Just a heads up to anyone who doesn't know...

If you have a personal plate and your car gets written off the DVLA will retain your registration number and you will not be allowed it back, in other words it's lost for good....

If your car is written off then as soon as you know it is going to be, best to keep in good contact with any garage it's at, then you have to transfer, or put it on retention immediately.

The insurance company will ask for your reg doc and if you send it to them that is the last time you will see the number, if they are asking for it then you need to stall them and delay any payout until you have the new reg doc back with it's original number.

This scenario actually happened to a colleague some years ago and he lost the number.

I have also heard of some people having trouble keeping their number if they sell their car and then try to change the number over.

Don't forget you never "own" the number, only the right to display it on your vehicle. Pete
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2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand Sold
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Good advice - most important thing is if you have the V5 you can do a transfer. Once the V5 is gone its much more difficult although not impossible in the event of a write off as an engineers report submitted to the DVLA will usually get the plate back as long as the insurance company agrees. Best to advise your insurance company when negotiating your settlement that you want the plate entitlement back.

Selling is more difficult these days as well - I have in the past sold cars with the plate still on with the buyers understanding that the plate transfer is ongoing and they will get the V5 when its done. It used to only take a few days to get the original V5 stamped with the original plate back - so the buyer can put the original plates back on, and then wait for the new V5 to then send that back with the new registered keeper - complicated and you needed your wits about you but was possible.

However with the new car tax rules and the DVLA personal number section centralising in Swansea from the local offices its taking on average 3 weeks (had one before Christmas back in 5 days, but one in October took weeks) - not to mention the issue with subsiding the road tax for the buyer until the V5 is transferred its just too complicated to risk it now.

So if you have a plate you want to keep and are selling - do the transfer before putting on the market unless you have an understanding buyer who will wait a couple of weeks for their car! Current Fleet:-
2018 Discovery 5 3.0 HSE
2021 Ford Ranger Wildtrack
2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt 5.0 V8
1993 Defender 90 200TDI Pickup

Gone - not forgotten
2016 L405 4.4 SDV8 Vogue SE
2012 L322 4.4 Westminster
2004 L322 4.4 V8 Autobiography LE
2000 P38 RR 4.0 HSE (ex Clarkson test car)

So, in short, the DVLA, whom has made millions out of selling plates to motorists, is now making it as hard as possible for those same motorists to hold onto their plates!!

What an absolute bunch of gits - Come back Wee Eck!! All is forgiven Let's privatise Scotland and get away from the b ds!!!

It gets better - if you have a plate on retention you have to 'renew' it every 12 months by sending the certificate back to the DVLA with £25 - BUT you can only do it in the last 30 days of validity on the certificate. If you are late, you lose the entitlement......and have to beg for it back. Current Fleet:-
2018 Discovery 5 3.0 HSE
2021 Ford Ranger Wildtrack
2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt 5.0 V8
1993 Defender 90 200TDI Pickup

Gone - not forgotten
2016 L405 4.4 SDV8 Vogue SE
2012 L322 4.4 Westminster
2004 L322 4.4 V8 Autobiography LE
2000 P38 RR 4.0 HSE (ex Clarkson test car)

Ah yes - I knew about that one. Done it a fair few times and now find it easier to keep a spare motorbike to pop extra plates on

It's the write-off scenario that really bothers me. It would be so easy for DVLA to simply send a retention certificate along with an invoice to the owner of any written off cars knowing that more than likely they'll want to retain their plate. But no, they'd rather screw us over and this would be especially annoying if, like us, you have matching or sequenced plates!!!

Rant over for the night

Speaking from experience here you can get your plate back on a written off car ....

You have to get the insurance company to confirm they have no financial interest in the plate (ie they didn't inflate the payout based on private plate) ....

You can then apply to DVLA with that confirmation to get your plate back .... I believe after 12 or 18 months from memory ....

I did it and have mine back. Stephen Gazard

Range Rover L405 LWB SVA Overfinch / Bespoke
Maserati GT 2017
Maserati Levante Trofeo
Mercedes SL63 AMG
Mercedes S500L

nicksaab wrote:

It gets better - if you have a plate on retention you have to 'renew' it every 12 months by sending the certificate back to the DVLA with £25 - BUT you can only do it in the last 30 days of validity on the certificate. If you are late, you lose the entitlement......and have to beg for it back.

DVLA - arrghh!! what a bunch of robots. I had so much trouble transferring a plate they should all be shot! (apart from the nice ones that is ) 405 AB exec seats Baltic and Cirrus
93 RR Classic efi

Remember it's easier to get forgiveness than permission!

Gone in order:
4.4 TDV8 SE - gone to a good home
93 Classic hard dash Plymouth Blue
03 L322 Oslo Blue
2000 Disco TD5 ES Epsom Green
98 P38 Rioja Red
89 Classic Cairngorm Brown

used to be easy with local offices.

When i put my plate on the FF i just went in with all the bumf and they did it there and then, and you could put the plate on the car the same day.

Can you jut turn up at swansea and do it? I bet not....... There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
KIA E-Niro 4+
2021 Discovery 5 D300 MHEV commercial

Given the fuss, I'm surprised people still bother with private plates. We had the option here a few years ago to get "special " plates celebrating the Olympics. They wanted just stupid money for them, but people still paid.

I've not transferred a plate since I bought the full fat in 2013 and my local office is now closed down..... I can only imagine it'll be much more laborious when you can't just speak to a human being!  Now: BMW 640d M Sport, Alpine White
Gone: Range Rover 4.4 V8 Vogue, Zambezi Silver, Charcoal Oxford Leather
Also: Mk1 Audi TT 1.8T Quattro, Brilliant Black
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