How To Transfer Your Private Number Plate to a New Vehicle

To some of us a number plate doesn’t mean much, however, to others who have a private number plate, it can mean a lot more. If you have a personalised plate then it is more than likely that you will want to keep the plate when you decide to sell your car on or scrap it. You will need to assign the number plate to a new car, or retain it in order to keep it, otherwise the plate will be stuck to your old vehicle even if it is sold or scrapped. 

What is a private registration plate? 

A private registration plate can make your vehicle more personal to you and make it stand out from the crowd. If you’re looking to buy a private plate you can buy one from NewReg.co.uk, a DVLA registered seller of private plates. 

When you purchase the plate, if it has a date on it cannot be added to an older vehicle to make it appear younger, the plates can take a range of formats, for example: 

Current Style: NC54 ABC 

Prefix Style: N556 ABC

Suffix Style: ABC 123N 

Dateless Style: 1 ABC

Transferring the plate online 

Transferring your number plate online is a simple and easy task, you will need your V5C (logbook) for your old car and the new car and your certificate reference number if you are putting the number plate on a new vehicle. You will also require a credit or debit card to pay the £80 fee to the DVLA. 

In order to take the registration plate off your vehicle, you will go to the ‘Take a registration number off a vehicle’ part of the DVLA website and fill in the details of your car. This will include the registration number, postcode and 11-digit reference number. 

If you want to transfer the plate to another vehicle then you must select the ‘Put a registration on a vehicle’ section of the website and begin the process here. You will need to enter your registration number to confirm that you are the owner and then enter the details of the new vehicle. You will also need to enter the certificate reference number that you were sent when you removed the plate from your original vehicle. 

Once this has been completed, the DVLA will send you the new V5C document for your old vehicle and the new one. The registration of the old vehicle will revert back to its previous registration, or be given a new one to suit its age. 

Transferring the plate via post 

If you cannot do it online, or would prefer, you can transfer your number plate via post. You will need to download the V317 form from the DVLA website, and make sure you have your logbook and a cheque, postal order or banker’s draft to pay the £80 fee. 

If you are transferring the plate to a new car then under Section 1, tick the ‘To transfer’ box and fill out the details of the old vehicle in Section 2. In Section 3, you will be required to fill out the details of your new car and from here you will post the form to the DVLA along with the £80 fee and the logbook for both vehicles. 

If however, you do not have a new vehicle to put the plate onto and want to retain it then this is also possible. Under section 1, tick the box ‘To retain’ and then fill out the details of the old vehicle in Section 2. If you want to remain as the person that owns the number plate then fill out your details in section 3. 

What’s next? 

Once you have sent all of the required documentation over to the DVLA, they will assign the old number plate back to your original vehicle and send a new V5C in two weeks. You will also be sent a new V5C for your new vehicle with the details of the new number plate on it.