DVLA Information

Because of public interest in private number plates, DVLA has put special regulations in place

DVLA Information Number Plates

The register is not intended to establish legal ownership. To improve the accuracy of records, continuous registration or SORN (Statutory off road notification) has been introduced.

The Secretary of State for Transport is responsible for allocating DVLA Number Plates which provide a unique identifying mark. Legally, the number plate remains under the control of the Secretary of State and can be withdrawn if DVLA regulations are contravened. The relevant regulations are enshrined in the 1994 Vehicle Excise and Registrations Act (VERA).

A number plate was originally intended to remain with a particular vehicle until it is scrapped or permanently exported. However, because of public interest in private number plates, DVLA has put special regulations in place to facilitate the transfer of a registration mark from one vehicle to another. This procedure is referred to as the DVLA Cherished Transfer Scheme. There is also a retention scheme, which allows a mark to be taken off a vehicle and stored on a certificate.
An amendment to the Act, Section 27 of VERA gave DVLA the right to sell unallocated number plates. A new department, Sale of Marks (SOM), was changed to DVLA. The Agency now became able to sell off assets (namely unissued registration marks), contributing revenue directly to the Treasury.

Since the introduction of the A prefix in August 1983, DVLA had withheld the issue of numbers 1-20 since there was no fair way to allocate such attractive registrations. This practice continued up to the issue of the H registrations in August 1990.

DVLA CERTIFICATE OF ENTITLEMENT V750
This scheme refers to the release of registration marks held on the DVLA computer, which have never been allocated. The number plate purchased is issued in the form of a certificate. The V750 is renewable each year for a fee of £25 and a nominee can be added or changed for a similar fee, the purchaser is legally in control, not the nominee and the £80 assignment fee, payable at the time of purchase, is shown on the certificate.

To assign the number plate, the customer must submit (to a local DVLA office) the signed V750 together with the V5/c and MOT (if required) and a photocopy of the licence disc or a tax application. The local office will issue a tax disc for the new number plate showing all the tax paid and re-stamp the MOT or, in the case of a VOSA MOT, issue a replacement showing the new number plate. The replacement V5/c comes directly for the DVLA Swansea.

It is important to remember, that in all cases regulations state that a number plate can not be used to make a vehicle look newer, and it must be legally spaced.
Copies of all the relevant legislation can be found at www.opsi.gov.uk

DVLA Private Number Plates Transfer and Retention Schemes

You must remember that DVLA rules are in place to guard against fraud.

There are 6 basic rules

The vehicle must exist and hold a DVLA computerized V5/c.
The vehicle must be registered at DVLA. Or the DVLAI for Ireland.
The vehicle must be available for inspection. An inspection assists in verifying entitlement to the number plate. Both donor and recipient (rarely) can be called for inspection.
The vehicle must be taxed or in the process of being taxed. However, in 2005 an amendment allowed a donor vehicle where the licence disc had been expired (not refunded) less than 12 months to take part in the scheme, providing, that SORN is declared upon expiry.
The vehicle must be subject to MOT/HGV testing. Ie, non-testable vehicles such as milk floats, tractors etc are outside the scheme. This has led to some vehicles, such as hearses, choosing to undergo MOT,S when actually exempt so they could register with private number plates under the scheme.
Only the registered keeper can apply to either transfer or retain the mark. However, a recent Act of Parliament will soon allow a 3rd party to apply at the point of retention with the keeper’s permission, of course.

Free Expert Advice On Private Number Plates

We are long established experts and specialists in the field of Cherished Plates based in Leicestershire, East Midlands - the ideal location for personalised car registration transfers.

We will be happy to help with all your personalised number plate questions and can give you advice and help regarding:

Buying or purchasing a personalised number plate
Advertising and selling your private registration number plates
How to transfer your cherished number plates from one car to another or from a motorbike to a car
How you can retain a registration number on a DVLA Department for Transport certificate
How to display your cherished registration plate so that it abides with the law of private number plates – we know what is and isn’t legally allowed (some private number plates numbers have been banned dues to being rude or offensive)

We have the answer to all of you’re queries so please do not hesitate to call us on 0783679888 or contact us via our ‘Contact Us page. Alternatively, you could check our FAQ’s section of the website which holds the answers to many number plate questions.

We look forward to doing business with you.

The DVLA website is DVLARegistrations.co.uk

In 1990 the DVLA started selling personalised number plates from a call centre in London. DVLARegistrations.co.uk has now sold millions of registration numbers to the public, however, they now no longer have a telephone service for their customers to sell prefix and new-style registrations, but that is what the website is for!

The process is easy. You can register a DVLA account and then choose from the wide range of private number plates, a plate that suits you. After paying you will receive a certificate within 10 days so that you can transfer the plate to your vehicle at a DVLA registrations office.

All prefix style number plates have now been issued by the DVLA apart from those ones retained for auctioning purposes.

DVLARegistrations.co.uk sells 2 styles of registrations - the prefix style and the new style. Prefix style plates range from the letter “A” to “Y” at the start of the plate followed by numbers between 1 - 999 and then a combination of 3 letters. Rude number plates like ASS for example are no longer allowed to be sold.

DVLARegistrations.co.uk also sells new style number plates. The new style plate came out in 2000 - just in time for the launch of the ‘51’ series of plates that were released in September that year. These are a little harder to define but it is possible to work them out. The plates have 2 letters followed by 2 numbers and then another 3 letters. The middle digits show the year of the release of the plate so for example 02 would mean 2002 and 09 would be 2009. The letters can be whatever you choose however I and Q are not allowed. Despite this, you can use a “Z” in the new-style plates.

DVLARegistrations.co.uk hold around 6 DVLA auctions for cherished number plates at various venues across the country and you can find these through the DVLA website - DVLARegistrations.co.uk

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Beef Registrations, was established in 1990 and has been selling cherished plates for over 30 years. Since then the company has grown from strength to strength, and thanks to the enthusiasm of the British public, Beef Registrations Plates have become a brand leader within the personalised plates industry.

Beef Registrations
Watling Farmhouse
Watling Street
Burbage
Hinckley
Leicestershire
LE10 3AR

T: 01455 882885
F: 01455 221174
M: 07836 798888