Got NIP, my car wasn't there!

[mamoulian]

I've received a NIP claiming my number plate was caught speeding (44 in a 30) last week.
I wasn't there - I was at my office desk ~200 miles away! My car was parked outside the office.

According to the NIP, the allegation 'will be supported by photographic evidence'.

I will have plenty of evidence to say that I was in the office - co-workers, emails, other PC access.
There's probably none to say my car was parked outside...


I can think of three possibilities:
1) Someone nicked my car from the car park after I left it at 10am, went on a long jaunt and then brought it back to the same place by 6pm
2) The police's number-plate reading technology is a bit duff, and misread a digit
3) Someone has a fake number plate that matches mine, or had some strategically placed mud that made it appear to be mine.


Of course they haven't sent me the photo... but if you were a clever number plate faker with access to a database (all insurers have now) you'd fake a numberplate that matches up with the type of car you're driving - so the photo might not help me out much...


Whats my situation?

Cheers
Neil

[bogie]

you need to report it to the Police and to DVLA that you think youre car has been cloned. Getting more common these days.

Either that or request the phot evidence first with a letter stating your whereabouts on that day etc and see if it looks like your car etc

A friend of mine has had the plate on his TT cloned. In the last year hes had numerous parking, speeding, congestion charge offences etc, the latest was an accident where the driver (a black woman in her early 40's) stopped and gave false insurance details ...the other driver wrote down her number plate...and the Police turned up around my friends house to see him ...he had to then show them the letter and they confirmed with DVLA and his local Police that hed notified them of the clone etc.

Luckily nearly every time on these offences hes away on business, 100's miles away and has hotel receipts/witnesses to prove he/his car were not involved

Anyway I keep telling him just to re-register his car...but hes got a private plate that was a few bob and took him ages to get so would rather keep it...in the meanwhile the Police have yet to find the other silver Audi TT with his plate on it thats probably stolen, no insurance etc.

[steve-p]

mamoulian said:

3) Someone has a fake number plate that matches mine, or had some strategically placed mud that made it appear to be mine.

I've met two people already who have been sent congestion charge fines even though they have never been to London. They have been told that there are a lot of clones around nowadays, but still have to prove their whereeabouts. People seem to think they can get away with anything these days, and with so few traffic police, maybe they can. It could be worse - you could be being charged with a serious hit and run.

[CraigAlsop]

bogie said:

the Police turned up around my friends house to see him ...he had to then show them the letter and they confirmed with DVLA and his local Police that hed notified them of the clone etc. Anyway I keep telling him just to re-register his car...but hes got a private plate that was a few bob and took him ages to get so would rather keep it...in the meanwhile the Police have yet to find the other silver Audi TT with his plate on it thats probably stolen, no insurance etc.

Surely he is now sorted - even if he actually goes through scameras etc, there must be enough doubt due to the previous events that he can pretty much get off anything unmanned!

[Chrisgr31]

Presumably the chances of getting caught with a cloned plate are small, although I assume you also need a fake tax disc as well otherwise you could be caught when parked.

However the chances of being stopped by a marked police car are reducing rapidly it appears. Presumably when the DVLA gaet a report of a clone they mark their database accordingly so when a car passes through one of their checkpoints it flashes up?

[Godfrey H]

Yes, but even if it flashes up as cloned unless they have Police with them to stop the car what are they going to do? The only way to stop cloned cars is a pull by a TrafPol on "suss", or a Police APNR operation with TrafPol in attendance. We have one of those vans where I live but you don't see it out very often because of scarce resources and the fact that it doesn't raise any easy "revenue".

[Pesty]

mmmmm an idea is forming


report that you car is cloned drive through a lot of speed camera's wearing a mask and wig