Industry Software Number of employees 422 Headquarters Salisbury | Website hpi.co.uk Founded 1938 Parent organization Solera Holdings | |
Key people Neil Hodson, Managing Director Motto For Smarter Automotive Decisions | ||
HPI is a British vehicle history checking company founded in 1938.
The company was set up to prevent the wrongful sale of hire-purchase cars and were the first organisation of its kind. HPI works alongside the Police, DVLA, Finance houses and insurance companies to generate detailed vehicle history reports for consumers in the second-hand car market. The report, called HPI Check, informs consumers whether a vehicle has outstanding finance been stolen, written off (Total loss), has a mileage discrepancy (clocked), had a plate change, been cloned, has an outstanding logbook loan and several others. The HPI Check can be performed on any vehicle that is registered in the UK with the DVLA, including Caravans and Quad bikes. In 2008, HPI were acquired by Solera, a leading global provider of claims solutions. HPI Headquarters are currently situated in Salisbury.
HPI Check, (an HPI product) is a term widely used to describe an actual vehicle history check throughout the motoring industry in the UK, although HPI are the only company to actually sell “HPI Checks”.
History
1938: HPI, formerly known as Hire Purchase Information, were founded in 1938 in response to the rise of fraudulent re-financing of vehicles. The company was formed by six leading finance companies to share information on vehicles they had let out on hire-purchase, to prevent them being refinanced. Each individual finance house would post a record of the model and registration, of the let out car to HPI. The data would then be accessible to other finance companies.
1947: HPI begin working with the police and have access to stolen vehicle information.
1980s: HPI begin working with leading insurers to provide car accident history data.
1990s: HPI are sold to Infolink and Equifax(credit referencing organisations)
1992: HPI appointed to run CRiS (Central Registration & Identification Scheme) on behalf of NCC
1993: HPI’s second hand car information becomes accessible to the general public to purchase nationally in the United Kingdom.
1994: HPI electronically tag all new CRiS registered caravans with RFID tags.
1997: HPI and IMVA launch the National Mileage register to help abolish the practice of ‘clocking’ cars.
1999: HPI launch their online data checking service
2000: HPI and IMVA merge to create a new independent information company dedicated solely to the needs of the motor industry and the motoring consumer.
2001: HPI Launch consumer website www.hpi.co.uk and Motorhome MINDER on behalf of SMMT
2002: HPI Launch online service to motor trade customers.
2004: HPI acquired by Norwich Union Insurance, the UK's largest insurer
2008: HPI are acquired by Solera Ltd.
2009: HPI CrushWatch launched so that Police Forces and Enforcement Agencies can check vehicles prior to disposal. Finance Gateway launched, allowing dealers to provide forecourt finance to their customers
2011: Department for Transport approved HPI as an authorised distributor of environmental impact information for used car buyers
2012: HPI launches mobile service for dealers delivering vehicle information on the move. HPI's National Mileage Register hits 150 million readings
2013: HPI in conjunction with Datatag and Construction & Agricultural Equipment Security and Registration Scheme (CESAR) launch an enhanced plant asset registration service.