Someone has vandalised my motorbike, ripped the number plate right off and gone away with it. Probably means I won’t be doing that driving test tomorrow. Never mind. These things happen. I’m assuming it won’t be legal to drive it to the garage for fixing, either. Correct me if I’m wrong, though. I’ll have to phone them when they open tomorrow.
Question: I don’t want to end up getting charged with someone else’s speeding tickets, so is there someone I ought to be informing of this theft? DVLA, police, someone like that? I should probably tell the police anyway, but I doubt they’ll be much help getting it back and my isurance is only third party and won’t cover this.
Call the police first and get a report taken. Then call your insurance.* Then on Monday call the DMV and order a new plate. In the mean time I’d think it would still be legal to ride. Just make sure you have your registration with you.
*Maybe get an estimate first and then decide if it’s worth filing a claim.
Even if you had a fully comp insurance policy, the price of a numberplate would likely be less than the excess on the policy (I’ve never seen them sold for more than £20, unless it’s for fancy designs/shapes) so inform the police, only to have a written record that it was reported stolen if/when you get a ticket through your door. Don’t expect the police to do anything to look for your plate, besides maybe pulling over any miscreants that may be using it if they happen to spot them.
If the numberplate was literally ripped off with the screws left in, I’d question the vandal’s intentions being to use it themselves, as numberplates tend to snap when removed in such a fashion, unless the fixing screws are exceptionally rusted. IMHO, more likely to just be a couple of lads being pissed tw@s, although that could change depending on where the bike was at the time.
With regard to obtaining a new plate, head down to your local motor factors or fast fit centre with the bike’s docs and some photo I.D. Most places will do it while you wait in 10 mins or so.