What To Do If Your Vehicle Has Been Cloned

'Cloning' involves transferring the identity of a non-stolen vehicle to a stolen one. The number plates and vehicle identification number, for example. This means that any driving offensives committed in the stolen vehicle are attributed to the legal owner of the identity. So, the victim of crime unfairly receives speeding fines, parking tickets, etc. This happened to an elderly friend of our family who was subsequently arrested in an early morning raid.

There are several steps to take if your vehicle has been cloned:

• return any fines or correspondence to the issuing authorities, and include documentary evidence to prove your cloning claim,
• contact the Driver Vehicle Licensing Agency who will record your correspondence for future reference,
• contact the police who have a responsibility to trace and prosecute the culprit.

By Stephen Turvil, motoring.co.uk