Stupid replacement number plate laws !
Discussion
Silly me, I sold an old horsebox and left my pickup number plate on it. Now I need a new plate for my new trailer. I phoned my local motor factor to order a new one.
'Sorry, you'll need to bring in your V5 first'.
'Can't you make up the plate for me and I'll bring in the V5 when I pick it up?' They all know me, I have an account there and am there every week, they know my cars including this pickup which I've had for years and they know it's a 25 mile trip round along single track roads to reach them.
'Sorry, we need to see the V5 first'
Ok, I head off into town, get there and hand over the V5.....'Cheers 'Van', have you got your driving licence, we need that too to identify you?'
Arghh! another 25 mile round trip before I get my plate.
Now in principle, I understand that these rules are to help stop ringing/cloning or whatever, but I'm sure that in the places that this goes on, the criminals that do it have ways to get round this. I doubt whether this has anything like the effect on criminals that it has on 'normal' people. Maybe I should just do what most of my neighbours do and write my number on the back of my trailer in chalk or sheeps
t or whatever else comes to hand.
Rant over.
'Sorry, you'll need to bring in your V5 first'.
'Can't you make up the plate for me and I'll bring in the V5 when I pick it up?' They all know me, I have an account there and am there every week, they know my cars including this pickup which I've had for years and they know it's a 25 mile trip round along single track roads to reach them.
'Sorry, we need to see the V5 first'
Ok, I head off into town, get there and hand over the V5.....'Cheers 'Van', have you got your driving licence, we need that too to identify you?'
Arghh! another 25 mile round trip before I get my plate.
Now in principle, I understand that these rules are to help stop ringing/cloning or whatever, but I'm sure that in the places that this goes on, the criminals that do it have ways to get round this. I doubt whether this has anything like the effect on criminals that it has on 'normal' people. Maybe I should just do what most of my neighbours do and write my number on the back of my trailer in chalk or sheeps
t or whatever else comes to hand.Rant over.
Edited by vanordinaire on Tuesday 7th June 08:01
steveo3002 said:
just go on ebay...plenty of sellers will make them questions for cheaper than the local shop
Yes, I wondered about how that, how distance sellers get round it. The local factors seem to think that the laws are pretty strict and that there is absolutely no way they can do it without the docs. I've got them now (bought two spares) so hopefully that'll be me till I change vehicles again.
vanordinaire said:
Yes, I wondered about how that, how distance sellers get round it.
Simples, they're not in the UK.Try www.fancyplates.com who will make up UK legal (well, fairly legal - BS mark and maker's name and postcode probably missing) plates.
bad company said:
I'd find a new motor factor. You offered to bring the V5 when picking up the plates and given that they know you and you have an account there that should have been good enough.
They should also have told you to bring your driving licence.
The joys of living in the countryside, the next nearest factor is a 52 mile round trip away, and we struggle with couriers if we order online. I think the guy was just having a bad day, being awkward because someone else had pissed him off. I usually manage to avoid him and get one of the more helpful staff. They should also have told you to bring your driving licence.
bad company said:
They should also have told you to bring your driving licence.
Doesn't everybody carry their photocard with 'em at all times, anyway?But these laws have been in place since 2001. They're not new. And the eBay sellers break the law - that simple. The plates might be made to legal standards, so you are not breaking the law by using it, but they are by supplying it. That doesn't bother me, particularly, and I've just bought a plate that way. But more because my local factor take the piss on pricing - a tenner more per plate than the eBay suppliers - rather than the paperwork hoops.
vanordinaire said:
Yes, I wondered about how that, how distance sellers get round it. The local factors seem to think that the laws are pretty strict and that there is absolutely no way they can do it without the docs. I've got them now (bought two spares) so hopefully that'll be me till I change vehicles again.
OK, I'll bite. The laws are pretty strict. But they're not enforced.
The theory goes thus:
Factor/Garage/Dealership applies to DVLA for a licence to supply number plates, if accepted is issued with a unique ID.
Armed with ID you approach a plate manufacturer for a contract for the supply of the computer/printer and the raw materials. Without an ID the manufacturer should not supply.
Once installed off you go. The reason for the docs to be present at the point of manufacture is that you cannot print a plate and then retrospectively add the info from the docs.
The system builds a database record of all the plates made, who bought them and all the refs from the docs. This database can, in theory, be inspected or checked by the DVLA or the Police. The system should also only print legal plates, no incorrect spacing etc.
Yes, there are ways round all this, and yes the factor COULD have beaten the system to print your plate in advance of the docs. By doing so he, AIUI, commits a criminal offence and risks losing his license to print plates.
Distance sellers? Presumably they source/operate from outside the jurisdiction of the law or they simply don't give a feathery flappy flying f@@k.
defblade said:
vanordinaire said:
Yes, I wondered about how that, how distance sellers get round it.
Simples, they're not in the UK.Try www.fancyplates.com who will make up UK legal (well, fairly legal - BS mark and maker's name and postcode probably missing) plates.
battered said:
TooMany2cvs said:
Doesn't everybody carry their photocard with 'em at all times, anyway?
What's a photocard? Mine's on green paper.Best regards,
Grandad.
"Stupid" is the correct word.
How anyone can be stupid enough to imagine that the way to stop criminals breaking one law is to create a new law is beyond me.
THEY ARE CRIMINALS! If they are breaking the old law they are hardly likely to worry about breaking the new law, are they?
Laws like this inconvenience the law-abiding while having no effect on the criminal.
How anyone can be stupid enough to imagine that the way to stop criminals breaking one law is to create a new law is beyond me.
THEY ARE CRIMINALS! If they are breaking the old law they are hardly likely to worry about breaking the new law, are they?
Laws like this inconvenience the law-abiding while having no effect on the criminal.
Plenty of online sellers, based in the UK, making legal plates. All you have to do is scan and Mail the V5, proof of address and the plates will be there a day or so later. Better quality than local factors IMO, and you can choose some things like colour of outline, style of national badge, have a slogan or something.
On the face of it the law makes sense but, in reality, it isn't hard to get plates made outwith the rules so I doubt it has any effect on cloning etc.
On the face of it the law makes sense but, in reality, it isn't hard to get plates made outwith the rules so I doubt it has any effect on cloning etc.
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