New driving scam doing the rounds
As if life isn’t tricky enough at the moment, a new scam seems to be doing the rounds of the P-O at the moment and has been dubbed by police as ‘double-dipping’ (la doublette).
Your car’s license plates are duplicated and used on another vehicle, usually a similar make, model and colour to yours. This means that if this car is spotted committing an offence, the fine and the points end up through your post box!
What can you do?
The gendarmerie nationale have posted advice on their social media networks for motorists who fall victim to this scam.
Ask for photo evidence
Request the image captured by the radar. To do this, send a request to the CACIR (Centre automatisé de constatation des infractions routières). This needs to be done by registered post with acknowledgement of receipt. You should send a copy of your identity document and registration certificate (carte grise), as well as the notice of offence in question to the following address:
| Cacir CS 41101 35911 Rennes Cedex |
File a complaint
As soon as you receive the photo from the CACIR, you must file a complaint for “usurpation de plaques d’immatriculation” (license plate fraud) with the gendarmerie or the police. Your registration number will then be recorded in the Stolen Vehicle File (FVV). You will be given a receipt for filing a complaint.
Contestation of fines
After filing your complaint, you have 45 days to contest any fine you may have received.
You can contest online via the government website ANTAI, available in English! Before you start, make sure you have your notice of offence and the receipt for filing a complaint.
Go to the designation and appealing section, for procedural information, also in English, before lodging your appeal via the appel online page. Fill in the entire form and validate your request.
Otherwise, you can contest by post, filling in the application form for exemption sent with the notice of violation. The address to which to return your form is indicated at the bottom of the notice of violation (do not forget to attach a copy of the receipt for filing a complaint).
In this case, you do not have to advance the amount of the fine!
Request a new carte grise
Apply for a new certificate online via the ANTS website. You will need to create an account if you do not already have one and then choose ‘Refaire ma carte grise’. Unfortunately this site is only available in French.
At the end of the procedure, you will receive: a file number, an acknowledgement that your application has been registered.
and a Provisional Certificate of Registration (CPI), which you must print. The CPI allows you to drive for 1 month, while waiting to receive your carte grise (you can follow the progress of its production online).
On presentation of the receipt for filing a complaint for usurpation of registration plates, the issue of a new number and the carte grise is free of charge!
