Cloned car speeding fine
Discussion
Not too sure if this is best in here or the speed, plod & law forum...
I've received a NIP for speeding in a car that has been off the road for ~5 years and doesn't drive!
I was at work at the time in the West Midlands the offence happened at 12:25am in Wales.
I called the number on the NIP as there was no tick box applicable for my situation, the lady on the phone was took my details and Registration number.
She then put me on hold and came back to ask what make, model & colour my car was.
"Bmw, M5 & Blue"
She then asked what kind of blue it was, so I told her. (Dark metallic blue, Avus Blau to any bmw fans reading)
All she said then was: Ah, we might have a problem, could you take some photos of your car and email them to us so we can look into it.
I'm assuming she's looked at the picture of whoever was speeding and there's a blue bmw that matches my Reg.
Has anyone ever had this problem before, was it easy to resolve?
I'm just hoping whoever it is doesn't have the same spec car as mine (if they even have a 5 series)
I'm surprised I haven't had any letter through for no road tax if someone is driving round with my plates on.
The Reg could've been got one of 2 ways obviously as my car is on the driveway it could just be chance and someone has noted it down when walking past. I get a couple of knocks on my door every month asking if I want to sell it too.
The other way could be from my build thread for my BMW 2002. The car is in the background of a few picture in that thread, with photobucket holding people to ransom a lot of the pictures had gone down lately. This happened not long after I rehosted the pictures.
However that build thread is only on this forum and a 2002 forum so someone looking for an M5 or e34 Reg number would have only found it by chance.
Hopfully this will all be fine once they take a look at the pictures but still a pain in the arse.
I've received a NIP for speeding in a car that has been off the road for ~5 years and doesn't drive!
I was at work at the time in the West Midlands the offence happened at 12:25am in Wales.
I called the number on the NIP as there was no tick box applicable for my situation, the lady on the phone was took my details and Registration number.
She then put me on hold and came back to ask what make, model & colour my car was.
"Bmw, M5 & Blue"
She then asked what kind of blue it was, so I told her. (Dark metallic blue, Avus Blau to any bmw fans reading)
All she said then was: Ah, we might have a problem, could you take some photos of your car and email them to us so we can look into it.
I'm assuming she's looked at the picture of whoever was speeding and there's a blue bmw that matches my Reg.
Has anyone ever had this problem before, was it easy to resolve?
I'm just hoping whoever it is doesn't have the same spec car as mine (if they even have a 5 series)
I'm surprised I haven't had any letter through for no road tax if someone is driving round with my plates on.
The Reg could've been got one of 2 ways obviously as my car is on the driveway it could just be chance and someone has noted it down when walking past. I get a couple of knocks on my door every month asking if I want to sell it too.
The other way could be from my build thread for my BMW 2002. The car is in the background of a few picture in that thread, with photobucket holding people to ransom a lot of the pictures had gone down lately. This happened not long after I rehosted the pictures.
However that build thread is only on this forum and a 2002 forum so someone looking for an M5 or e34 Reg number would have only found it by chance.
Hopfully this will all be fine once they take a look at the pictures but still a pain in the arse.
I had this a few years ago. Sent back a letter with the S172 incomplete telling them that the car wasn't mine despite appearances.
I enclosed paperwork from DVLA showing that my private plate had been allocated to my car some few days before the camera was triggered as well as irrefutible proof that I was more than 100 miles away just a few minutes before the camera caught "me" (by irrefutable, I mean I was on live television broadcast around the world).
Got a letter back some short while later which basically said they had investigated and agreed that my plate was cloned.
The pain in the arse was that both the old plate and my private one went onto the PNC, meaning I got stopped a fair bit. I kept the letter with me in the car and gave it to the policeman whenever I was stopped and I was always back on my way within about 2 minutes.
I enclosed paperwork from DVLA showing that my private plate had been allocated to my car some few days before the camera was triggered as well as irrefutible proof that I was more than 100 miles away just a few minutes before the camera caught "me" (by irrefutable, I mean I was on live television broadcast around the world).
Got a letter back some short while later which basically said they had investigated and agreed that my plate was cloned.
The pain in the arse was that both the old plate and my private one went onto the PNC, meaning I got stopped a fair bit. I kept the letter with me in the car and gave it to the policeman whenever I was stopped and I was always back on my way within about 2 minutes.
I thought maybe the plate was misread but seems too much of a coincidence that the lady on the phone would misread it too and it says also a blue bmw.
Sounds like it should all be straight forward.
At least I won't have the trouble of being pulled over in it as I can't get the damn thing started even!
Sounds like it should all be straight forward.
At least I won't have the trouble of being pulled over in it as I can't get the damn thing started even!
had similar ocurrance about 15 years ago. copper knocked the door asked if i owned a very distinctive reg number, i said yes, and i said it was on a motorcycle in the shed, sorned offroad,. asked to see it .saw it and went away happy. all he would say is it has been seen on car down south. im in lincolnshire..
heard nothing after that.
heard nothing after that.
I had a similar experience a couple of years back. Had a letter from Salisbury police informing me that my vehicle was involved in an accident in Salisbury and had driven off, my vehicle was parked 40 miles away at work. The letter asked me to fill in all the information and return it within 10 days, failure to do this would be an offence. I then read the small print which said if you fill in this form you are admitting to the offence; I'm thinking catch 22 here. Phoned Salisbury police, as I was concerned that my plate was cloned; the vehicle involved was a transit van and mine is a Ford Ranger pick up truck. They told me to ignore it as the reg was obviously read wrong. I thought the police might have been able to work that one out without sending me a letter.
