In a move to drive down vehicle fraud and improve business efficiency, Universal Salvage has signed a deal with HPI, the independent vehicle information authority, for online confirmation of a car's true identity.

HPI can provide real-time access to its database of over 60 million vehicles, confirming the identity of every car that enters the compounds of Universal Salvage. This ensures the immediate and accurate capture of a vehicle's details from the very beginning, and enables Universal Salvage to confirm whether a vehicle has a plate transfer or a finance interest recorded against it.

It also enables more accurate assessments of resale value to be made by the company's specialists, for vehicles that are disposed of via auction centres.

"Traditionally, we have gathered information through visual inspection, but this obviously takes considerable time and lends itself to human error," said Biju Chudasama, Universal Salvage IT director. "Now, through a fixed link between our system and HPI we have immediate access to vital and accurate information. This will help us to understand the current status of all vehicles we process."

Paul Leo, Chief Operations Officer of HPI: "This is just the start of a number of initiatives we will be working together on with Universal Salvage to help reduce the cost of vehicle fraud to businesses and consumers. Our aim is to ensure only properly repaired cars are returned to our roads and give peace of mind to vendors and buyers alike."