How can I check if my car is marked by the police? This is a recurring question to all automobile owners and smart used car buyers when considering the vehicle they will buy.
The police have several reasons to place a marker on a vehicle, the marking arrangement is designed to keep the road safe.
Used cars have a high chance of being marked at one point or the other by the police. Surely, you do not want to inherit a liability. So how can you check if your vehicle is marked by the police?
How can you avoid buying a car with a police marker on it? In this article we will answer this question and many others around this topic.
What is a police marker?
Marker is assigned to vehicles that have something of interest to the police. It is a red flag placed on a vehicle’s registration plate and registered in the Police National Database (PND).
Every marked vehicle has a high chance of being pulled over for checks and other police activities including criminal investigations, depending on the reason for placing the marker on the car.
Why do the Police place markers on a vehicle?
Is my car marked? The police can assign markers to any vehicle for several reasons, consider the following reasons:
1. A negative report about a vehicle
Consider the experience of Louise, she said in a blog comment, “My husband returned from work last night, to find three police cars parked across our road waiting for him to park in outdrive. Upon parking, an officer introduced himself to ask where he has been and to provide details of his journey”
The police are interested in Louise’s husband’s car because, just before he bought the car, someone reported to the police that a young girl was bundled into the boot of the vehicle!
Even after explaining he was just coming back from work, the police asked him to provide proof.
So we can conclude that the police can place a marker on that vehicle due to a report made against the vehicle.
2. Theft markers
One of the biggest and most predominant markers placed on vehicles is theft markers. Once a car has been stolen, it is not just the police that raises this marker, the insurance company gets invoked too.
Imagine driving your car and all of a sudden the police pulled you over and cuffed you just before you could realize it you are under arrest for possessing a stolen item. Embarrassing right?
Could you avoid this? One sure way of finding out if a vehicle has been stolen is making use of the Detailed Vehicle History tool which has been designed to access relevant databases including insurance companies to create a detailed vehicle history report.
Escape the buyers remorse
Avoid the hassles associated with buying a stolen vehicles or vehicles with ugly history. Get a detailed vehicle history report by looking up the license plate of your prospective car or running a VIN check
3. Drug and drug-related offenses
If the police find drugs on a vehicle, they usually place a marker on it. They may also mark a vehicle if the driver is found drunk or involved in drunk driving.
The police place this marker because it is presumed possible to find drugs on the vehicle in the nearest future.
4. Cloned vehicles
What if a piece of video evidence suggests you were spotted shoplifting? The individual look exactly like you putting on one of your favorite outfits. How will you feel?
The same is true of car cloning; it is a phenomenon that occurs when some criminal elements repair a written-off car or a stolen one and give it the identity of another vehicle.
The cloned vehicle may be sold for a really little price making the deal enticing to the buyer or could be used to commit crimes.
When this happens the police must surely place a marker on this vehicle.
In a subsequent article, we will discuss how to avoid getting caught in the dark web of cloned vehicles.
5. Section 59 markers
A section 59 marker (Reform Act 2002) is usually placed on vehicles involved in some sought of “anti-social behavior”.
It could be anything ranging from unlawful offroad use to disobeying traffic rules and reckless driving.
Defina, a young lady in the U.S narrates: “My partner just come to pick me up from the benefits office and there were 3 police cars following us home.
We pulled over for them and then they put me and my partner in handcuffs and told us that we have been pulled over because the car is marked for gang violence and carrying a knife.
We asked them when was it marked and they said it’s been marked for a while. But he’s never been stopped before”
The police later allowed them to go in their car but informed them that they will be regularly asked to pull over at checkpoints.
This is how inconvenient it could be to have a marker placed on your car.
How to check if my car is marked by the police
Is my car marked? here is how to “check if my car is marked by the police”
You can check if there is a police marker on your car by conducting a VIN check with Detailed Vehicle History.
Our checks provide you with a detailed vehicle history report about the vehicle in question, answering questions about mileage, previous owners, title changes, accident records, and lots more.
How do I remove a marker on my vehicle?
Is my car marked? If you have bought or inherited a marker on your vehicle, make no mistake about it, removing a marker is not usually an easy task.
It all depends on the type of marker placed on the vehicle, for example, you could be arrested if you walk into a police station in an attempt to remove a theft marker.
Earlier, Louise said she was advised to change the car immediately or change the license plate.
In a nutshell, to remove a marker, you will have to visit the police station, providing a proof of vehicle ownership, it is then left for the police to decide what to do.
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