Having a personalised number plate is pretty awesome and once you have one then chances are that you are going to want to keep it no matter if you buy a new car. If you have bought a personalised number plate and you need to know what to do if you want to keep it when you change your car, then you might want to read on through this guide to the steps to follow.
Can I keep my personalised number plate?
The big question is whether or not you are able to keep your personalised number plate should you choose to change your car and the answer that you are likely to be hope for is yes. In fact, it is actually relatively easy to do and doesn’t take too much time or effort.
It doesn’t matter if you are scrapping your car, or if you are simply selling it to buy a new one. The number plate that was bought for you, or that you bought as a treat for yourself, can come with you.
How do I keep my personalised number plate?
In order to keep your number plate you are going to need to fill out a form that is available online through the DVLA. This form is called a V317 and will let the authorities know that you want your number plate to be taken off of your current number plate and placed on a new car or kept to the side until you are ready to purchase a new vehicle.
Your car will need to be registered with DVLA, it will need to be able to move under its own power and it has to be taxed, or declared as SORN for the last five years continuously. Whilst most of the time this is enough, sometimes the DVLA will decide that they want to inspect the car before they will agree for the number place to be removed, however, this is rare and they will let you know if this is going to be the case.
If you are transferring your number plate to a new car, then you will need to ensure that you have the V5C registration certificate or the V5C/2 new keepers section of the previous owners V5C if you have purchased it from them.
Anything else that I need to know?
The form is not only to notify that you no longer wish for your personalised number plate to be associated with your car, but it will also ask you what you want to happen once the number plate is removed.
The process to remove a number plate from a car costs £80 and along with this cost you will also need to pay out for the new number plates to be made up, should you need to.
If you are not placing your personalised number plate on a new car then you can keep the plate for up to 10 years without having to registering it to a new vehicle. When the time comes to assign it to a new car, you will need to go through the same application process as if you were going to remove the plate from one car and transferring to another, however, there will be a certain part of the form that you will need to fill out.
When you have made an investment into a personalised number plate, it is good to know that you can take it with you should you want to change your car.