Cloned Plate - Splash and dash - Solicitor letter arrived

[SiH]

martinbiz said:

Of course it could be a simple plate misread from the cctv, happens far more regularly than a clone, don't know why everyone jumps on the far more unlikely scenario of a cloned plate

OP call them on Monday and send them a picture of your bike, it really shouldn't be hard to sort out

This is far more likely than a cloned plate. In a previous job I used to nip to the local Sainsburys petrol station to get a sandwich at lunchtime and behind the counter it was possible to see the video cameras on all the pumps with their ANPR recordings of the reg numbers. They regularly (~20% of the time) were reading the wrong numbers or letters, even on clean, normally spaced, normal typeface number plates.

[vikingaero]

RichTT said:

I don't want this to impact credit scores or anything like that so when I phone them Monday is there anything I need to be further armed with in order to ensure this gets dealt with quickly?

There is no way that this will impact your credit score or credit file. For that to happen, the solicitors would have to issue summons which you could defend or satisfy the debt. Only then would it become a CCJ and have an impact. These solicitors have simply issued you with a threat-o-gram and their business model relies on you being scared and paying if it was your debt. Even if it wasn't your debt and you paid they wouldn't care because of their bottom feeding nature much like parking companies.

[BertBert]

vikingaero said:

There is no way that this will impact your credit score or credit file. For that to happen, the solicitors would have to issue summons which you could defend or satisfy the debt. Only then would it become a CCJ and have an impact. These solicitors have simply issued you with a threat-o-gram and their business model relies on you being scared and paying if it was your debt. Even if it wasn't your debt and you paid they wouldn't care because of their bottom feeding nature much like parking companies.

Not to mention that they are trying to collect with no evidence of contract having been made between the person they have written to and the garage as they are writing RK.
The OP must presumably have made contact by now and resolved it!

[RichTT]

Appreciate all the feedback everyone. Phoned them this morning and at least started the process. The lad on the phone actually thought that I was going to be paying the debt but soon put him right. I've requested the CCTV footage but it has to come from the petrol station in question. These companies have the bare minimum to go on before starting proceedings. They had a vague description of the driver, medium height, casual clothes, face mask, no details on the vehicle in question and no cross reference to the plate vs the vehicle.

Basically did the below and will have to wait on the CCTV photo to then get on to the BIB to get a CRN.

QuattroDave said:

Contact debt recovery, tell them it's not you
Request CCTV footage
Review footage and if it is your reg call up police and get a crime reference number
Pass CRN back to recovery agency

[CanAm]

Thanks for the update RichTT.
Fingers crossed they realise the mistake ASAP

[HappyMidget]

These guys are really easy to deal with on the phone. Had a similar letter through from them, checked my records and found a payment on the same date to the same petrol station (but for a different amount). Phoned them up, explained this and ask for CCTV. They said they would put my file on hold till they received a response from the garage. Haven't heard anything since (>6 months now)

[NickCQ]

RichTT said:

They had a vague description of the driver, medium height, casual clothes, face mask

really narrowing it down there!

[HappyMidget]

RichTT said:

Appreciate all the feedback everyone. Phoned them this morning and at least started the process. The lad on the phone actually thought that I was going to be paying the debt but soon put him right. I've requested the CCTV footage but it has to come from the petrol station in question. These companies have the bare minimum to go on before starting proceedings. They had a vague description of the driver, medium height, casual clothes, face mask, no details on the vehicle in question and no cross reference to the plate vs the vehicle.

Basically did the below and will have to wait on the CCTV photo to then get on to the BIB to get a CRN.

QuattroDave said:

Contact debt recovery, tell them it's not you
Request CCTV footage
Review footage and if it is your reg call up police and get a crime reference number
Pass CRN back to recovery agency

You won't hear from them ever again. I would suggest reporting the clone to the police now and let them go get the footage.

[the tribester]

HappyMidget said:

RichTT said:

Appreciate all the feedback everyone. Phoned them this morning and at least started the process. The lad on the phone actually thought that I was going to be paying the debt but soon put him right. I've requested the CCTV footage but it has to come from the petrol station in question. These companies have the bare minimum to go on before starting proceedings. They had a vague description of the driver, medium height, casual clothes, face mask, no details on the vehicle in question and no cross reference to the plate vs the vehicle.

Basically did the below and will have to wait on the CCTV photo to then get on to the BIB to get a CRN.

QuattroDave said:

Contact debt recovery, tell them it's not you
Request CCTV footage
Review footage and if it is your reg call up police and get a crime reference number
Pass CRN back to recovery agency

You won't hear from them ever again. I would suggest reporting the clone to the police now and let them go get the footage.

If you report cloned plates to the Police, they may put a marker on the registration, the result being the OP may get stopped, and stopped again. Or if it was a mis-read, the debt chasers will chase the correct party and no need for any further reports or unnecessary stops.

