Buying your personalised number plate

Step 1 - Find the perfect plate with Select

Select Number Plates Is One Of The Leading DVLA, Cherished, Personalised & Private Number Plate Brokers In The UK. 

Whether you’re looking for a personalised number plate as an investment, a unique gift, or just to express your personality, Select Number Plates will help you find your perfect plate.

Why buy a private number plate?

Personalised number plates are a great investment

Private number plates reliably tend to either hold or increase their value, and so have proved to be a solid investment over time.

Carefully choosing sought-after registrations will give you the best return on your investment. Registrations which include low numbers (e.g. number 1), which spell out popular names or occupations are examples of registrations which are always in high demand.

Whether you choose to assign your plate to a vehicle, or simply to retain the registration as an investment, its value remains the same.

Promote your business

The average UK commuter spends up to four days sitting in traffic per year. This presents businesses an opportunity: you can use your vehicle to promote your business to this captive audience.

Unique, witty, and specialised plate numbers can catch people’s attention and help your brand to appear more distinctive and professional.

For examples of how you can use your number plate creatively, take a look at our Choosing your Private Plate page. 

They’re fun, unique and expressive

People who love their cars often love to personalise them. A private number plate is a great way to make your car truly our own. You can personalise your plate using your name, your profession, or you can express your personality by choosing a plate inspired by your favourite hobbies or interests. You can even express your sense of humour with a funny number plate. There are so many opportunities for creativity and fun when personalising your number plate. This also makes them a popular and memorable gift.

You’ll never struggle to remember your reg again.

… and you’ll spend less time wandering around the car park, unsure which one’s yours!

Where do I start?

If you’re new to the world of personalised plates, you can learn more about the different plates available, find out about the history of private plates, and more on our About Number Plates page.

If you’re interested in buying a personalised number plate, but you’re not sure what exactly you want, visit our Choosing your Private Plate page which has plenty of examples and ideas to help spark your imagination.

How does it work?

Once you’ve found your perfect plate, buying through Select is easy. Use your simple search function to find the number you’d like, hit ‘buy’ and you can make your payment, quickly and securely online.

Keep reading through our handy step-by-step guide to learn about ordering your physical plate, assigning your plate to a vehicle and more. 

Step 2 - Getting your number plate made

Once you have bought your plate you will be issued a certificate of entitlement (V778). This permits you to put the plate on your car.

You are not automatically issued a physical plate. Instead, you will need to purchase the new plates from a registered number plate supplier, who will ensure the plates are made to the correct legal standard and will fit the plate to your vehicle correctly. More information about number plates can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/displaying-number-plates/getting-number-plates-made-up

Things to bear in mind:

• You’ll need to provide your number plate supplier with proof of identity such as a driving licence, along with the V750.
• Strict legal standards apply to UK registration plates and having a plate which does not fit regulations is an automatic MOT failure. This is why it is important to use a reputable, registered supplier. You can find local suppliers here https://www.gov.uk/number-plate-supplier

Step 3 - Assigning your vehicle

Legally, you don’t actually have to assign your registration plate to a vehicle at this point. Your retention document is usually valid for 10 years, during which time you can choose to assign this to your vehicle, or to simply retain ownership of the number.

If you wish to assign your number plate to a vehicle, you need to apply to do this via the UK Government’s Private Vehicle Registration Service. A full, step-by-step guide to private number plates in available on the gov.uk website https://www.gov.uk/get-personalised-private-number-plate

To assign your vehicle instantly online, or to find out how to apply by post, visit https://www.gov.uk/personalised-vehicle-registration-numbers/keep-or-assign

Things to bear in mind:

• The vehicle must be registered with DVLA, be road worthy, be taxed or have a valid SORN.
• You will need to have one of the following documents to go through the assignment process:
• a V778 retention document
• a V750 certificate of entitlement
• an online reference number

After you have assigned your new number, you must put your new number plates on the vehicle before driving it.

Step 4 - Inform your insurer

It is your responsibility to inform your car insurance provider of the change in registration. You should do this once the new private number plate is secured to the vehicle.

This should not affect your premium.

FAQs

For more information about the buying process, check out the FAQs page.