The donor vehicle must be currently MOT’d and taxed, taxed with MOT expired or MOT expired and tax expired less than 6 months.
If you have declared SORN on the donor vehicle then the last tax disc must have expired (it cannot have been refunded) less than 6 months previously.
A fee of £80 is payable to the Department of Transport for a vehicle to vehicle transfer and £80 is also the fee payable for placing the mark onto a retention. A retention certificate is initially valid for 10 years. A V317 form is required to perform either type of transaction.
A donor vehicle must be subject to MOT testing at some time during its life in order to qualify as a “donor”.
Registration marks, legally, are owned by the Secretary of State for Transport – it is the right to display the mark on a vehicle which is granted or transferred. If you pass on a vehicle to a new keeper, then you lose control of the registration mark. If you scrap a vehicle without retaining the mark, the mark is lost.
You can’t use a mark to make a vehicle look newer than it is. e.g. you can’t assign an R registration to a D registration car. You are allowed to use an older registration.
You can’t put a cherished number onto a Q registered vehicle.
Registration marks, which have never been used on vehicles before, are issued in the form of certificates of entitlement (V750). Like V778s, they start off being valid for 10 years and are renewable for a fee. So if you find the registration you’ve always wanted, you can keep it on a certificate until you have a suitable car. Marks on certificates are ideal to give as surprise presents since the actual vehicle documents aren’t needed until after the event, so you can give the certificate and a pair of plates, attractively wrapped and delight your loved-one.
To assign a registration mark on a certificate to a vehicle, you need to take/post your registration document (V5c) and MOT (if applicable), to DVLA. The assignment fee will already have been paid at the time of purchasing the mark, or placing it on a retention, so there will be no more costs to pay. Your road tax information and MOT will be update with the new registration mark information and a new V5c will be issed to the registered keeper by DVLA. The V5c will not show another keeper because there will have been no change in the keeper. In many cases it is possible to perform this transfer or assignment process online through DVLA’s website.
You may change your number plates as soon as the transfer or assignment has been confirmed.
In certain circumstances, a cherished number can be put onto a brand new vehicle. This involves sending the appropriate entitlement certificate to the car dealer. Since many dealers register new vehicles online it is always necessary to discuss your requirements with them first.
The V317 DVLA form is available from DVLA and can be downloaded from their website.
