YL 664?

[bystander]

Sorry, Hedd, we will have to agree to disagree!

How would you feel if someone offered for sale on Ebay 'just a piece of aluminium' stamped with your name and address, date of birth and inside leg measurement?

[Hedd_Jones]

who cares?, other than my inside leg measurement, the rest of that info is publically availible.

[Stuart Giles]

I used to chat regularly to a chap at rallies who had quite a lot of vintage vehicles, including Sevens,some of which had not been on the road for whatever reason for some time.
 When stricter regulations, such as SORN came into being he attempted to get all the paperwork in order, but was refused on one of them as the (presumably attractive) number had, unknowingly to him, been claimed and was on a modern BMW or Mercedes or some such.
I believe he eventually managed to prove that the number had been fraudulently taken and was able to reclaim it.

Sadly not as uncommon an occurrence as it should be. Anyone can write to the DVLA and say "I've just bought a car with registration blahblahblah, but I didn't get the V5C" DVLA then writes to the keeper's address they have on record, if they don't get a response, the thieving scrote gets a V5C in their name several weeks later.

This crime is simply preventable by making sure that the DVLA have up to date details of your address; unfortunately, contacting the DVLA regarding your longstanding car project that still requires a "Round TUIT" isn't usually the first thing on your mind when you have just moved house and garage.

[David Cochrane]

Well done Joe for your actions on this! I am currently in the process of contacting the owner so that we can try to get the plate reunited with the car.

[Hedd_Jones]

Stuart. That isn't true either.

You need to supply a good bit more information than that, not just about the vehicle, but including personal information.

[Mike Costigan]

Stuart. That isn't true either.

You need to supply a good bit more information than that, not just about the vehicle, but including personal information.

But a significant item of 'evidence' would be an original identity plate like this. Admittedly this was several years ago, but I was able to provide evidence of the identity of a Triumph Herald which I had rescued from a scrap-yard (without its commission plate), only to be told that the registration number with my car's identity was now on an RMB Gentry kit-car. Following a police investigation, both vehicles were denied the original identity and registration and were re-issued with computer-generated VINs and age-related numbers.

[Hedd_Jones]

No, you just fill a form. You need more than just the reg number however

Funnily enough, the info on the chassis register would do it, no piece of aluminium required.

[Stuart Giles]

Stuart. That isn't true either.

You need to supply a good bit more information than that, not just about the vehicle, but including personal information.

I am aware of the need to provide further information -however, it didn't seem a good idea for me to put up a comprehensive "how to" on a public forum. The car and personal information required by the DVLA isn't hard to come by; the point still stands that many people are lax about informing the DVLA of their change of address which has been the key for carrying out this fraud in two cases that I know of.

[Martin Prior]

In this instance, it all seems to be above board.

Not so many years ago, cloning cars for fairly innocent reasons was quite common. I've recently seen one that had carried a clearly impossible identity for at least sixty years and another that has an "identical twin" on the A7CA register - "ours" ended up with an age-unrelated plate, despite plenty of evidence to support its identity.

I think it likely that cars seen at one time as no-hopers, only fit for scrap, were viewed as legitimate identity donors. The problem is that some of them are now emerging from their graves.

[Stuart Joseph]

Good afternoon all. My experience mirrors that of Mike and others. I bought an RN chassis with documents to replace the chassis that was stolen. I submitted the V5 to Swansea only to be told that the reg no was on a motor cycle in the home counties. Later i received a call to say I would be visited by the police who were investigating vehicle thefts. A policeman from Dorset visited and examined the chassis and photocopy of the V5. His comment was that I was the rightful user of the reg no and he would be reporting this. Shortly afterwards the DVLA contacted me to say that in the light of evidence the motor cyclist was entitled to use the number and I could apply for an age related number and that I must be made aware that the number is the property of the DVLA and we were only 'tenants' !!

Regards from the creative county - Staffordshire.

Stuart