About the Immobilise System
Immobilise is the world's largest FREE register of possession ownership details and together with its sister sites the Police's NMPR and CheckMEND, forms a very effective tool in helping to reduce crime and repatriate recovered personal property to its rightful owners.
Immobilise can be used by members of the public and businesses to register their valued possessions or company assets, and exclusive to Immobilise all account holders registered items and ownership details are viewable on the Police national property database the NMPR.
This online checking service is used thousands of times each day by UK Police forces to trace owners of lost and stolen property.
As a direct result of Immobilise there are hundreds of cases a week where property is returned or information collected that assists the Police in investigating criminal activity involving stolen goods.
Immobilise is also the only ownership registration service supported by all UK Police forces, the Greater London Authority, and the Mobile Phone Industry.
History
The Immobilise system was setup in 2003 and has had the support of the Police, mobile phone industry and central government since it's inception, with their support and numerous other organisations the Immobilise service has grown to hold details of over 34 million items of property.
How is Immobilise so popular? I'd not heard of it until now!
Although Immobilise has been operation for over 11 years, the free nature of the service means advertising budgets are all but nonexistent.
However the ongoing support of Police and councils who hold marking/registration events, plus the efforts of retailers which offer free registration as a benefit at the point of sale, have helped make immobilise the largest service of its kind in the world.
Why do the Police support Immobilise?
For the Police, the free Immobilise property registration service is a very powerful tool in the fight against crime. Immobilise along with many other information sources is linked directly to the Police NMPR (National Mobile Property Register). The NMPR allows officers to search the serial numbers of recovered goods or suspected stolen property and then take action accordingly.
The power of the combined Immobilise/NMPR system is best demonstrated by way of an example:
A Police patrol indentify an individual acting suspiciously near a carpark often targeted by thieves. They perform a stop and search on the individual and find the suspect to be carrying several mobile phones and MP3 players. They radio through the serial numbers of the devices to their control-room that search the numbers on the NMPR.
The results come back instantly; two of the phones were reported as stolen via Immobilise only a few hours earlier. The suspect is arrested and taken to the station for interview. The possession of the stolen phones gives reasonable grounds for the Police to search the suspect's home where they find numerous items, which again are checked on the NMPR.
The searches reveal several more items that are associated with crimes, one of which was involved a serious assault providing the team investigating the assault with a fresh lead to pursue.
The above example is purely fictitious, but is typical of the way in which registering property on Immobilise can quickly lead to results for the Police, thus helping to reduce the attractiveness of property crime.
To learn more about the NMPR please go to: www.thenmpr.com
What is Immobilise's sister service CheckMEND?
CheckMEND (http://www.checkmend.com/) is the world's largest database of over 150 billion records of property providing relevant information to purchasers of used goods. The information that CheckMEND searches against is updated in real-time every few minutes by law enforcement, insurers, industry bodies and the public in over 40 countries.
It is the de facto due-diligence system used by the UK's phone recycling industry to help protect them from accepting or handling stolen goods, and helps achieve compliance with the Recycler Code of Practice, see the Home Office website for more information: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-code-of-practice-to-close-multi-million-pound-stolen-phones-loop
CheckMEND, as recommended by eBay (Buying & Selling Mobile Phones Safely on eBay) is also used by consumers globally who wish to check that goods like satnavs, mobile phones, iPads and computers, etc. are not stolen, counterfeit or blocked.
CheckMEND can also help in the sale of an item as each check comes with an official CheckMEND report that can be provided to any potential buyer as proof that the item is legitimate and in many cases, achieve a superior price for the item.
To learn more or run a check now please go to: http://www.checkmend.com/
How is Immobilise funded?
Immobilise is provided to users free of charge. The property registration service is operated by Recipero, who also operate several other services including Police systems such as the NMPR and the loss reporting system ReportMyLoss.
Immobilise, along with other services provided by Recipero, are secured to very high standards as is necessary for Recipero's links in to the Government's Secure Network and accreditations to the ISO9001 (Quality Management Systems) and ISO27001 (Information Security Management Systems) standards.
Immobilise receives no central funding, it is primarily supported by revenue derived from sales of marking products that are available via the site and several retail outlets. To avoid doubt we wish to emphasise that Recipero, the provider of Immobilise, does not sell or rent your personal data to third parties for marketing purposes. Please read our privacy policy for more detail. Any queries regarding the service or data should be directed to our support team.
Registration help
If you need help registering an item of property, we've created a range of pages explaining how to add different things to your account.
Connect with Immobilise
If you love it, register it
“By registering their valuables on www.immobilise.com owners can put details of their prized possessions on a national database that police can access and compare against items that have been found or recovered from suspected criminals.”
“The online service is totally free and is quick and easy to use. Items marked as being registered with Immobilise are less likely to be stolen, and households displaying Immobilise stickers are less likely to be targeted by burglars.”
£250K New Home Office funding to tackle mobile phone crime
“Linking the National Mobile Phone Register (NMPR) to the Police National Computer (PNC) will also provide enormous benefits to the fight against mobile phone crime. Currently an average of 25% of searches result in the police obtaining vital information that could result in property being retrieved and cases being solved. I believe that putting this invaluable tool at front-line officer's fingertips will see that number rise further.”
“Last year 835 mobile phones were reported stolen in the district. Registering mobile phones on the Immobilise's website should have an impact in reducing this figure, particularly where phones have been stolen, as the phone can very quickly be blocked on the UK network, rendering it useless to the thief.”
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