{"id":63926,"date":"2022-09-27T08:09:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T06:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stage-wp.eurococ.eu\/getting-your-uk-car-registration-plate\/"},"modified":"2024-10-01T18:51:23","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T16:51:23","slug":"getting-your-uk-car-registration-plate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stage-wp.eurococ.eu\/en\/blog\/getting-your-uk-car-registration-plate\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting Your UK Car Registration Plate: The Simple Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All cars in the UK must have number plates, making them easily identifiable. A UK car registration plate differs from that of the next car owner.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This tells you that the string of characters making up the number plates is unique for each car.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/organisations\/driver-and-vehicle-licensing-agency\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> issues these England plates and uses them for tracking cars when necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While British car registration plates serve as identifiers for vehicles in England, there is a lot more about them that you need to know if you want to own a car in the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How do you go about licence plate registration in the UK or identify vehicle registration plates of the United Kingdom? Read on for a detailed breakdown.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>How Does The UK Car Registration System Work?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The DVLA is in charge of registering brand new, imported, rebuilt, and other types of vehicles in the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To begin the registration process, you will need to make an application where you fill out one of the following documents:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/1008953\/V55-4-application-for-first-vehicle-tax-and-registration-of-a-new-motor-vehicle.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A V55\/4 form<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> if your vehicle is new and hasn\u2019t been registered before.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/1008996\/V55-5-application-first-vehicle-tax-and-registration-used-motor-vehicle.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A V55\/5 form<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for used vehicles that have been registered previously.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Provide your identity documents which will be attached to the application form. A photocard driving licence is the most acceptable but if you don\u2019t have that, send in a document that proves your name and another that shows your address.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will also need to send in the following documents with the application form:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vehicle tax payment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Registration fee payment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A recent <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nidirect.gov.uk\/articles\/mot-certificate\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">MOT certificate<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for cars aged 4 years and above.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A certificate of newness for new imported vehicles.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Proof of vehicle approval.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/vehicle-registration\/new-registrations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">special documents<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like an insurance certificate or build plans.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The following supporting documents (original copies) are required for an imported car:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurococ.eu\/en\/#coc-pedia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">European Certificate of Conformity<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to show approval of your vehicle\u2019s quality. While a European Certificate of Conformity is mostly required for countries that are part of the EU, non-EU countries such as the UK might also recognize the certificate\u2019s validity.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In just a few steps, you can<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurococ.eu\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">get your Certificate of Conformity<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by ordering it from EUROCOC.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A \u2018<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/519020\/Declaration-that-a-vehicle-is-new-V267.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">declaration of newness<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 document for new vehicles.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Evidence to show the date you collected the vehicle.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A copy of the foreign registration certificate. Any other proof of the vehicle\u2019s manufacture date might be acceptable if the certificate isn\u2019t available.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>How To Apply For UK Number Plates<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After successfully registering the vehicle, you can go on to get an English licence place from a<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/number-plate-supplier\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">registered number plate supplier<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (RNPS).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You simply have to enter your postcode to find the nearest RNPS. The supplier will demand original copies of documents that confirm your name and address.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Cost of UK Car Registration<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You will pay a fee of <\/span><b>\u00a355 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">when registering the new vehicle. All payments go to the DVLA and they accept cheques or postal orders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Imported vehicles already registered under the personal exports scheme are exempt from this payment. Vehicles previously registered in the UK or<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.disabledmotoring.org\/motoring\/road-tax-exemption\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">disabled exempt taxation class<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> are free from this fee too&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>What Do UK Car Number Plates Look Like?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vehicle registration plates of the United Kingdom contain alphanumeric symbols written in black on a white background. The rear number plate has a slightly different colour. It features a yellow background colour with black characters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the left side of the rear plates is the<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/200495\/130516_-_Flying_English_flag1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">British flag<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and underneath it is the UK\u2019s international vehicle international code, \u2018UK&#8217;.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Format of UK Number Plates<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_the_United_Kingdom#Characters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UK car registration plates<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> contain seven characters, constituting a 2-letter area code, a two-digit age identifier, and a three-letter sequence.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first two letters from the left are the area code showing the local registration office.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next two digits represent a vehicle\u2019s age. From March to August, the age identifier is the last two digits of that year (for example, \u201815\u2019 for 2015).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From September to February of the next year, the age identifier is the last two digits of that year plus 50 (for example \u201859\u2019 for 2009).<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The last three characters are random letters that differentiate vehicles that have the same area code and age identifier. &#8216;I&#8217; and &#8216;Q&#8217; are excluded from use.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The combination of all three elements results in the serial format &#8216;AA 11 AAA&#8217;.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>What Types Of UK Licence Plates Exist?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are England plates that do not stick to the regular format. These include the English car plates for armed forces vehicles, diplomatic vehicles, and those used by monarchs.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>UK Custom Number Plates<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The DVLA offers <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/buy-a-personalised-registration-number\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">customised registration<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for an English licence plate. So long as the chosen number is available, you can buy the rights to assign it to a vehicle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-11712\" src=\"https:\/\/stage-wp.eurococ.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/uk-car-plate-300x63.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"97\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All cars in the UK must have number plates, making them easily identifiable. A UK car registration plate differs from that of the next car owner. This tells you that the string of characters making up the number plates is unique for each car. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) issues these England plates [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":63933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1451,1452,1492,1427],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-b2c","category-early-stage-b2c","category-plates","category-registration"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage-wp.eurococ.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage-wp.eurococ.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage-wp.eurococ.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage-wp.eurococ.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage-wp.eurococ.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stage-wp.eurococ.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage-wp.eurococ.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stage-wp.eurococ.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage-wp.eurococ.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stage-wp.eurococ.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}