My car has been cloned

[unruly1986]

Received a speeding ticket this weekend, a car with the same number plate as mine was caught doing 97 in a 30(!!!).

Initially was very worried, not that I drive that speed through built up areas, however it turns out I was 2hrs away at the time so it was definitely not me or my car.

What made it even more bizarre is the fact that this happened on the day I bought the car.

I think that someone has seen the car on the internet and cloned the plates from there.

Has anyone ever been through this, if so what was the outcome?

Cheers in advance!

DT_Xtremez_14:

 

[Dragoon]

Best thing to do is get as much evidence of the fact that you were not in the area when it happened.
See if you can check the picture (if one is available) of the offending car, is it actually the same car as your's and colour?
Does your's have anything on it (stickers, bodykit, Max Power exhaust, anything) that the offending car doesnt have, or vice versa?

Report to the police, as usual, and let them know, as the likelyhood is you'll get nailed for the points and fine unless it's proven it wasnt you.

That may be stating the obvious, but I hope it can help, it's not a nice situation to be in!

Good luck!

 

[CodeMonkey]

It happened to one of our vans last year some time.

 

[MeRlIn HaTeR]

These guys are helpful for all things motoring CLICKY

 

[he_who_dares_rodney]

It happened on the day you bought the car ?

So I would suggest you try and answer the following

Where did you buy the car? e.g. You bought it in York
Where was the speeding photo taken e.g it's from Liverpool

What time was he photo taken e.g. 14:00
Where were you? can you prove it?

Such as
How did you pay for the car?
If you can produce a card receipt can you match it to a time v the time on the camera?
Did you buy petrol after you bought it? again do you have a receipt?
Can the person / dealership help prove that you were with them at a specific time

Is there a discrepancy between Tax disks
Was your car taxed and insured when you left the dealership
Is the in the photo showing a tax disk can you see it

Write a letter stating where you were at the time off the offence if you can provide any proof then put that in

Try your hardest even if it seems trivial - next time the car may be involved in something far more serious

 

[Ex-Bay]

From your mention of the Internet, it sounds like a private sale.
Cash, cheque or card ?

Can you get a letter of confirmation from the Vendor that you were buying the car at the time of the offence?

How did you handle the Insurance? Make a phone call or use the Internet to organise it ? Can you prove that with the transaction details?

What type of car is listed on the ticket ?.
Send a photo of your car and a xerox of the logbook stubs, together with the above to the Issuing office of the speeding ticket.

And don't forget to tell you local Feds (they really can help sometimes).

Hope this helps

 

[unruly1986]

Hi all, cheers for the replies, much appreciated.

Letter is going off to the police along with an uncompleted ticket.

The car was bought from a trader, it was advertised on the net so I think that they have obtained the plate details from there.

The time on the ticket is 2301, I was on station at the time so hopefully CCTV from the gate will be available if needed. Was out that evening with two friends who can verify that we arrived back at about 2230 (also had a mate on the gate!), I also have bank statements showing I payed for something at 1933, we were there for a good couple of hours so it should be easy to clear this up.

The ticket doesn't list the type of car, however the ticket office said it is the same type as mine. I suggested that this was taken off the DVLA records and they agreed - I know this as the information they had was too specific, I have a Focus St-3 - the 3 refers to the full leather interior etc, I doubt that a camera would pick this up at night.

As for being stiffed with the points and fine, I think that this one would make the local rag! Over three times the limit in a thirty!