I’ve been hit with 40 driving penalties in London – even though I’ve NEVER driven there. Has someone cloned my number plate? SALLY SORTS IT

I live on Merseyside and have never driven in London. But over the last few years I have received more than 40 penalty notice charges for various driving offences in London, including for not paying the Dartford Crossing toll. I have had four in the last two weeks alone and every time I must send detailed proof that I am not at fault. I think someone in London has cloned my plate and so are running up charges in my name.

I have informed the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), the police, the fraud squad and my MP, with no success. Can you help to resolve this problem?

J.M., Merseyside

Sally Hamilton replies: Your battle over penalty notices issued to you unfairly is clearly driving you round the bend. When you explain to the DVLA that you did not run up the penalty notices, it accepts what you say and you are not charged. But, this takes a lot of time and effort on your part.

You worry that the only exit from this never-ending roundabout of disputes appears be to change your car or number plate. I admit that would be extreme, so I asked the DVLA to investigate and help you find an easier route of escape.

A few days later the department came back to say it had looked into matters and found that the other vehicle that is causing you this penalty nightmare is not a clone but has a genuine plate with a number configuration that looks similar to yours.

Although the DVLA did not confirm the details, I suspect the cameras used by various traffic organisations to catch offenders may be mixing up a zero in your registration possibly with the letter ‘O’ on the other driver’s plate.

Whilst the DVLA cannot stop such penalty notices landing on your doormat, it has now provided you (and the owner of the other car) with a special letter from the organisation that outlines all the information in one place that you need to prove your innocence to the relevant authorities. You can send this to any enforcement agency that issues you a penalty notice in error. This may not put a halt to the hassle completely, but should enable you to have any unfair penalties overturned more speedily.

As you mentioned in your letter, you initially thought your plate had been cloned. This is when crooks either pinch genuine plates or purchase copies on the internet from unauthorised suppliers, then attach them to a vehicle often – though not always – of the same model and colour. This gives them free rein to drive around breaking speed limits, park without payment or even use the vehicle to commit serious crimes – without fear of facing penalties — unless the police happen to catch them in the act.

Although the DVLA said your car had not been cloned, the effect was the same when it came to the deluge of penalty notices received.

Simon Williams, head of policy at motoring firm RAC, says: ‘Normally, multiple fines relating to one vehicle would indicate it has been cloned. If you receive an incorrect penalty, contact the issuing authority and explain your situation. If possible, provide evidence to show you were somewhere else at the time and tell the police and DVLA you think your number plate has been cloned.’

I was sent an £11,000 gas bill out of the blue – then threatened with a higher VAT charge when I complained  

I am having a stressful time with Flogas, our supplier of liquified petroleum gas. It recently sent a bill out of the blue for £11,269, which was described as an overdue reminder letter despite this being the first we’d heard of it. Before this we had been in credit with the company for several years.

After emailing my concerns to customer services, all I got in return was a threat to charge us VAT of 20 per cent, rather than the usual reduced rate of 5 per cent for households, on all future bills as we have apparently gone over the amount normally used by a residential property. How did it reach this figure? Please help.

V.B., Musselburgh, East Lothian

Sally Hamilton replies: You and your neighbours had new smart meters fitted late last year so were able to compare usage for your similar sized four-bedroom terraced houses, you explained. You were fuming because the levels of gas used were much the same and yet your neighbours were charged about £280 for the most recent quarter compared to your eye-popping £11,269 bill – which didn’t even mention the period of usage it referred to.

You added that this is not the first time you have had a problem with Flogas and crazy bills.

Ten years ago, you and other residents received large bills due to a mistake on the supplier’s part over the way it had calculated your bills – it had used metric rather than imperial measurements when working out your gas usage.

You ended up a few thousand pounds in credit but decided to leave it on the account to meet future bills.

After that, the meters were read periodically by a visiting technician. You kept checking the account and at the last count, it was still in credit. With a smart meter now in place, you thought your bills would be wholly accurate.

Despite your best efforts, you didn’t get a proper answer from Flogas over your concerns, so I turned up the pressure and asked it to investigate the source of this nasty bill.

A few days later, a spokesman came back to inform me that an executive had now spoken to you directly and that matters had been ‘amicably’ resolved.

You confirmed this was so, reporting it had told you of its error with the sums, which meant it had been seriously underbilling you for the last four years. Thankfully, instead of insisting you pay the shock £11,269 owed for the gas that had been consumed, it agreed to write off 60 per cent and charge just £4,000.

You have agreed to meet the cost in 24 monthly instalments, on top of your usual bills.

This means £7,000 or so of charges have been extinguished, a resolution which you said you were happy with.

Had this blunder occurred with a standard gas supply, even more of the bill could have been wiped out.

Rules set down by regulator Ofgem say householders cannot be charged for gas or electricity used more than 12 months ago if they have not been correctly billed for it or informed about it by way of a statement of account previously. However, the rules do not apply to the ‘off-grid’ market that includes LPG and oil. Customers of these alternative fuels, who cannot resolve a bill dispute to their satisfaction directly with their supplier, can take a complaint to the liquid gas ombudsman at utilitiesadr.co.uk