Carplus
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Carplus does
Carplus (trading name of F&I Online Ltd, company number 09664343) is a UK consumer credit broker founded in 2016 by Roman Danaev and headquartered in Borehamwood. The company operates an online platform (carplus.co.uk) that matches UK consumers seeking new or used car, van, or motorhome finance against a panel of 15+ FCA-regulated lenders offering PCP, HP, refinancing, guarantor, and no-deposit products. Its core customer segments are subprime and non-standard-income borrowers, including customers with bad credit, CCJs, IVAs, self-employed, students, benefits recipients, and key workers. The platform's central conversion mechanic is a soft-search eligibility checker that delivers a quote decision in minutes without impacting the customer's credit score, followed by handover to a personal account manager who guides the customer through vehicle selection at any UK dealer, paperwork, and same-day collection or delivery. Supporting tools include a multi-lender comparison engine, car finance calculators, application-form keystroke capture for abandoned applications, email tracking with web beacons, and integrations with Google Analytics, DoubleClick retargeting, WhatsApp, and the three UK credit reference agencies (Callcredit, Equifax, Experian).
The underlying technology stack is a web-based application portal with CRM integration, automated finance calculators, and standard digital marketing tooling rather than disclosed proprietary AI or ML components. Carplus does not lend its own capital; it acts as a credit broker authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 731217) and holds Specialist Automotive Finance (SAF) approval. Revenue is earned primarily through commissions from its lender panel on successfully introduced customers, supplemented by affiliate/referral income from vehicle protection products (notably Williams warranties) and by rights to sell performing and non-performing account portfolios. The business is UK-only by design, with terms explicitly restricting representation outside the United Kingdom, and carries no customer-facing fees.
The company has scaled organically since founding, growing from a one-person studio flat near Gatwick in 2016 to a 50+ team based at a purpose-equipped Borehamwood headquarters by 2023, with progressive additions to its lender panel (Advantage Finance and Moneybarn in 2017, PCF Bank in 2018, Oodle in 2019, Blue Motor Finance and Marsh Finance in 2021, Close Brothers Motor Finance and Specialist Motor Finance in 2023). No external funding rounds, equity raises, debt financings, acquisitions, or institutional shareholders are disclosed, leaving ownership as founder-led.
Carplus firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Carplus
- Legal name
- F&I Online Ltd
- Website
- https://carplus.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Carplus industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Consumer Auto Finance / Credit Brokerage
- NAICS
- Nondepository Credit Intermediation (5222), Sales Financing (522220)
- SIC
- Loan Brokers (6163)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Auto / Vehicle Marketplace Lending (FSAKAHAF)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Short-Term Credit Broking & Lead Generation (FSAKAMAN)
Keywords
Where Carplus is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Carplus business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Lender commission (brokerage fees): Carplus acts as a credit broker and receives commission from its panel of lenders for successful customer introductions. Commission is typically a fixed fee or a fixed percentage of the amount borrowed, varies by lender. No customer-facing fees charged.
- Account portfolio sales: Carplus reserves the right to sell performing and non-performing accounts, generating additional revenue.
- Vehicle protection product referrals: Offers warranty and Williams vehicle protection products alongside car finance, providing additional referral/affiliate income stream.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Monthly | No customer-facing fees — broker service free to consumers, revenue via lender commission |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Carplus product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Carplus is a UK online credit broker that matches individual consumers with car finance products from a panel of 15+ FCA-regulated lenders across PCP, HP, refinancing, guarantor, no-deposit, and bad-credit scenarios. Customers submit a soft-search eligibility form on the website, receive an instant indicative decision, and are then supported by a personal account manager through lender selection, vehicle purchase from any UK dealer, and same-day collection or delivery. The service is free to consumers; Carplus earns commission from lenders on successfully introduced customers.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- PCP car finance Brokerage service that matches UK consumers with Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) car finance products from a panel of FCA-regulated lenders, allowing lower monthly payments with a balloon sum at the end of the term.
- HP car finance Brokerage service that matches UK consumers with Hire Purchase (HP) car finance products, providing fixed monthly payments that lead to full vehicle ownership at the end of the term.
- Car refinancing Brokerage service that helps UK consumers refinance existing car finance agreements to adjust monthly payments, change terms, or release equity from a vehicle.
- Bad credit car finance Specialist car finance brokerage for UK consumers with low credit scores, CCJs, IVAs, prior refusals, or negative equity, sourcing deals from specialist bad-credit lenders on Carplus's panel via a soft-search eligibility check.
- No deposit car finance Brokerage service sourcing car finance deals from Carplus's lender panel that do not require an upfront deposit from the borrower.
- Guarantor car finance Brokerage service matching UK consumers who lack sufficient personal credit standing with lenders willing to approve car finance on a guarantor-backed basis.
- Self-employed and non-standard income car finance Brokerage service matching self-employed, student, young-driver, and provisional-license UK consumers with lenders on the Carplus panel that accept non-payslip or thin-file income evidence.
- Electric and hybrid car finance Brokerage service matching UK consumers seeking finance for new or used electric and hybrid vehicles with lenders on the Carplus panel.
