Afraid to drive due to cloning
Discussion
[url]Waltham Forest Guardian|http://www.walthamforestguardian.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.604124.0.driver_left_with_fines_after_car_clones_target_him.php[/url]
[b]Driver left with fines after car clones target him[/b]
A DRIVER whose car number plate was cloned has been inundated with parking tickets amounting to nearly £6,000.
Saleem Sabbir, 21, manages Wellwear in Walthamstow High Street, a business his family has run for several years.
Mr Sabbir lives in East Ham and used to drive to the shop where he works six days a week, parking in an authorised space.
He insists the tickets issued by several London boroughs for parking illegally in places "he's never even been to" are not his.
He has since been forced to declare his car off the road to save it being snatched by bailiffs who come knocking on his door to collect the fines.
Mr Sabbir suspects the parking fines have been racked up by an illegal driver who has a similar car, using fake licence plates.
This claim was affirmed by Transport for London (TfL) when Mr Sabbir contested fines issued for driving in the central zone and in a bus lane.
TfL agreed he did not commit the offences and the vehicle in photographs taken by CCTV cameras was not his. A TfL spokesman confirmed: "We have identified the vehicle as being ringed."
Mr Sabbir refuses to pay on more than 20 tickets issued by London boroughs because he has never even been to these areas.
He has six outstanding tickets issued in Waltham Forest, eight in Newham, three in Redbridge, two in Haringey and four in Westminster. What started out as £25 and £50 parking tickets has increased to over £300 each because of the delay in payment.
Bailiffs have been visiting his home since December to collect outstanding fines amounting to £5,838 which would take Mr Sabbir more than a year to pay off.
He insists his car was not parked illegally at the times stated on the tickets, and his mother, his employer, supports his claims.
Mr Sabbir said: "I contacted the DVLA but they said they can't do anything until I've sorted all the tickets out. After that they can give me a new number plate."
He added: "I can't even park my car outside my house and I have declared it off the road so the baliffs don't take it. I have to use public transport to get to work."
A Waltham Forest Council spokeswoman said: "We're going to look into this further and if we can confirm the car has been cloned we would not pursue the fines."
The DVLA is currently working on a range of measures to address the problem of cloned number plates, and suggests that those who suspect their vehicles have been cloned should contact the police.
[b]Driver left with fines after car clones target him[/b]
A DRIVER whose car number plate was cloned has been inundated with parking tickets amounting to nearly £6,000.
Saleem Sabbir, 21, manages Wellwear in Walthamstow High Street, a business his family has run for several years.
Mr Sabbir lives in East Ham and used to drive to the shop where he works six days a week, parking in an authorised space.
He insists the tickets issued by several London boroughs for parking illegally in places "he's never even been to" are not his.
He has since been forced to declare his car off the road to save it being snatched by bailiffs who come knocking on his door to collect the fines.
Mr Sabbir suspects the parking fines have been racked up by an illegal driver who has a similar car, using fake licence plates.
This claim was affirmed by Transport for London (TfL) when Mr Sabbir contested fines issued for driving in the central zone and in a bus lane.
TfL agreed he did not commit the offences and the vehicle in photographs taken by CCTV cameras was not his. A TfL spokesman confirmed: "We have identified the vehicle as being ringed."
Mr Sabbir refuses to pay on more than 20 tickets issued by London boroughs because he has never even been to these areas.
He has six outstanding tickets issued in Waltham Forest, eight in Newham, three in Redbridge, two in Haringey and four in Westminster. What started out as £25 and £50 parking tickets has increased to over £300 each because of the delay in payment.
Bailiffs have been visiting his home since December to collect outstanding fines amounting to £5,838 which would take Mr Sabbir more than a year to pay off.
He insists his car was not parked illegally at the times stated on the tickets, and his mother, his employer, supports his claims.
Mr Sabbir said: "I contacted the DVLA but they said they can't do anything until I've sorted all the tickets out. After that they can give me a new number plate."
He added: "I can't even park my car outside my house and I have declared it off the road so the baliffs don't take it. I have to use public transport to get to work."
A Waltham Forest Council spokeswoman said: "We're going to look into this further and if we can confirm the car has been cloned we would not pursue the fines."
The DVLA is currently working on a range of measures to address the problem of cloned number plates, and suggests that those who suspect their vehicles have been cloned should contact the police.
puggit said:
The DVLA is currently working on a range of measures to address the problem of cloned number plates
The DVLA, or the government have 'worked' on measures for plate cloning alright, so much so that with all their spying, scamming & money grabbing schemes they have made the problem worse.
But they use the full force of the law to come down hard on the victims, so that's alright then.......
What incentive to legally participate in the system when the people who do abide by the system get treated like criminals, and can't even contest their innocence effectively until they've paid up! F*cking joke, useless system.
What are the chances the real perpatrator get caught?
0!
If you can't beat em, join em I say.
No more fines, points etc, just trouble free motoring
Dave
What are the chances the real perpatrator get caught?
0!
If you can't beat em, join em I say.
No more fines, points etc, just trouble free motoring
Dave
Its increasingly looking like a "good" option; there's apparently no incentive for the authorities to persue cloners (too difficult, it would seem) but as you say, they love to target the victims 'cos its easy...
But of course its "impossible" to get a dodgy plate made up without the V5. Not.
What a mad mad system.
But of course its "impossible" to get a dodgy plate made up without the V5. Not.
What a mad mad system.
I'm surprised the DVLA won't allow him to re-register his car, I didn't know they even had access to such records - perhaps somebody there is bull****ing him.
If it was one or two tickets then it would be manageable to defend, but I doubt any of us could produce evidence for being somewhere on so many occasions.
Gareth
If it was one or two tickets then it would be manageable to defend, but I doubt any of us could produce evidence for being somewhere on so many occasions.
Gareth
dazren said:
What a ed up system.
DAZ
Indeed. A few years ago, my Father was rear-ended and his car was written off. It was collected by the insurance company's approved people etc etc. Anyway, a year later he started receiving parking tickets for various areas in London (bearing in mind he lives nr Salisbury) and when he contacted the ticket issuers, he was told that unless he could prove that he really did no longer own the vehicle, he would be persued for the fines. Luckily he had the paperwork from the vehicle collection company. What gauls me is that this is in complete contrast to "innocent until proven guilty" - THEY should have to prove that it WAS you who committed the offence, NOT the other way around!
Dave
Mad Dave said:
.... he was told that unless he could prove that he really did no longer own the vehicle, he would be persued for the fines. Luckily he had the paperwork from the vehicle collection company. What gauls me is that this is in complete contrast to "innocent until proven guilty" - THEY should have to prove that it WAS you who committed the offence, NOT the other way around!
Dave
Its screwed up alright. What amazes me is that the power is with the issuers and not the individual. Saw that program on the TV the other month about TfL who knowingly pursued someone even though they knew damn well that it wasnt the bloke involved. But because they make money off this and hope that the majority just cough up - well where is the incentive to get it right.... its a worry.... in fact its a nightmare....
If these people really want to, they can screw you into the ground and there is nothing you can do. Its going to get worse from what I see.....
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