I was just wondering why folks who put pictures of cars on the web often blur out the registration number?
Surely they aren't revealing anything someone couldn't spot on any street with a notepad?
Just wondering that's all.

Maybe because it identifies you with your car, which can be linked to your address.

Many people on here are effectively anonymous except to those other members of the group who know them personally. The cars number plate, as I have said above could be used to identify them.... or am I just paranoid.

Or perhaps a not so nice person could take a fancy to your car and using your reg trace it to your abode....

When total loss cars are removed from work, the no plates are covered because is someone got the plate number off one of these, they could nick a similar car of the same colour and copy the identity, get a V5 from DVLA and carry on regardless. Chances of getting caught are slim as DVLA send a letter out to the last recorded keeper asking if they have sold the car, they say its a total loss, and DVLA assumes it has been repaired after auction. Its only if the car is really repaired that there would be a problem, but if the car's pre accident value was less that £2000, then it is very unlikely as it would not be worth it. All cars with an assessed value of less than £2000 are not even recorded on the total loss register if they are category C or lesss. As the insurance companies want more for the salvage, they put pressure on the assessors to under rate the categories and hence worsen the problem.

I have heard tales from the salvage transporter drivers, that when parked up in the greasy spoons, that kind folk are often found drilling chassis plates out and recording the reg no's while they have a bacon sarnie- sad init!

i though it was entirely to stop cloning. Obviously you dont want to clone a local car incase you end up beside it at the lights! so they usually ring someone out of the autotrader who is some distance away, and ask for the plate saying they want to HPI the car. then, out with the new plates and stolen car, full chat thru speed cameras....

indeed, there are some twats out there...

I should add this isn't a problem for me *yet* as my SVA isn't until 22 of April.


Thanks for the answers, I suspected it was something to do with cloning but never really understood.
The local car explaination seems to make sense.
Thanks