HomeMotoring UKProtect your Car Jayne Henry June 10, 2012 Motoring UK, Personalised Number Plates Protect your Car with a Personalised Number Plate While many articles are written about the beauty and sentimental value of having a personalised number plate on your car, which are all indeed true, a less advertised benefit to having a personalised number plate is to protect your car. According to British Crime Survey figures, published by the Home Office in October 2010, it was revealed that there were 479,000 reported incidents of car crime in the 12 months to June 2010. In addition, according to the Crime in England and Wales Quarterly Update from the Home Office, the number of vehicle-related thefts rose by 7% in the year up to September 2011. This means that there are a number of stolen cars on the roads that unsuspecting buyers will purchase. Those that know how can easily clone a car and your car, if stolen, may never be found again. Thieves who steal a car can give it a new identity by copying a similar car already on the road. The thief can disguise the unique 17 digit Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) on the stolen car and also use a stolen logbook to legitimise the car’s identity. One way to stop thieves from taking your car is to get a personalised number plate. Every car that is used on public roads are required by law to display a vehicle registration plate. There is one exception – vehicles used by royalty have no number plates. Personalised number plates are an alternative to assigned registration plates. They allow you to display a personal message which can be known to you only e.g. A5 BOB, can be very obvious for others to read, e.g. VIP 1 or to promote your business, e.g. N1 BNB. But whatever the reason for buying a personalised number plate, you are less likely than not to have it stolen. Think about it – a thief who wants to steal a car won’t necessarily want the car to stand out. They don’t want it noted as to what route the car was taken; they don’t want it to be memorable. It’s easier to steal a car that doesn’t have distinctive registration plate. It takes a good eye witness to remember all the digits and numbers of a regular number plate. But it would take an average eye witness to remember a personalised number plate. Thieves know this and will be less likely to steal a car that will be remembered. So an added but very serious benefit of owning your own number plate is for protection. Just a note for accuracy purposes: Up until April 2012, The British Crime Survey figures are published by the Home Office. From April 2012, national statistics on crime, including car theft and related crimes will be published by the Office for National Statistics and will be called ‘Crime Survey for England and Wales’ to better reflect its geographical coverage.
