There are a huge amount of misconceptions surrounding personalised number plates although many of them are unjustified or simply not true. You’ll hear plenty of personal opinions on practically every subject related to the use or display of private registration numbers, however the hard part is deciding which is true and which is a load of old cobblers. Here’s a few home truths about private number plates:
1: You aren’t allowed to rearrange your registration number
Strange as it may seem, many people believe that you can simply rearrange the numbers and letters to your liking, however this couldn’t be further from the truth. The DVLA has extremely strict regulations as to how your number plate should be displayed and if you decide to alter these in any way whatsoever, you could be fined up to £1000 and your car will likely fail its MOT.
2: Buying private registration plates
There are a wealth of specialised websites advertising personalised number plates although only a handful come up to the mark when it comes to delivering on their sales patter. As well as actually buying your number plate, you will likely want someone to all the hard work associated with it and UKNumberplates.co.uk can help in that regard by doing all the leg work from beginning to end.
3: You can’t get just any number you wish
Even if a number plate hasn’t been issued, it doesn’t simply mean that you can get it for yourself. The DVLA have omitted many registration numbers on the grounds that they are deemed offensive, therefore there’s absolutely no guarantee that you will get the registration of your dreams.
4: If your car is stolen, you CAN get your registration number back
Should you have your car stolen and the police aren’t able to recover it within twelve months, you can apply to the DVLA to have the registration number reassigned to any replacement vehicle. There are criteria which must be met however: You must report the crime as soon as you find out that it has occurred and the theft must then be held on file by the DVLA for at least 12 months (up to 3 years). You must contact your insurers and get them to notify the DVLA that they have no problem with your registration being reassigned. Most importantly, the car which you are reassigning the registration to must not be made to appear newer as a result of the re-registration ie: if your private registration is PR16 BOB, you can’t reassign this reg to a car registered prior to 2016.
