Datatag launch new CESAR service
New service provides construction equipment provenance check at the click of a mouse
AUTOMOTIVE-style construction equipment provenance checks are now available thanks to a new online service launched by Datatag in conjunction with HPI, the pioneer and leader in vehicle history checks. The new CESAR-branded provenance check, the first of its kind for construction and agricultural equipment, aims to provide a new level of assurance whenever a used machine is bought or sold.
The new service was launched to the insurance and asset finance industry, and prospective business users, at JCB’s world headquarters at Rocester, Staffordshire, earlier this week.
The CESAR provenance check has been developed by Datatag and HPI at the behest of the insurance and asset finance industry, which has enjoyed the benefits of accurate history checks for cars and vans for many years, but which, until now, has lacked a reliable provenance checking service for construction and agricultural equipment.
JCB Finance have, through their work on the Finance & Leasing Association’s Asset Registration Group and directly with Datatag, been one of the most active and vocal finance companies calling for such a service.
Commenting at the launch event, Rob Oliver, chief executive of the Construction Equipment Association, said: ‘CESAR has had a huge impact since its launch as it has reduced equipment theft and increased the recovery rate of stolen machines. I am quite sure that CESAR provenance checks will help reduce the anguish and costs inflicted on legitimate businesses by buying or selling a stolen, cloned or fraudulent machine.’
Many stakeholders in the manufacture, supply, financing and operation of equipment have suffered financial loss by buying or selling a machine with a ‘chequered history’. Among frequent problems reported to the police are stolen machines, cloned machines, machines bought or sold when subject to one or more finance agreements, machines which are subject to an insurance claim, and machines which do not meet EU type approval, so-called ‘grey imports’.
Datatag say the new service is simple and quick and provides an instant on-screen report about a machine’s potential ‘hidden history’. Using databases from HPI, CESAR, the DVLA and the police, the new provenance check is both comprehensive and secure.
A machine’s 17-character VIN number, registration plate or unique CESAR mark can be used to start a history check online at any time of the day or night. Stolen machines often have their registration plates and VIN numbers removed, modified or replaced by thieves, and there is a growing trend of thieves cloning stolen machines, using fake VIN plates, to try and give them a new ‘legitimate’ identity.
However, by using several databases, the CESAR and Datatag provenance check can quickly identify and highlight any inconsistencies in a machine’s history that throw doubt on its legitimacy.
The new service is available online via the CESAR or Datatag websites. A ‘one-off’ provenance check costs £29.99, excluding VAT, although volume-based discounts will be available to business users who register with the scheme.
Speaking at the launch event, Kevin Howells, managing director of Datatag ID Ltd, said: ‘JCB provided the venue for the launch of CESAR in 2007 and for the production of the 100,000th CESAR-registered machine just over a year ago.
‘I’m delighted to be back in Rocester today for the launch of a new service that is desperately needed to help reduce the impact of equipment theft and finance and insurance fraud. There are simply too many criminals preying on the unwary, trading in stolen or cloned machines or involved in selling machines that they do not own. This new service will be a positive help to legitimate dealers and end-users.’
Commenting on Datatag’s decision to exhibit at Hillhead for the first time in 2014, Mr Howells said: ‘We have exhibited at SED many times in the past and at the inaugural Plantworx in May 2013. Now that Hillhead has become a broader construction show, while retaining its ‘quarrying heritage’, it will give us the ideal opportunity to meet a different profile of machine owners and operators.
‘CESAR and Datatag security systems and provenance checks can make a valuable contribution in a broad range of applications in construction, recycling and quarrying, protecting everything from a laptop computer to a 45-tonne excavator.’
