Crime Reduction - Helping to Reduce Crime in Your Area

The Vehicles (Crime) Act received Royal Assent on 10 April 2001. This Act will help to prevent criminals passing on the identity of legitimate vehicles, which may have been seriously damaged or written off, to stolen vehicles. Estimates show that around 30,000 vehicles a year are involved in this process known as "ringing".

The Motor Salvage Regulation Task Group estimated that 25% of stolen vehicles not recovered were used for "ringing" and 40% were broken up for their parts. In addition, a further 20% were thought to be the subject of insurance fraud.

The Act tackles "ringing" in a number of ways:

• Regulating around 3,000 businesses in the motor salvage industry that will be required to register with local authorities and to keep records. The police will have the right of entry to registered premises without a warrant to inspect the premises and the records.

• Regulating the supply of numberplates. There was no control over the supply of plates and no identity or entitlement checks before a set of plates were supplied.

• A vehicle which is written off will have to have an identity check before the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) will issue a registration document to a new owner.

The Act has also

• Extended the time limit from six months to three years for bringing prosecutions for unauthorised taking of motor vehicles (TWOC);

• Permitted money from speed camera fines to be invested in more speed cameras;

• Provided for bulk access by the police to a motor insurance industry database, which allows them to identify vehicles on the road which appear to be uninsured.

The various provisions within the act will come into force on dates to be announced.

View the full text of the Act on the HMSO website