- Van finance Brokerage service matching UK consumers and small businesses with van finance products from the Carplus lender panel for new or used vans.
- Motorhome finance Brokerage service matching UK consumers with motorhome finance products from lenders on the Carplus panel for new or used motorhomes.
- Soft-search eligibility checker Standalone online eligibility tool that performs a soft credit search to indicate likelihood of car finance approval across Carplus's lender panel without impacting the customer's credit score until a hard search at agreement signing.
- Car finance calculator suite Suite of standalone web calculators (car finance calculator, early settlement calculator, car depreciation calculator) that provide UK consumers with transparency on borrowing power, settlement figures, and vehicle depreciation.
- Vehicle protection products Warranty and Williams vehicle protection products offered alongside car finance placements as a complementary add-on that generates referral/affiliate income for Carplus.
Quantifiable outcome
- Access to 15+ lenders and 100+ car finance deals
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Carplus
Customer profileSegments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Carplus technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration7 records
Feature6 records
Carplus partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Call Credit, Equifax, Experian (Credit Reference Agencies)coreUK credit reference agencies with which Carplus and its lender panel share customer data for creditworthiness checks, affordability assessments, fraud prevention, and tracing/recovery of debts.
- CifasminorUK fraud prevention agency. Carplus shares data with Cifas to help prevent criminal activity, fraud, and money laundering.
- Williams (vehicle protection provider)minorWilliams provides vehicle protection products (e.g., extended warranty and add-ons) that Carplus offers alongside car finance via a dedicated /vehicle-protection/williams/ landing page.
- SAF (Specialist Automotive Finance)coreUK industry body for specialist automotive finance. Carplus is an SAF approved car finance specialist, with SAF approval featured prominently as a trust signal across the homepage and About page.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Carplus competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Carmoola: UK digital car finance startup offering a mobile-first application and direct-to-consumer underwriting. Emerging competitor targeting the same online UK car finance customer with a younger, app-native brand.
Broad incumbents
- Motorway: UK online used-car marketplace connecting private sellers to dealer networks. Adjacent comparison point as a scaled UK automotive-fintech platform, though it operates on the vehicle-sale side rather than credit-brokerage.
- Credit Karma UK: Consumer credit-monitoring and comparison platform operating in the UK. Comparable on soft-search eligibility, credit-education content, and lender-aggregation for personal/car finance products.
Direct peers
- Oodle Car Finance: UK prime and near-prime car finance specialist serving customers via partner dealers. Flagship Carplus partner since 2019; overlaps on car-finance aggregation and dealer-network distribution.
- Blue Motor Finance: UK specialist prime and near-prime motor finance lender. Comparable on vehicle-finance product, dealer-network distribution model, and panel-aggregator relationships.
- AutoMoney: UK specialist non-prime car finance lender focused on adverse-credit borrowers. Comparable niche positioning and one of Carplus's panel partners.
- Zopa: UK digital lender and former peer-to-peer pioneer offering personal loans and car finance. Comparable as a UK-based online consumer-credit intermediary with a panel-style lending model, regulator-aligned operating posture, and broad direct-to-consumer marketing presence.
- Marsh Finance: UK subprime and second-charge car finance lender. Listed on Carplus's flagship lender panel since 2021; competing for the same non-prime borrower segment.
- CarFinance 247: UK online car finance broker using a multi-lender panel and soft-search eligibility model. Closest direct competitor to Carplus on product, GTM motion, and target customer.
- Moneybarn: UK specialist lender focused on subprime and non-standard car finance, vans and motorbikes. Directly comparable to Carplus's core bad-credit/CCJ proposition and is itself one of Carplus's panel lenders; competing for the same end customer.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Carplus social profiles
Digital presenceCarplus financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Carplus leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Carplus funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Carplus M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Carplus
What does Carplus do?
Carplus is a UK online credit broker that matches individual consumers with car finance products from a panel of 15+ FCA-regulated lenders across PCP, HP, refinancing, guarantor, no-deposit, and bad-credit scenarios. Customers submit a soft-search eligibility form on the website, receive an instant indicative decision, and are then supported by a personal account manager through lender selection, vehicle purchase from any UK dealer, and same-day collection or delivery. The service is free to consumers; Carplus earns commission from lenders on successfully introduced customers.
Is Carplus a public or private company?
Carplus is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Carplus founded?
Carplus was founded in 2016. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Carplus based?
Carplus is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Carplus make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Lender commission (brokerage fees) is the primary driver. The others are account portfolio sales and vehicle protection product referrals.
Who are Carplus's main competitors?
Carmoola is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Motorway and Credit Karma UK. Direct peers are Oodle Car Finance, Blue Motor Finance, AutoMoney, Zopa, Marsh Finance, CarFinance 247 and Moneybarn.
Does Carplus have an API?
No public API is recorded for Carplus.
What industry is Carplus in?
Carplus's product category is Consumer Auto Finance / Credit Brokerage. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAKAHAF, Auto / Vehicle Marketplace Lending, with a secondary code of FSAKAMAN, Short-Term Credit Broking & Lead Generation. Its NAICS code is 5222 and its SIC code is 6163.