Cloned Plates AND Speeding Fine in one week

[KatieDee]

I've had a really rotten few weeks regarding my car and I'm still none the wiser of what is actually happening. Around a week ago, I found that my plates have been cloned. Since then, I've received two parking notices which I am currently appealing. The police have been informed.

Today I received a speeding ticket, for 37mph in a 30 zone. Annoyingly, it was taken on my route home from work, but the system will not allow me to access the photographs to confirm whether it was me or a cloned plate.

What can I do?

Edited by KatieDee on Monday 13th May 08:55

Edited by KatieDee on Monday 13th May 19:08

[anonymous-user]

The fine is only income-related if the case goes to court - which it won't. The penalty will be fixed at £100 and 3 points should a SAC not be offered.

[Starfighter]

Are the parking charges local to you? If they are then I would be tempted to go not guilty and then get hold of the pictures as part of disclosure. If it is you / your car then change the plea.

I though all the Speed camera operators made the pictures available.

[KatieDee]

Starfighter said:

Are the parking charges local to you? If they are then I would be tempted to go not guilty and then get hold of the pictures as part of disclosure. If it is you / your car then change the plea.

I though all the Speed camera operators made the pictures available.

Yes, the first one was around 8 miles from my house and the other about 3 miles away. All within a few days. I live in the Greater Manchester area and they do provide the option to log in to their systems and see the photos, but none of the details are working. When I try inputting the reference number and other details, it states "The details you have entered do not match any record we hold. Please check all information and retry."

The information I have entered is definitely correct, so I'm not sure what the issue is.

[stevemcs]

Are they genuine tickets ? someone hasn't made them up have they ?

[KatieDee]

stevemcs said:

Are they genuine tickets ? someone hasn't made them up have they ?

Yes unfortunately - both are well known car park managing companies and all of the details check out. I had to request a Subject Access Request for the first one (just for the original unedited photos) before I realised I'd almost definitely been cloned and they provided this directly.

The cloning is really just a coincidence alongside the speeding ticket and has been reported to the police so I hope, if they're still driving round and they commit a speeding offence, the notes on the police systems and proof of my whereabouts will be enough.

I was really surprised that the officer I spoke to told me not to worry about changing my number plates though. He attempted to reassure me by saying that they generally don't use cloned plates for too long, so the tickets would probably stop shortly. I asked him (ironically!) what would happen if they chose to speed or commit another offence with the plates and he just said it would be down to be to prove it wasn't me.

Shocking that there isn't more help in place for people who are victims of cloning. The DVLA didn't want to know and the first officer I spoke to on 101 completely palmed me off, saying it was a civil matter.

Update - I just phoned the DVLA for some guidance on the issue with my number plate and they were really reluctant to give me any further information about changing the plates. I don't understand why authorities are so quiet when it comes to cloned plates? Like getting blood out of a stone with both GMP and DVLA.

Edited by KatieDee on Saturday 11th May 12:55

[dsmith1990]

KatieDee said:

Yes, the first one was around 8 miles from my house and the other about 3 miles away. All within a few days. I live in the Greater Manchester area and they do provide the option to log in to their systems and see the photos, but none of the details are working. When I try inputting the reference number and other details, it states "The details you have entered do not match any record we hold. Please check all information and retry."

The information I have entered is definitely correct, so I'm not sure what the issue is.

I had the same problem with Sussex police's website. All details given on the letter to me but I couldn't access it. Give them a call on Monday and they'll send the pics out via post.

[martinbiz]

KatieDee said:

Oh, thank you for that clarification.

I'm going to respond straight away as guilty to the offence, as I am pretty sure it was me at the time. I've been trying to read about this on the internet and everything is coming back with the 50% income thing with a Band A offence. £100 and three points would be far more palatable! A SAC would be even better, but I'm expecting the former due to my last one being (just!) within the past three years.

Thanks again for your reply

If you have only just received the ticket, there is no major rush, don't jump the gun, why not wait until Monday when you can speak to someone, it would be very unusual these days for them not to let you see photos, usually to help indentify the driver, but in your case a cloned car which is on record with the police, don't go down the court route of pleading not guilty and then having to change your plea, thats crap advice, you are then stuck in the court system and no longer have the cheap option of a FP and if it goes against you it will cost a shed load more money

[kowalski655]

Advice is often to stick something obvious, like a large PH smiley sticker, by the plate and take a dated pic of it to prove it isn't your car.

[KatieDee]

martinbiz said:

If you have only just received the ticket, there is no major rush, don't jump the gun, why not wait until Monday when you can speak to someone, it would be very unusual these days for them not to let you see photos, usually to help indentify the driver, but in your case a cloned car which is on record with the police, don't go down the court route of pleading not guilty and then having to change your plea, thats crap advice, you are then stuck in the court system and no longer have the cheap option of a FP and if it goes against you it will cost a shed load more money

Thanks - you're right, I don't need to rush. I'll speak to them on Monday just to confirm the car was mine.

I've been reading about the Speed Awareness Course and it states that you will not be offered the course if you have been on it in the past three years. As I mentioned above, I went on one about 2 years and 10 months ago, but I believe you have four months to take the course once offered. Is this enough of a technicality to be offered the course?

Edit - the photo is now working! It isn't very clear and I cannot see whether my logo is showing on the number plate or not. This is the one difference between the cloned plate and my vehicle. I've tried zooming in but to no avail.

Is it worth speaking to them on Monday and explaining about the clone and that I'd like a more high definition photograph?

Edited by KatieDee on Sunday 12th May 14:39

[4rephill]

Is the registration number a personal/private/cherished number?

Do you have a specific attachment to it, even if it's not a personal/private/cherished number?

If the answer to both of those questions is: "No", save yourself a load of grief having to explain where you were every time the clone car gets a ticket, and buy a cheap replacement registration number for your car (non age related plates can be bought from as little as £25: http://www.r4v.co.uk/searchgallery.php?c=CHE )

That's what I would do - Then the old registration number should not come back to you any more.

[KatieDee]

4rephill said:

Is the registration number a personal/private/cherished number?

Do you have a specific attachment to it, even if it's not a personal/private/cherished number?

If the answer to both of those questions is: "No", save yourself a load of grief having to explain where you were every time the clone car gets a ticket, and buy a cheap replacement registration number for your car (non age related plates can be bought from as little as £25: http://www.r4v.co.uk/searchgallery.php?c=CHE )

That's what I would do - Then the old registration number should not come back to you any more.

Absolutely no attachment to it whatsoever. In fact, I like it considerably less than I did a few weeks ago!

Thanks for the suggestion - I'll look into this. Really straight forward to change it with the DVLA too, I assume?

[timbo999]

Why would you buy another plate? Just stick the existing plate on retention and DVLA will issue a replacement number... Cost you £80, but then the £25 plates will cost that to transfer in any case.