More than 11,400 drivers contacted the DVLA last year over fines they did not recognise, up 9% on 2024, says RAC
More than 11,400 drivers contacted the DVLA last year over fines they did not recognise, a record high, the Guardian reported. The data does not split out fleets, so operators get the direction of travel but not their own exposure.
The Board Room · Leadership desk
Before and after: about 10,460 drivers in 2024, a count implied by a 9% rise, against more than 11,400 drivers last year who contacted the DVLA over fines they did not recognise.
| Measure | Value | As of | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Implied 2024 count, about | 10,460 drivers | 2024 | 10 |
| Contacted DVLA, more than | 11,400 drivers | Last year | 1 |
What happened
- The total is 9% above the 2024 figure and almost double the 2018 figure, according to RAC analysis of freedom of information data.
- Most of those contacts are believed to stem from cloning, where a plate is copied onto similar vehicles to avoid enforcement cameras.
- Last month the government announced a nationwide crackdown, with Department for Transport funding for a roads policing team and a coordination centre that will share intelligence and trial goggles.
Why it matters
- Who's exposed exposure Where a company is the registered keeper, the fine for a copied plate reaches the company, so fleet exposure follows from how fines are routed even though the count covers only drivers.
- What it limits constraint Proof sits with the keeper: the Guardian says many innocent owners struggle to show the vehicle in the camera image was not theirs, so each dispute is work for whoever keeps the vehicle.
- Who has to decide decision Logging disputed fines as their own category costs staff time this quarter and gives next quarter a baseline to measure against.
The record is a count of contacts, and that limits what it can show. It covers drivers who got in touch with the DVLA after a fine they did not recognise [1], so a fine paid without a challenge would not appear in it. The 9% rise [2] is also a modest annual step. Taking 11,400 as exact, the 2024 figure was about 10,460 [10], and the latest year added about 940 cases [11].
The RAC data counts drivers. Fleet exposure is therefore an inference from how the fines are routed, and we think it a sound one. A fine generated by a copied plate goes to the keeper of the genuine vehicle. Simon Williams, the RAC's head of policy, said: "It's only when a fine arrives at a vehicle keeper's home address that they realise someone else is driving around using their vehicle's number plate illegally." [6]
The RAC and the Department for Transport are asking for different things. The RAC wants the plate system overhauled and calls it outdated and poorly regulated [9]. Williams pointed to suppliers: "If number plate suppliers were carrying out all the checks they're supposed to, it would be much harder for dodgy drivers to buy cloned plates in the first place." [5] An investigation last year found more than 130 official suppliers in the UK willing to sell cloned versions [3]. A department spokesperson described the government's package this way: "We're cracking down on illegal number plates with significant investment in a new roads policing team and innovative tech to stamp out the scourge of cloned numberplates." [7]
The department also said it is supporting police to work with the DVLA on a new digital tool to make these crimes easier to report and to support victims [8]. In our view that tool is the closest item in the package to a remedy for a keeper holding a wrongly attributed fine. We do not know yet when it opens or what it will ask a keeper to provide.
The sequencing matters for anyone who runs vehicles. A fleet that starts logging disputed fines this quarter spends staff time against a modest national rise. A fleet that waits will reach next quarter, and whatever the tool requires, with no count of its own.
What to watch
- Start dates and requirements for the new digital reporting tool and the National Roads Policing Coordination Centre.
- Whether the next RAC freedom of information release shows another rise in DVLA contacts over misattributed fines.
- Whether any government measure addresses supplier checks, the first change the RAC's Simon Williams pointed to.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives50
- Confidence55
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
More than 11,400 drivers contacted the DVLA last year after being issued with fines for offences they said they did not recognise or accept responsibility for.
- [2]
The number of complaints about misattribution was 9% higher than in 2024 and almost double the figure recorded in 2018, according to the RAC, which analysed data obtained under freedom of information requests.
- [3]
An investigation last year uncovered more than 130 official number plate suppliers in the UK willing to sell cloned versions.
- [4]
The government last month said there would be a new nationwide crackdown on illegal number plates, with Department for Transport funding for a new roads policing team and a new National Roads Policing Coordination Centre to share intelligence and trial technology such as specialised goggles.
- [5]
Simon Williams, the RAC's head of policy, said: "If number plate suppliers were carrying out all the checks they're supposed to, it would be much harder for dodgy drivers to buy cloned plates in the first place."
- [6]
Simon Williams said: "It's only when a fine arrives at a vehicle keeper's home address that they realise someone else is driving around using their vehicle's number plate illegally."
- [7]
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We're cracking down on illegal number plates with significant investment in a new roads policing team and innovative tech to stamp out the scourge of cloned numberplates."
- [8]
The Department for Transport spokesperson said the department is supporting the police to work with the DVLA to make it easier to report these crimes and support victims through a new digital tool.
- [9]
The RAC said the UK needed to overhaul an outdated and poorly regulated number plate system.
- [10]
Taking 11,400 as exact, the 2024 count implied by a 9% rise is about 10,460.
- [11]
The implied rise in complaints over 2024 is about 940.
- [12]
The number of reported cloned vehicles involved in offences on UK roads has reached a record high, official data shows.
- [13]
Most of the contacts are believed to be down to cloning, where a number plate is copied fraudulently on similar vehicles to avoid enforcement cameras.
- [14]
Cloning vehicles has left many innocent car owners having to struggle to prove they were not responsible when enforcement camera images apparently caught their vehicle committing offences.
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Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- theguardian.comNumber of cloned number plates on UK roads at record high, data shows
1 article · October 15, 2026
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