Cloned plate

Cuchulain · 15 Nov 2006 at 11:36

My wife got pulled over this morning on her way to Strabane and was told that someone had cloned her plate and was using it on a Corsa somewhere around Belfast, they also told her that she can expect to be pulled over whenever she's spotted despite her driving a Peugeot 106 in a completely different colour to the Corsa with the cloned plates. I was a bit surprised that the police are unable to differentiate between both cars and are insistant on pulling her over at every future opportunity so I'm wondering if I should just try and get the car re-registered?

Scuzi · 15 Nov 2006 at 11:59

My uncle had this problem, he was getting pulled over once a week. His car was identical to the cloned car though so it was a bit harder for the peelers to differentiate. In the end he re-registered the car and hasn't had any bother since. Give the DVLNI in Coleraine a call. When I was going to change my car to an NI plate I was told that I'd need to get a refund on my current tax and buy a new tax disc as well as pay an £80 registration fee. If you're lucky they might even give you a list of letters and numbers to pick from, otherwise they'll assign you your countys 3 letters with a random number.

It'll cost you £80 + what you lose in the tax refund but might be worth it if you're going to be tortured by the police.

utajoker · 15 Nov 2006 at 12:04

im not up on this but surley the police in belfast should pull the car over and arrest the driver and crush the car or what ever they do. they are driving a cloned vehicle which i think is illigal.

your wife can prove the car is registered and is the real one.

i heard a story of a guy who had his car cloned, he kept getting speeding tickets from cameras from the other side of the country, he had to get a garage to hold his car to prove it wasnt him.

Cuchulain · 15 Nov 2006 at 12:12

Scuzi said:
My uncle had this problem, he was getting pulled over once a week. His car was identical to the cloned car though so it was a bit harder for the peelers to differentiate. In the end he re-registered the car and hasn't had any bother since. Give the DVLNI in Coleraine a call. When I was going to change my car to an NI plate I was told that I'd need to get a refund on my current tax and buy a new tax disc as well as pay an £80 registration fee. If you're lucky they might even give you a list of letters and numbers to pick from, otherwise they'll assign you your countys 3 letters with a random number.

It'll cost you £80 + what you lose in the tax refund but might be worth it if you're going to be tortured by the police.

Sounds like a plan, shame we have to fork out £80 when the cops cba to do their job properly, I'd understand if whoever cloned it was intelligent enough to pick the same model car in the same colour but they didn't.

Cuchulain · 15 Nov 2006 at 12:14

utajoker said:
im not up on this but surley the police in belfast should pull the car over and arrest the driver and crush the car or what ever they do. they are driving a cloned vehicle which i think is illigal.

They probably haven't spotted the offending car yet, they're probably basing it on an eyewitness account of the make/model/colour and registration (which could be completely wrong).

your wife can prove the car is registered and is the real one.

She can and until we get the car re-registered she runs the risk of being pulled over on each trip to and from work to prove just that.

Scuzi · 15 Nov 2006 at 12:18

utajoker said:
im not up on this but surley the police in belfast should pull the car over and arrest the driver and crush the car or what ever they do. they are driving a cloned vehicle which i think is illigal.

Either the police in Belfast couldn't be arsed to take action (very likely) or the car is in one of the areas where the police are afraid to go.

utajoker · 15 Nov 2006 at 12:25

in my old punto in 2 weeks i got stoped 3 times, police asked if car was mine who i was then just left, never told me why they stoped me. they followed me all the way to my drive once.

theredguy · 15 Nov 2006 at 14:27

We have this problem with one of our plain white vans at work, someone in Bristol is running round in the same type with a clone of our plate on it.

Bri · 15 Nov 2006 at 14:49

OMG she must have posted her car on an intarweb forum without blocking out the plate, what a n00b!!!one

pinkaardvark · 15 Nov 2006 at 14:54

I'm confused. How do the police know the car is cloned if they haven't pulled over the cloned car? and if they have pulled the cloned car? why is the said cloned car on the road? and if not then why is the reg still on their system?

Cuchulain · 15 Nov 2006 at 15:03

pinkaardvark said:
I'm confused. How do the police know the car is cloned if they haven't pulled over the cloned car? and if they have pulled the cloned car? why is the said cloned car on the road? and if not then why is the reg still on their system?

Chances are they have a witness/witnesses who've reported the registration number as being involved in a crime along with a description of the vehicle.

Deja vu ... you probably should have read the whole thread.

Felix Da Housecat · 15 Nov 2006 at 15:09

pinkaardvark said:
I'm confused. How do the police know the car is cloned if they haven't pulled over the cloned car? and if they have pulled the cloned car? why is the said cloned car on the road? and if not then why is the reg still on their system?

Either the police lost visual track of the car or they impounded the car and the culprits then put the same plate onto another car.

There are many reasons as to whats going on but i recon they lost the car and hence it is still on the system.

Cuchulain · 15 Nov 2006 at 16:58

Turns out after speaking to the DVLNI, if we get something from the cops to prove that the plates have been cloned (my wife did ask if it was a possible mistake and the feller that stopped her was insistant that it had definately happened and the that the vehicle was definately being used in some form of crime around Belfast) then we should be able to get it re-registered for nothing.

Scuzi · 15 Nov 2006 at 17:05

Cuchulain said:
Turns out after speaking to the DVLNI, if we get something from the cops to prove that the plates have been cloned (my wife did ask if it was a possible mistake and the feller that stopped her was insistant that it had definately happened and the that the vehicle was definately being used in some form of crime around Belfast) then we should be able to get it re-registered for nothing.

Bonus

Good luck getting the police to send the paperwork to the DVLNI, it'll take them bloody ages.

Cuchulain · 15 Nov 2006 at 17:08

Scuzi said:
Bonus
Good luck getting the police to send the paperwork to the DVLNI, it'll take them bloody ages.

I also need to somehow coax her into heading up to Strand Road barracks first, I think she'd rather get caught in a horrific chemical fire.

Scuzi · 15 Nov 2006 at 17:23

Cuchulain said:
I also need to somehow coax her into heading up to Strand Road barracks first, I think she'd rather get caught in a horrific chemical fire.

Good luck to her

Daveyboy · 15 Nov 2006 at 18:21

The good thing about cloned plates is that if you clock up a load of speeding tickets, and the cloned plate car is identical, and the police are aware of it, you are in the all clear and can just say you didn't drive at all that day.

However, as the car is completely different the police should stop pulling you over... you have the right car model for your plate (and its on their system) so I would make a complaint to the police