A guide to acquiring your personalised car number plate from the DVLA.

This guide is to help you figure out what to do and where to go, before you come to us to have your plate made for you. Remember that no one but the DVLA can actually register private number plates to an individual.

Dependent on the age of your vehicle, there may be limits to what registrations would be suitable for use on your vehicle. This vital to note before making your choice.

Where the personalised number plate has an age identifier (i.e. current style, prefix and suffix numbers) you can only put that number onto a vehicle of identical age or newer. For instance, if you buy a 62 present style registration, it can only go onto a vehicle that was first listed as new on or after 1st September 2012.

In order to have a personalised car number plate assigned to your car, the car must be:

• Appropriate age to obtain the registration number
• Registered or about to be, in the UK in your name or in the name of the candidate
• taxed or being taxed or has a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) in place at the time of the request
• A type that has to have an MoT or Goods Vehicle Test (GVT) certificate.

If you’re purchasing it as a gift, they will ask you for your information so that they can record you as the buyer of the number. If the car you want to put the number onto is not recorded in your name, you can give a different name as the Nominee. If you are adding a nominee to your purchase order, confirm it matches the name of the registered custodian of the car you want to put the number onto.

If your option is obtainable to purchase online, simply click ‘buy now’ and carry on with the on-screen commands. If you already have an online account with the DVLA’s private number plate site, you’ll need to log in with your user id and password to finish up the purchase.

Once you have purchased the number, and are sure it’s now in your hands, you can now give us a ring or use our online building tool to allow us to make you a personalised number plate for your car.