DVLA 11 Registrations – Advice

As predicted, the DVLA website could not cope with demand for the 11 series launch. The DVLA website spent most of the day offline leaving eager purchasers angry and frustrated. When the DVLA Personalised Registrations website eventually returned to normal, many customers were disappointed to discover the personalised registrations they wanted had been bought by someone else. Here is some basic advice for anyone looking for information about a particular 11 series registration.

All 11 series registrations are owned by the DVLA at launch. If the registration you are looking for is showing as available on the DVLA Personalised Registrations website then buy it. Some potential purchasers are ringing round private number plates dealers thinking they can negotiate a better price. Whilst some dealer websites try to make you think differently, you cannot get an 11 series registration cheaper than buying it direct from the DVLA.

The price quoted on the DVLA Personalised Registrations website is fully inclusive. Your only additional cost is for a set of number plates (approx. £20) from your local motor spares retailer. Some dealers advertise prices which do not include the £80 transfer fee or v.a.t., which is why the price may appear cheaper. Some dealers also insist you buy a set of number plates from them with your purchase which pushes up the price to more than buying direct from DVLA.

One particular dealer that we are aware of is employing what we consider to be unfair tactics. When a customer rings up to enquire about a specific DVLA Personalised Registration the dealer is claiming to have already bought it for stock. The dealer is simply clicking on the ‘buy’ button on the DVLA website. This reserves a registration for eleven minutes to allow time to make the purchase. If anyone else looks at the DVLA website for the next eleven minutes they will not see the registration and may believe it has been sold. The dealer is then offering the registration to the interested customer with a £100 premium added to the original price.

When you buy direct from DVLA not only do you save money, you also get the Certificate of Entitlement (DVLA Document) in your name. This is vital when it comes to renewing your Document or adding a nominee. If you buy via a dealer the DVLA Document will be in the name of the Dealer. This means even though you have paid for your registration, the dealer has full legal power over the Document.

Several years ago a North-West based dealer went out of business. All customers who had DVLA Documents which were bought via this particular dealer were unable to extend or add nominees to their Documents. Due to Data Protection DVLA refused to enter into correspondence with anyone but the named purchaser on the DVLA Document. The Dealer was named on the Document but the company no longer existed. This spelled disaster for lots of customers who had paid out hard earned money for registrations which are now effectively worthless pieces of paper.

This advice applies to anyone who holds a personalised registration on a DVLA Document (V750/V778) which does not show their name as the Purchaser or the Grantee. Get it assigned or transferred to a vehicle in your name as quickly as possible. At the point of assignment or transfer, legal title passes to the registered keeper of the vehicle and the Document no longer exists. Whilst ever you hold a registration on a DVLA Document which is not in your name, you are taking a huge unnecessary risk.