The DVLA are warning motorists to be on the lookout for stolen V5 vehicle registration certificates when buying a used car. Thousands of the faulty logbooks have been stolen from the DVLA and it is believed that several hundred are already in circulation.

Motorists who are looking to buy a car are urged to check the serial number that appears at the top right hand corner of the registration certificate. If it bears the prefix BG and falls within the range BG 9167501 to BG 9190500, they are advised not to purchase the vehicle.

These V5C certificates could be used to sell stolen vehicles that have had their identity changed to match that of a legitimate vehicle, a practice is known as cloning. The cloned vehicles are sold on to unsuspecting members of the public who suffer significant losses when their vehicles are confiscated by the police.

The stolen certificates have a different background colour on the Notification of Permanent Export (V5C/4) tear off slip on the second page, which looks mauve on the front and pink on the reverse. On legitimate documents they should be mauve on both sides.

If you are concerned whether a certificate is genuine ring DVLA’s helplines on 0870 241 1878.

According to a report just out from Endsleigh Insurance claims for car theft in Hull are 126.1% above the national average with Bradford coming in second at 107.4%, followed by Leeds with 95.6%.

The report also says that car owners in Norwich are least likely to have their vehicles stolen, followed by those in Solihull and Swindon.

An Endsleigh spokesman said “The overall national picture on car theft is good news for drivers and there us no doubt that improved car security has significantly contributed to this drop.”

Read the full article on the BBC web site here.