[RichTT]

I'll wait until I get the CCTV photo before calling the police i think. I'll just follow the protocol they suggested as I'm sure they've had this plenty of times before.

[HappyMidget]

RichTT said:

I'll wait until I get the CCTV photo before calling the police i think. I'll just follow the protocol they suggested as I'm sure they've had this plenty of times before.

As I said earlier, I asked them for CCTV and haven't heard anything from them for over 6 months.

[CanAm]

RichTT said:

I'll wait until I get the CCTV photo before calling the police i think. I'll just follow the protocol they suggested as I'm sure they've had this plenty of times before.

I’ll vote for a misread number rather than a cloned plate. The whole point of cloning is to keep under the radar; not much chance of that if a patrol car checks your plate and it comes up as a Honda 250 instead of a Ford Focus!

[JimbobVFR]

Nibbles_bits said:

clockworks said:

Not sure how other petrol stations operate, but the one I worked in (big supermarket chain) had really poor CCTV. When we had a drive-off, we had to get the plates from the CCTV, and fill out a form. After a week, the details were passed to a debt collection agency, who took a big chunk of anything they could collect from the driver.

Because the CCTV was so bad, we nearly always had to guess at one or two digits of the plate, then type our "guess" into the government MOT checker to see what car make and colour came back. If they tallied with the car we could see on the CCTV, we'd use those details. If not, we'd guess another plate and try again.

Because we had to fill in the make, model, colour and plate on the till to clear the transaction, we nearly always got everything correct, and it prevented obvious errors like the OP's.

Yikes, could you imagine that going to Court!?

"We didn't get all of the reg, but we guessed until we found a vehicle of the right type and colour"

:0

Maybe it's better that a Debt Collection Agency deals with it

Does seem a dodgy way of going about things TBH

When I bought my only brand new car in 1999 there were several almost identical models sold by the same garage with plates very similar to mine, there was one the same model and colour with only one letter difference (mine was KNW for the last 3 letters, the other RNW)

It was quite common for dealers to get a bunch of registration numbers all close together (or at least it was back then at least) My mums Clio also had a very similar twin with a very similar plate I'd see quite often (and waved to at least once thinking it was my mum)

[threadlock]

Any update please, RichTT?

[Pit Pony]

CanAm said:

Pit Pony said:

There's a Shell garage on Scotty Road, in Liverpool, Just by the Entrance to the Queensway Wallasey Tunnel

<pedant mode>Kingsway to Wallasey surely?
(not that anyone else cares )

I get confused.

Have you seen the play "Brick up the Mersey Tunnel ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_Up_the_Mersey_...

Oh to be one of the Kingsway Three.


The shell will probably close down as they built a Sainsbury's with a petrol station just up the road and it's cheaper.

[CanAm]

Pit Pony said:

I get confused.

Have you seen the play "Brick up the Mersey Tunnel ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_Up_the_Mersey_...

Oh to be one of the Kingsway Three.


The shell will probably close down as they built a Sainsbury's with a petrol station just up the road and it's cheaper.

I still call it The New Tunnel !
Not seen "Brick up the Mersey Tunnel"; I've been in exile down south for over 30 years!
Got family both sides of the river and just read about the possible "Congestion Charge"; I might have to go via Warrington.

[Alex_6n2]

covboy said:

Yet to come across a completely "pay at the pump" station

Literally ANY Shell fuel station

Open Shell App, input pump number, pay with google/apple pay, fill, leave

Easy.

[Pit Pony]

CanAm said:

I still call it The New Tunnel !
Not seen "Brick up the Mersey Tunnel"; I've been in exile down south for over 30 years!
Got family both sides of the river and just read about the possible "Congestion Charge"; I might have to go via Warrington.

I've got family over in Ellesmere Port and it's quicker to go over the new Runcorn Bridge. All cars in our house have an RFI tag, so occassionally I get £10 debited out of my bank account to top up my account. Saves logging on each time I cross. My daughter's car had one, and her dhead ex boyfriend got "lost" and crossed the bridge twice each way in one day. By mistake. I don't know who he thought was paying the bill. (Me)

[aestetix1]

If it was mis-read you could be in for a windfall.

Requesting the wrong person's details from the DVLA is a breech of the Data Protection Act. It is their responsibility to make sure they get the right plate.

When this went to court the fine was £750 plus costs. So if it is mis-read you should point this out and suggest that £750 is suitable compensation for mis-handling your personal data and wasting your time.

[martinbiz]

aestetix1 said:

If it was mis-read you could be in for a windfall.

Requesting the wrong person's details from the DVLA is a breech of the Data Protection Act. It is their responsibility to make sure they get the right plate.

When this went to court the fine was £750 plus costs. So if it is mis-read you should point this out and suggest that £750 is suitable compensation for mis-handling your personal data and wasting your time.

Here we go! Link to a source for this case would be nice