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• Buying a Registration
  • Buying Introduction
  • Buying Guide
  • Buyer's FAQ
  • Buyer's Terms
  • Dateless Private Number Plates
  • Sales List of Private Number Plates
  • Required Documents
• Selling a Registration
  • Sell Your Private Number Plate
  • How We Value A Registration
  • Seller's FAQ
  • Seller's Terms
  • Conditions of Transfer
• The History of Registrations
  • Introduction to Registrations
  • Types of Registration
  • Glossary
  • Trade Enquiries

Protect the Rights to Your Registration

Many people lose the right to sell their own registrations, simply because they don't know the Department for Transport rules. Read the following information carefully. If you consider your registration is valuable or worth selling, protect it now, otherwise it may be claimed back by the Department for Transport.

A registration can either be stored on a vehicle or on a Retention Document.

If your registration is currently on a vehicle, you will only be able to sell and transfer it if the vehicle is currently taxed at the time the transfer application is placed with DVLA.

If you have any queries, call the DVLA on 0300 7906802.

Applications will also be considered if the application to transfer the number is placed within FIVE years of the most recent TAX expiry date and provided there has been no change of keeper since the tax expired and SORN was declared. (Note: In order for a vehicle to qualify for the concession, there must be no break between the expiry date of the licence and the commencement of SORN. In circumstances where the vehicle has had a change of keeper, the vehicle will need to be re-taxed by the new keeper in order to qualify for transfer).

Once you have sold, scrapped or permanently exported the vehicle, you cannot transfer the registration.

It therefore follows that if you are thinking about selling, scrapping or exporting the vehicle, you should consider transferring the registration off FIRST. This can be done by YOU, simply by applying to the DVLA. You then have ten years to find a recipient vehicle for your registration (this is renewable). The DVLA will ask you to pay the £80 assignment fee up front, at the point you apply to put your registration on retention.

• To apply to put your registration number onto retention you can apply online. You'll need the 11 digit document reference number from the latest V5C vehicle registration certificate (logbook) and a valid credit or debit card for the £80 fee. Click here to apply online (link will open in a new window). The registration number will be retained in the name of the registered keeper.

  NOTE: If you are in the process of buying or selling a number with Elite Registrations, you should ask before making an online application, as this may delay or void transfers which are already in progress.

The DVLA guarantee to refund the £80 assignment fee if you do not assign or transfer the registration at all, after the ten year period has elapsed. Alternatively, you can renew the Retention Document for a further ten years, at no cost.

To sum up, if your registration is stored on a vehicle that is currently taxed and is likely to be used by you for some time, there is no immediate necessity to take any action. However, if you are considering selling the vehicle, scrapping the vehicle etc.... you need to take action now if you want to protect your right to sell and transfer the registration.

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