Private Number Plates

A Guide To Private Number Plates

Vehicle owners are very eager to own private number plates. Private number plates provide personalized identity to an owner's vehicle, making owners proud of it. So much so, number plates having catchy characters are in great demand and are traded in the market at a premium. There are a plethora of agencies trading in private number plates. They help you identify and search for the one that suites your fancy, do all the necessary formalities for transfer and make one conforming to the strict DVLA standards.

Basic Facts About Private Number Plates

Private number plates convey in some form or the other the identity of the owner. They are deliberately designed by the owner, albeit adhering to the UK registration systems. Private number plates are also called personalized number plates or cherished plates.

How Are They Created?

Numbers which resemble letters in combination with actual letters are made to represent names of individuals, places or brand names. This combination is unavoidable as the UK registration system does not allow more than three consecutive letters in a number plate.

As an example, the letter E resembles the number 3, although in a reverse way and the number 4 can be made to look like the letter A. So, the number T34 CUP can be formed to look like TEACUP, which can very well be a brand name or a trade mark of the vehicle owner’s company. The possibilities are immense and if left to the imagination, myriad combinations can be created. But the basic fact remains constant: private number plates cannot escape the rigid guidelines stipulated by the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).

The Present System Of Number Plates

The officially permitted requirements stipulate that each number plate should have seven characters. The characters starting from left to right should be as follows.

1. A two letter area code; the first letter pertaining to the region and the second to the local registration office.
2. A two digit (numeric) age identifier. This is generally the last two digits of the year of registration, for example, "07" for 2007.
3. A random three letter sequence for unique identification.

The material of construction of plates and the font size are also stipulated.

Private Number Plate Styles

You can choose from the following styles for your private number plate.

• Prefix car registration numbers – These have year letters at the beginning of the number plates. For example, J18 SUE or E7 JON.
• Suffix car registration numbers – These have year letters at the end of character strings. For example, CDF 2E OR DEF 999Y.
• Dateless DVLA private number plates – These are considered cherished number plates. Number plates in this category have three letters followed by numbers 1 to 9999 and date back to 1903.
• Reversed dateless British car numbers – This category has three letters preceded by numbers, 1 to 999, for example, 5 JMD and 50 BG.
• Irish car registration numbers – Numbers such as ZAG 27 or LIG 8 are having two or three letters first containing I or Z followed by one or four numbers.

You have a host of styles to choose from to make your private number plate catchy.