Hoot guide to car cloningIf you've got a burning question on any aspect of motoring (it doesn't have to be about cheap car insurance) the guys at Hoot are here to help. Our Hoot Guides have the answers to any number of car questions, covering every subject from car modifications to MOTs. So if you need advice on buying a secondhand car, where best to leave your car at night or just what exactly all that fine print on your car insurance policy means, the guides have it all in easy reach. As a cheap car insurance company, it's in our best interest to keep abreast of the various types of car crime affecting the UK - and to keep you informed, too. Of these crimes, one of the most alarming is called car cloning. It affects roughly 35,000 drivers a year, and that number is on the increase. What is car cloning?
When criminals use the registration number of one car to disguise the identity of another, this is known as 'car cloning'.
Cloning can have several criminal applications, ranging from avoiding parking fines to committing major crimes, such as ram-raiding or bank robbery, in an effectively untraceable vehicle. Another common application is on stolen cars which are advertised for sale by thieves. The most common method involves straight numberplate theft, i.e. removing the plates from a legitimately-owned vehicle and attaching them to another. However, the rise of websites and mail-order businesses which sell so-called 'show plates' (avoiding the need for the purchaser to prove his or her identity and entitlement when having them made up) means that cars can now be cloned more discretely and at minimal risk. Any combination of cars can be used, but cloning the plates from an otherwise identical model (same options, same year, same colour) makes a much more convincing disguise. Such faithful cones can go for months without detection and cause the owner of the stolen registration considerable grief. The victims of cloning
A diverse range of criminal applications means that cloning affects victims in many different ways. For instance, the least serious cases of cloning result in people receiving fines for parking, speeding and other motoring offences they did not commit. Others can be arrested, questioned and forced to prove their innocence in criminal cases they know nothing about.
Those who are fooled into buying a stolen vehicle will quickly discover they have no legal right to their purchase. Such cars are usually seized by the authorities and returned to their rightful owners - the unfortunate buyer is left with nothing. Business are affected by cloning as well as individuals. Often stolen cars are sold 'as new' with plates lifted straight from showroom forecourts. Lastly, those who report their registration as cloned may be subject to continual (and unintentional) attention from police patrols - who will naturally be on the look-out for the disguised vehicle rather than their own. Avoiding cloning
Sadly, your options are fairly limited when it comes to protecting your registration mark - but there are a couple of things you can do.
The first and most obvious step you can take against cloning is to leave your car in a driveway or garage, rather than on the roadside. Reduce the visibility of your numberplate when parked and you'll substantially reduce the chances of it being lifted by thieves or noted down for duplication. The other option is to invest in a new type of theft-resistant numberplate, developed by the DVLA and a consortium of manufacturers. For twice the price of standard plates, these are guaranteed to resist the efforts of thieves (i.e. be impossible to remove in a re-usable form) for a minimum of three minutes, allowing for the use of any conventional tool such as a drill, hacksaw or screwdriver. Enquire at a registered numberplate suppliers for further details (see http://www.direct.gov.uk for a list of suppliers in your area). Reporting cloning
If you receive fines, notices or other correspondence relating to motoring offences you could not have committed, there's a chance your vehicle has been cloned - particularly if it keeps happening.
If this is the case, return the paperwork to the issuing authorities along with an explanation (and any documentary evidence you can come up with) to demonstrate your innocence. Then inform both the DVLA (who will make a note on your driving record) and the police, who will do their best to track down the cloned vehicle and arrest the cloner. If the problem persists, the DVLA may be able to issue you with a new registration mark. This will end the inconvenience for you and put a stop to criminal activities taking place in your name. Try cheap car insurance from Hoot
Reading about car crime make you realise how important it is to get car insurance with a good standard of cover. Of course, finding it at knock-down prices would be a bonus.
Luckily enough, Hoot practically defines cheap car insurance. Our motor insurance quotes can be up to 30 percent cheaper than the competition - that means going anywhere else for your car insurance is practically a crime, too. We are able to deliver such cheap car insurance because we cut out all the unnecessary expenses - like advertising and high-street offices - that most other firms still insist on. Online car insurance is generally cheaper across the board, but at Hoot Car Insurance Services we push that envelope just a little bit further on your behalf. To see what we mean about cheap car insurance, just click below. 
|
