The abolition of the paper tax disc in favour of a digital system promises to save £7m in administration costs, but with over one million uninsured drivers already on British roads, the change threatens to increase the crime of car cloning.
Car thieves and drivers without insurance routinely copy the number plate of a legally owned, adequately insured and properly taxed vehicle of the same type and colour in order to evade detection from the authorities. Until recently, these criminals would have to tamper with, or forge, a paper tax disc to avoid detection at the roadside.
However, as of this month, there is no legal requirement to display a paper disc and the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras with which the authorities scan all passing vehicles have no way of detecting cloned vehicles.
When a driver is sent a parking notice or speeding fine in error, it can be a clue that the vehicle has been cloned. The police can then flag the registration plate so that any roadside or mobile ANPR camera prompts the nearest traffic officer to stop the car for further checks. However, the bona fide driver is just as likely to be stopped themselves and criminals can swap to a different set of cloned plates.
Number plate suppliers are required to register with the Department for Transport and it is recommended that anyone ordering plates provides proof that they own the vehicle, but it is easy for criminals to bypass these checks. At present, there is very little to protect the law abiding motorist from car cloning.
Jim Clark
What a silly idea and it gets sillier. Our daughter and her family are returning to Britain after working abroad for several years. Our son in law starts his new job a few days after they arrive, they also have to get a house sorted out, they need a car so we are giving them our present car which is taxed and have bought a new one, we thought all they had to do was insure their car and drive off. We were wrong, tax discs can no longer be transferred with the car, they have to tax it anew, more inconvenience. As usual the honest suffer because of criminals.
They flier we got from DVLC about this is headed “Simpler, Better, Safer”, how on earth do they have the nerve to say that.
Peter Wood
Excellent idea, the Disc should have no value. As it can be purchased by means of bogus credit card, or even a dodgy cheque, and would be displayed on a vehicle nobody would question weather the disc was in fact genuine or not, in most cases it would take months to find out.
Having bought 2 separate vehicles, both of which tax disc is of great value, showing 12 months, and after 6months finding out, they used a cheque and never paid for the disc, and having to pay, again. Displaying pieces of paper which can be easily bought without any funds, is pointless. It’s far safer, and far better to cut it all out.
Jim Clark
Simple next time you buy a car get it from a reputable dealer and check the status of the vehicle before you buy. I would say it’s very difficult to get anything with a phoney credit card, there are now so many checks, you certainly wouldn’t get a tax disc from the Post Office or DVLC with one. When was the last time anyone passed a dud cheque. Most places won’t accept cheques. If they do it’s only a matter of days if not hours before it’s discovered. To buy one car with an illegal disc is unfortunate to buy two seems like negligence to me.