Private registration plates were the bane of my life at one point, when I was in themotor trade. Changing plates involved at least a 100 mile round trip to your nearest post office authorised to deal with ‘Cherished Plates’ as the PO called them, which in my case it was Brighton or Maidstone, a trip which needed to be repeated possibly two or three times as the paperwork was never quite right. Ever.
Paperwork…don't get me started. It was enough to make the Vogons, those Galactic bureaucrats from Hitchikers Guide, look like chilled out hippies (for those that don't know - and I quote from Douglas Adam here - they are one of the most unpleasant races in the galaxy - not actually evil, but bad tempered, bureaucratic, officious and callous. They wouldn't even lift a finger to save their own grandmothers from the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal without an order, signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public enquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters).
You needed form V123254/C, C5555/12B, BBC2, a birth certificate, urine sample, a DNA test, and all of the original docs for insurance, MOT, all written in black ink in block capitals -black ink....black ink? Damn. I'll be back tomorrow. What do you mean you only do Cherished plates on a Thursday afternoon?
The only consolation being that private plates were not very common. However, since the government have been selling the interesting ones off, it has become a regular question. How do I swop my plates over?
Big it up for the DVLA! Not something you hear often, but this new on-line method is a great example of connected technology at work.
First make sure you go directly the government site and not a company that will charge you to do it. Link is https://www.gov.uk/personalised-vehicle-registration-numbers
This is a 'Beta' programme (a launch programme that will be improved and developed as time goes on, so make sure you comment at the end) on the DVLA site that allows you to remove your registration number from your current car and assign it to your new car within minutes! It tells you how to do it in about 10 easy clicks, and because everything is on-line now (insurance, MOT, etc) it really is all done and dusted (assuming it is all up to date of course) within 10 minutes. It will even tell you straight away the new number plate to put on the car the cherished plate is being removed from (which is usually the original registration number issued to the car when new, so don’t throw away the old plates). All you need to do is tell you insurance company the changes, and put the new plates on the cars!
It still costs £80, I have recently used it to transfer my registration number over from one car to another and thought I would just share my experience (although they had an issue with my new car and I still needed to send stuff off, but only two bits of paper, before they will assign my plate to my new car. Delays it, but no big hassle).
Paperwork…don't get me started. It was enough to make the Vogons, those Galactic bureaucrats from Hitchikers Guide, look like chilled out hippies (for those that don't know - and I quote from Douglas Adam here - they are one of the most unpleasant races in the galaxy - not actually evil, but bad tempered, bureaucratic, officious and callous. They wouldn't even lift a finger to save their own grandmothers from the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal without an order, signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public enquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months and recycled as firelighters).
You needed form V123254/C, C5555/12B, BBC2, a birth certificate, urine sample, a DNA test, and all of the original docs for insurance, MOT, all written in black ink in block capitals -black ink....black ink? Damn. I'll be back tomorrow. What do you mean you only do Cherished plates on a Thursday afternoon?
The only consolation being that private plates were not very common. However, since the government have been selling the interesting ones off, it has become a regular question. How do I swop my plates over?
Big it up for the DVLA! Not something you hear often, but this new on-line method is a great example of connected technology at work.
First make sure you go directly the government site and not a company that will charge you to do it. Link is https://www.gov.uk/personalised-vehicle-registration-numbers
This is a 'Beta' programme (a launch programme that will be improved and developed as time goes on, so make sure you comment at the end) on the DVLA site that allows you to remove your registration number from your current car and assign it to your new car within minutes! It tells you how to do it in about 10 easy clicks, and because everything is on-line now (insurance, MOT, etc) it really is all done and dusted (assuming it is all up to date of course) within 10 minutes. It will even tell you straight away the new number plate to put on the car the cherished plate is being removed from (which is usually the original registration number issued to the car when new, so don’t throw away the old plates). All you need to do is tell you insurance company the changes, and put the new plates on the cars!
It still costs £80, I have recently used it to transfer my registration number over from one car to another and thought I would just share my experience (although they had an issue with my new car and I still needed to send stuff off, but only two bits of paper, before they will assign my plate to my new car. Delays it, but no big hassle).
oke: 
