An unexpected benefit of the real-time paperless mileage log designed to aid HMRC compliance
Lings Motor Group took on FullCompliance from Cooper Solutions in April this year, to streamline its systems when it comes to meeting national HMRC requirements for documenting all company car driver activity and fuel use. Soon after Lings started using FullCompliance, the system proved invaluable in helping the dealership prove its innocence in a case of vehicle licence plate cloning.
Two vehicle licence plates were cloned, one from the Lings car retail site, which uses FullCompliance, and one from its bike retail site, which doesn’t currently use the Cooper Solutions system. The cloned licence plates were involved in criminal activity and picked up traffic offences. The first Lings knew of the cloning was when the dealership received notification of the traffic offences. Thankfully, due to FullCompliance, Lings was able to prove that their car was not involved in the incidents. They provided a full mileage log from the Lings system, which showed that the car was not in the area at the time, avoiding the fine.
HMRC demands consecutive mileage logs for all demonstrator stock vehicles, including private, business and customer use, putting added pressure on dealerships to record this information. Removing this headache, FullCompliance registers real-time mileages, whatever the use, offering dealerships a robust paperless solution to comply with HMRC requirements and avoid potential exposure to significant penalties.
Whilst the system ultimately proves that no driver benefits business-provided fuel, Lings didn’t expect FullCompliance to help tackle the problem of cloned licence plates, saving them from a fine and lost reputation.
Matthew Barwick, of Lings Motor Group, says, “Without FullCompliance we wouldn’t have been able to prove that our vehicle wasn’t involved in the offence, leaving us with a fine to pay. Whilst we utilise the system to ensure we manage our fleet vehicles correctly, we’ve discovered that FullCompliance protects our business in ways we hadn’t anticipated.”
“All of our customers use our products slightly differently and always seem to find additional benefits that we might not have considered,” explains Dean Pipitone of Coopers Solutions. “In the case of Lings, they found that FullCompliance offers them protection from the risk of trading a cloned vehicle. The flexibility of the solutions we provide means they can adapt to the needs of every business, giving dealers added peace of mind and the support they need to operate confidently in a competitive marketplace.”