Seems pretty common and straight forward then.
Pica if the trace the Reg No back to a vin it'll just be my vin.
Whoever was caught speeding was done so by a camera so no way of finding their car to read the vin off it.
Hopfully they've either decided it's stupid to speed around with someone else's Reg plate on from a SORN car or there will be a marker out on my Reg and if traffic police pull them they can check the vin then.
Pica if the trace the Reg No back to a vin it'll just be my vin.
Whoever was caught speeding was done so by a camera so no way of finding their car to read the vin off it.
Hopfully they've either decided it's stupid to speed around with someone else's Reg plate on from a SORN car or there will be a marker out on my Reg and if traffic police pull them they can check the vin then.
Thought I'd update this now it's all sorted.
The fine has been cancelled however it was still a bit of a pain.
I'd sent the email, along with lots of pictures as requested then went on holiday. When I came back I'd received a reminder for the NIP.
Tried to call the office again and found the opening hours were 0900-1230. Brilliant times for a night shift worker.
After waking up, calling, being on hold for 20~ odd minutes I was told my email hadn't been received. I tried to send it again and they put the phone down on me.... so another call & 20 minute wait.
Still no email. So I sent a blank email and that made it through... turns out that their email system isn't really set up for receiving photos so I had to send multiple emails with pictures attached.
Bit of a pain and would've been nice for them to have explained that in the first place.
Thought I'd put it here just in case anyone else has trouble.
They cancelled the NIP, confirmed that someone has cloned the plate have put a marker on the Reg
The fine has been cancelled however it was still a bit of a pain.
I'd sent the email, along with lots of pictures as requested then went on holiday. When I came back I'd received a reminder for the NIP.
Tried to call the office again and found the opening hours were 0900-1230. Brilliant times for a night shift worker.
After waking up, calling, being on hold for 20~ odd minutes I was told my email hadn't been received. I tried to send it again and they put the phone down on me.... so another call & 20 minute wait.
Still no email. So I sent a blank email and that made it through... turns out that their email system isn't really set up for receiving photos so I had to send multiple emails with pictures attached.
Bit of a pain and would've been nice for them to have explained that in the first place.
Thought I'd put it here just in case anyone else has trouble.
They cancelled the NIP, confirmed that someone has cloned the plate have put a marker on the Reg
EddyBee said:
Thought I'd update this now it's all sorted.
The fine has been cancelled however it was still a bit of a pain.
I'd sent the email, along with lots of pictures as requested then went on holiday. When I came back I'd received a reminder for the NIP.
Tried to call the office again and found the opening hours were 0900-1230. Brilliant times for a night shift worker.
After waking up, calling, being on hold for 20~ odd minutes I was told my email hadn't been received. I tried to send it again and they put the phone down on me.... so another call & 20 minute wait.
Still no email. So I sent a blank email and that made it through... turns out that their email system isn't really set up for receiving photos so I had to send multiple emails with pictures attached.
Bit of a pain and would've been nice for them to have explained that in the first place.
Thought I'd put it here just in case anyone else has trouble.
They cancelled the NIP, confirmed that someone has cloned the plate have put a marker on the Reg
Wish theyd give people £70 or more (perhaps whatever the value of the NIP)for the time and trouble theyve taken in avoiding the whole thing going to court and more money to payThe fine has been cancelled however it was still a bit of a pain.
I'd sent the email, along with lots of pictures as requested then went on holiday. When I came back I'd received a reminder for the NIP.
Tried to call the office again and found the opening hours were 0900-1230. Brilliant times for a night shift worker.
After waking up, calling, being on hold for 20~ odd minutes I was told my email hadn't been received. I tried to send it again and they put the phone down on me.... so another call & 20 minute wait.
Still no email. So I sent a blank email and that made it through... turns out that their email system isn't really set up for receiving photos so I had to send multiple emails with pictures attached.
Bit of a pain and would've been nice for them to have explained that in the first place.
Thought I'd put it here just in case anyone else has trouble.
They cancelled the NIP, confirmed that someone has cloned the plate have put a marker on the Reg
VetteEd said:
The letter asked me to fill in all the information and return it within 10 days, failure to do this would be an offence. I then read the small print which said if you fill in this form you are admitting to the offence; I'm thinking catch 22 here
That sounds to me like a S.172(2) notification which requires the RK to identify the driver.If you were not the driver what possible offence could you be admitting to?
If you were the driver, all your response does is confirm that fact.
It is still not an admission that you admit to anything. That stage is not reached until you are prosecuted.
And you still have the option to plead not guilty. In which case your fate is decided by the magistrates.
Back O/T. Misreading of VRMs is not unusual. Especially by MoPs where a decamp is involved.
Humans are often unreliable witnesses.
This topic reminded me of when I was younger. Police phoned me, "can you come remove your van from some place down Swansea" cant quit remember the convo it was causing an obstruction. These days im sure itd just be towed.
"I live in Scotland, and im staring straight at my van out the window"
"oh"
Cloned van taken away. Busted. Never did find out what happened after that. Just was let known mines was the real one, that never even crossed my mind. What if I was sold a dodgy one.
"I live in Scotland, and im staring straight at my van out the window"
"oh"
Cloned van taken away. Busted. Never did find out what happened after that. Just was let known mines was the real one, that never even crossed my mind. What if I was sold a dodgy one.
Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff