Liability for speeding in stolen cars

[Kos]

Its never happened to me (touch wood) but if a car is stolen and the thieves whizz through a number of speed traps and dump the car on private land and get clamped, would I be liable for all the fines and the points?

I know when my son had his car stolen he had to pay to have it unclamped as the thieves were never caught, but what if they had of been?

[12939]

No you would not be liable for the speeding fines or points as long as you had reported the car stolen.

When the Notice of Intended Prosecution comes through you, as the owner, have to name the driver. In this case you state that you cannot name the driver (or maybe you can if the thieves were caught).

You will have to give the Crime Reference Number that the police give you when you report your car stolen.

If you didn't report the car stolen, or if you deliberately delay doing so, you would be at risk of getting the points and fine as the owner of the car if the court thought that you were not acting in good faith.

[xrayspecs]

The down side is that you need to have reported the car stolen before it gets caught on the speed camera.

[john91]

that can't be right xrayspecs, your saying if I go to bed at 11pm tonight and someone steals my car at 11.30pm and runs every red light and gatso from Lancashire to Lands End before I wake up, I'm going to get about 10000 points on my license.

[Kos]

Exactly my thinking John91, which is why I asked the question

[theo_wyvern]

dont see an issue providing you report it as soon as you are aware - would guess that the car would be seen elsewhere and the numberplate checked and a visit from the local constabulary before you even notice so again no issue !

[qapmoc]

This actually happened to my Father once, he was in bed around 00:30 one night, A knock on the door and its the police complaining that his car was obstructing traffic on a country lane in the next village. He said ''no way its parked over there'' and looked out at the empty parking space.

[xrayspecs]

I was joking john91, although This happened to a freind of mine who had to work really hard to avoid a speeding prosecution after his car was stolen - in much the same circumstances as you describe.

Basically the police are not interested in any explanation that will require tham doing more work than is absolutely necessary. They take the path of least resistance when investigating crime, and if the explanation does require them to actually investigate a crime, then they aren't interested.