge and costs, so the amount actually payable can be higher.

Common mistakes

• ✗Assuming the UVIP is optional between private parties: it is a legal requirement on the seller
• ✗Waiting until the sale to order it, then missing the online delivery window
• ✗Not budgeting for the victim fine surcharge and costs on top of the $140 set fine, if the offence is charged