Mods, feel free to remove as this is off topic.

We just had our plates stolen of our abarth 500, any one who is looking at buying one please be extra careful and make sure the logbook matches with the number plate, as well as checking VIN numbers.

We suspect low level crime, bilking ect but you never know. Police and dvla have been notified.

Quite likely that they have stolen one the same as yours and want your plates to avoid the ANPR cameras.

typecastboy said:

Quite likely that they have stolen one the same as yours and want your plates to avoid the ANPR cameras.

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or they are planning on robbing a bank and need fake plates to hide the cars identity and blame it on you = )

typecastboy said:

Quite likely that they have stolen one the same as yours and want your plates to avoid the ANPR cameras.

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Must be idiots as the ANPR will nowflash up "STOLEN"

I'm annoyed about the plates, but more worried about getting letters in the post for stuff that wasn't us.
Car is being parked up under CCTV in a garage now so we can account for its location.

goodgirl156 said:

I'm annoyed about the plates, but more worried about getting letters in the post for stuff that wasn't us.
Car is being parked up under CCTV in a garage now so we can account for its location.

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no worries there, you can just reply to the letters with the police/insurance/dvla letter saying your plates were stolen.

GeoffF said:

Must be idiots as the ANPR will nowflash up "STOLEN"

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Probably be used to ring a stolen car for sale. Hoping for a private buyer that doesn't run an HPI check and accepts the old "can't find the V5, will post it on to you" ********.

Well the plate will be void very shortly as we just bought a private one for the car. I dont like private plates but I suspect there less likely to be robbed off a car for cloning ect

Not sure about that.
If you change your reg number for a cherished number, DVLA still have records about your original number, so when you sell your car, DVLA will revert to the original number so you can keep your cherished number for re-use on your next car.

Consequently, your stolen plates won't be void, just on the back burner, and still relevant.

The only time this is different, is when the car is brand new and the buyer stipulates a cherished number. In that case, there is never an "original" number to revert to when the car is sold.

Regards,
Mick.

Yes, you're right, plates are not voided. The plate will be shown on the Police National Computer as possibly being on false plates, so you, the actual owner could be pulled over by the police constantly. If this happens, ask them to cancel it on PNC, once you've proved you are the legal owner.

More than likely the car is elsewhere in the country, or even been driven to a port and loaded onto a container for shipping abroad.

I stand corrected, the info I was reading was clearly wrong

When i removed the private plate i had , i was given a different number and told the original
number was void, this was about 10 years ago mind

I think keeping proof of the theft, proof that you've contacted the DVLA and such in your glovebox or something might not be such a bad idea either. So if you ever are stopped it should make things easier for all involved.

There's a lady down the road from here who has had a series of Toyota Cilica cars. She transfers her cherished plate each time and is asked by DVLA to keep the "original" plates so when she sells her Celica, she can put on the original plates as she sells it and it won't cost the new owner the price of new plates being made. Her husband has had a few Jaguars, and he does the same.

Basically, the reg number issued by DVLA when the car is new stays with the car despite a cherished plate being used later.

Maybe if the cherished plate stays on for years and years, the original number becomes voided. That specific number cannot be used ever ever again.

Our Fiat500TA has had a new number issued when we bought it. The original owner specified her cherished number when she ordered the car. She no doubt has had her number for some time, and her number is at present on a Mini. She took it with her when she sold the 500TA.

I could tell our number wasn't the original when we bought the car because it had a Bournemouth - HD - when we knew it was a Torbay car and should have had a W (A to J) prefix. Had the car been registered with the "correct" number and then later changed to a cherished number, it would have reverted to the original when she sold it.

HTHs
Mick.

An ANPR camera and police national computer will show a VRM as a cherished transfer and will also show what the original VRM was too.

The Derbyshire Police have been in Dun-elm car park just up the road for where I work several times in the last year fitting anti theft screws to peoples number plates for free. They would even give you extra ones for any cars you had at home and show you how to fit them. When I enquired they explained that with the tax disc phasing out they were expecting number plate theft to go up.
The tax disc was always the way the police knew a car had valid MOT and insurance. Now they rely on the number plate. There will be cars out there now driving on other peoples tax, mots and insurance.
Ask at your local police station they may still be giving them out.

muttleysdad said:

The Derbyshire Police have been in Dun-elm car park just up the road for where I work several times in the last year fitting anti theft screws to peoples number plates for free. They would even give you extra ones for any cars you had at home and show you how to fit them. When I enquired they explained that with the tax disc phasing out they were expecting number plate theft to go up.
The tax disc was always the way the police knew a car had valid MOT and insurance. Now they rely on the number plate. There will be cars out there now driving on other peoples tax, mots and insurance.
Ask at your local police station they may still be giving them out.

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Anyone living in London, the Met also give out these screws. Ask your Safer Neighbourhood Team, they should keep a stock of them.

My only worry is the damage they might do to the plastic bumpers trying to force the plates off if they can't unscrew them.