I got £8,500 in Ulez fines after my car number plate was cloned | Money
Someone cloned my car’s number plate in October and racked up £8,500 in Ulez fines. I appealed, but it was rejected.
Unfortunately, the cloned car is the same make, model and color as mine. I have now received 17 ‘unpaid penalty recovery order’ notices from Transport for London (TfL). The bailiffs will arrive next week, according to their letters.
I’ve never driven my car in London and I can’t afford these fines.
RJ, Virginity
Cloning of car number plates increased by 9% last year, according to the DVLA.
Criminals steal or copy license plates to attach them to vehicles that resemble them. This allows them to avoid parking and speeding penalties, as well as clean air zone fines.
The cloning of your car coincided with a serious bicycle accident that required surgery and prevented you from appealing all the fines in time. TfL canceled the sanctions as soon as I provided proof that you did not own the offending vehicle.
It says: “We encourage all drivers who believe they have received Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) as a result of their vehicle being cloned, to contact us as soon as possible, with all available evidence, to avoid escalation of charges. »
Acceptable evidence includes photos or witness affidavits proving your car was elsewhere at the time the ticket was triggered, evidence of discrepancies between legitimate vehicles and cloned vehicles, and a police crime reference.
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