FAQs

Yes. You cannot make a vehicle appear to be newer than it is and are therefore prohibited from assigning/transferring a registration that displays an age identifier.  Eg:  You would you would not be able to assign AA74 ABC to a vehicle first registered prior to September 1^st 2024 or X1 AAA to a vehicle first registered prior to August 1^st 2000.

Dateless registrations (with the format ABC 1, 1 ABC, 1000 AA, AA 100 etc) can be assigned/transferred to any age of vehicle.

Registrations from Northern Ireland do not have any age identifier and can be assigned/transferred to any age of vehicle.

Yes. DVLA in Swansea is the vehicle licensing Agency for all vehicles in the United Kingdom and so registrations from Great Britain and Northern Ireland are equally inter-changeable.

Whether or not VAT has to be charged on the purchase price depends on the status of the seller.  If the seller is VAT registered the price of the registration will be subject to Vat.  If the seller is not VAT registered there will be no VAT to pay.

If the purchaser is VAT registered and has paid VAT they will be able to recover the VAT in the normal course of preparing a VAT return.

The DVLA transfer fee has remained unchanged for many years at £80.  It applies even if you want to buy a registration to assign to a brand new, unregistered, vehicle.

Yes. You cannot transfer a registration to a Q plated vehicle.  A Q registration is given to a vehicle where there is some question or doubt about its history and age.  You are also not able to transfer a registration to a vehicle that is not subject to normal testing.  Eg: agricultural vehicles such as combine harvesters or tractors.

Nothing!  These are all commonly-used terms for the same thing.  Cherished number is the term most often used by DVLA but we recognise and use all of those phrases as do our customers.

To transfer/assign a registration to a vehicle we will need:

V5c registration document, MOT expiry date (if applicable) & road tax expiry date.

No. You are buying the right to display the registration and the number plates are an additional cost.  The range available is shown during the buying process and is a modest addition to the initial price.

• National flags (Union Flag, St George’s Cross, Welsh Dragon & Scottish Saltire) are all permitted. The EU circle of stars is no longer permitted for new plates.
• Other symbols such as football crests, vehicle logos and religious symbols are not permitted.
• You can only get a number plate made by a registered number plate supplier (we are registered).
• It nis mandatory that the name and postcode of the supplier is displayed on the number plate along with the applicable British Standard number.
• Designs in the background of number plates are no longer permitted this includes the honeycomb pattern.
• Black number plates with white or silver characters are permissible only for vehicles first registered prior to January 1st 1973.

No.  You can choose to purchase something more personal to you but otherwise, where the transfer is from a vehicle, DVLA will allocate a new age-related registration free of charge during the process.  You will, however, need to purchase a new set of number plates if the registration you are selling is coming off a vehicle as opposed to a certificate.

If the road tax has been refunded or expired no more than 12 months before the transfer application and a normal Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN) declaration was made it is possible that you may still be able to transfer the registration.  We recommend that you check this with DVLA directly before offering your registration for sale.

No.  Unfortunately not; the registration will have died with the vehicle unless DVLA decide, at some time in the future, to resurrect the registration themselves.