NEWS

Keep up to date with the latest news and stories within the personalised number plate world.

How To Protect Your Number Plates (For Free)21-Jul-2014

As enthusiastic motorists, people in the UK can spend endless amounts of money on making sure their vehicles are secure and safe from thieves; alarm systems, garages, wheel locks, hand brake locks, expensive insurance… but these same people don’t always take the same care when it comes to their car number plates. As your individual identifying number, car registrations are extremely important, and extremely useful if they get into the wrong hands; unfortunately, there has been a recent increase in number plate thefts in several places in the UK, causing motorists to think again about protecting their car plates.

Why Would Anyone Want To Steal Your Number Plate?

For one thing, it’s much easier than stealing a car, and it allows thieves to disguise their own vehicles (or stolen vehicles) in order to commit crimes. This could be anything from speeding, to driving away from petrol stations without paying, to something much more sinister. Whatever it is, you don’t want your plates on their vehicle, as all of their crimes will be traced back to you. If you do have the misfortune to find your plates missing from your car, report the theft to the police immediately. If you don’t, you could be held accountable for whatever happens.

What Can You Do To Prevent Number Plate Thefts?

Luckily, it is now easier than ever before to protect your plates. Not only can you go to a shop or browse online for ‘tamper-proof’ screws (as well as other solutions, including items that allow you to securely fit your plate to the car so it won’t, for example, fall off on the motorway), but you can now get them for free – plus fitting – at a local crime prevention event.

These have been happening up and down the country, so have a search online to see if there’s one occurring in your area (and if not, you can always try and request one). One of these events took place recently in Preston; police officers and workers from Halfords set up shop at Asda in Fulwood, offering shoppers free screws for their number plates in an attempt to keep local car-related crimes down. The police were on hand to offer advice to the public, and the Halfords staff happily fitted the screws free of charge (although they were gratefully accepting donations for a charity in return). These events are win-win for everybody (except the thieves, of course), so make the most of them if one pops up in your area.

Buying Plates Online

If you’ve gone to the trouble of ensuring you have everything you need to secure your plates to your car, why not invest in a private registration? Gone are the days when they’re only accessible to the rich and famous; you can now get personalised number plates for under £100. Cherished number plates make a great meaningful gift for a loved one, or a great gift for yourself if you feel like a treat. As you’ll know how to protect them from thieves, there’s really no reason not to have a look and see what’s out there. A specialist online number plate dealer like Plate Hunter have a wide range of private number plates for sale, so why not see what’s available?

back