car cloned- I refuse to pay parking fine.

joannesss

My car has clearly been cloned as I've been receiving fines for parking in places like Leeds, and I've never been there.I live in London.

Last letter from DBCL- I asked them to send a photo of all 4 windows of the car as I've put a distnctive thing in the window to distinguish my car from the cloned version.

They wrote back that as i hadn't provided evidence my car has been cloned , they will continue to harrass me for payment.

I will not pay the fine, and I've told them I'm happy to go to court.

Question: what evidence can i rpovide that the car has been cloned? i can't see how I can provide any.

born_again

Have reported this as a cloned car to the police?

pseudodox

I got a parking charge last year for somewhere 200 miles away that I had never been to.  The photo of "my" car (which is a small green hatchback) was a white van with a roof rack and ladders.  The number plate appeared to have been cloned - but it turned out where my registration has a G in it the van reg was almost identical but with a C, with the fixing bolt making it appear like a G.  I got it overturned when I sent them pictures of my car.  And I complained to DVLA who had provided the personal details of me & my vehicle - that generated a generic reply but not an apology.  DVLA receive money for supplying details of course.

I uncovered the error by searching online for similar reg plates to mine until I hit on a white van like the one in the photo.  Insist they supply any photo they hold of your car  - then do a similar search for a similar plate.  Chances are it has not be cloned but merely some jobsworth has enhanced a photo of the rogue number plate and identified it as yours.

Coupon-mad

The above is good advice.  Send DCB a photo of your car and the windows and say it's not the vehicle their client captured, is it, and it must be an ANPR misread error.

Your car won't be cloned (unlikely).

pseudodox

I doubt DVLA did anything but I did ask them in writing to make a note on my file that this could happen again (as it seems to have with the OP) if some numpty enhancing ANPR images made the same mistake again.  So far I have not had any further incidents.  I also proved I could not have been in the referenced car park in London because I keep a note of my petrol purchases and mileage and the distance I would have had to drive between fills up would have taken 2 tanks of fuel.  I sent copies of my petrol receipts and the mileage display.  I keep careful records as I was many years ago sent a London congestion charge notice - that time my employed wrote a letter confirming my car was in the company car park and I was at my desk at the time of the alleged offence.  I do wonder if that previous time it was the same white van - but no photos were provided.

It does seem these days we are guilty until proven innocent.

1505grandad

"It does seem these days we are guilty until proven innocent"

Absolutely  -  in my experience the "skint little people" syndrome is prevalent in a lot of businesses these days.

Johnersh

They wrote back that as i hadn't provided evidence my car has been cloned , they will continue to harrass me for payment

They need to supply all photos, logs etc.  this should die with the photo. If it's clear enough to show a different vehicle from the details recorded on the V5C it's game over.

If they don't want to supply evidence but do want to chase you despite you evidencing that you and your vehicle were elsewhere then that could amount to harassment as it would be to disregard the clear correspondence in favour of (normally) automated ever escalating, threatening correspondence.

British Gas v Ferguson is authority on that. Each case must be judged in it's facts, however.

Half_way

Has your vehicle been cloned, or is it a result of "image enhancement" as a result of an ANPR misread?

There can be cases where a vehicle is closely cloned, that is the same colour/make/model etc however if the vehicle is clearly not yours then the parking company should be carrying out some basic checks .

You can even do a basic check yourself free of charge via the DVLA website here:

 https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/

Im of the belief that you should go for the landowner of the car park who allowed the unregulated parking company onto their land in most cases , so if it is a case of a completely different vehicle and its a private paring charge go for the landowner

You should say to the Parking company Unauthorised access of personal data contrary to the General Data Protection Regulations - ie a full on GDPR complaint, likewise to the landowner telling the landowner that they are liable for the actions of their agents - and this includes any GDPR breach such as this one, and you expect them to pay for your costs and trouble this has caused as its a direct result of them allowing an unregulated parking company to operate on their land

Half_way

In addition to the above:

 Name of parking company?

Location of car park?