Things To Consider When Looking For DVLA Personalised Number Plates

Buying DVLA personalised number plates can be a lot of fun, especially if you have plenty of cash and money is no object. There have been some exceedingly expensive purchases in the last few years, such as 25 0 which was bought by Ferrari dealer John Collins in 2014 for £518,000, and F 1 which was bought for £440,000 in 2008 by Afzal Khan. The latter bought the plate for his Mercedes-Benz McLaren which, despite being a prestigious vehicle, actually cost £200,000 less than the plate! However, most of us are not able to enter the rarified atmosphere that those gentlemen inhabit and have to settle for something less.

If you are looking for DVLA personalised registrations, there are a few things to consider, not the least of which is to set a budget and then stick to it. Retired businessman Robert Harverson, from Surrey, paid almost £250,000 for the registration 1 RH in November 2008. He went to the auction in Yorkshire intending to spend between £100,000 and £150,000 but recalls that - once there - he thought: "It's my initials. There's only one, so I've got to keep bidding." Fortunately, he was able to buy it without breaking the bank, but it is an illustration of how easy it is to get carried away.

However, there are plenty of DVLA private number plates that sell for considerably less than that, many of them only in the hundreds. If that is the sort of level that you are working on, you need to remember that there is a cost to transfer the plate, and the DVLA currently charges £80 to do this.

DVLA number plates are available in four different types as follows:

Plate Type Format

Current Type GB12 DFC

Prefix Type G123 DFC

Suffix Type DFC 123G

Dateless Type DFC 1 or 1 DFC

When considering a DVLA private reg it is well worthwhile to sit down and think about a number of different combinations rather than being inflexible in your choice. Just because your name is Samantha and you would like SAM 1 or 1 SAM and you have deep pockets doesn't mean you can have either of them. In fact, you can't, because neither of them is available. They no doubt belong to another Samantha or Samuel. So you need to spend some time thinking about other combinations and then seeing if one of those is available.

You can also think about your business. Many people have vans or cars that they use for business, and a great example is the owner of Pimlico Plumbers in London, Charlie Mullins, who has the following number plates: BOG 1, B1 DET, LAV 1, F1 USH, W4TER, DRA 1N and S1 NKS. He is on the lookout for more plumbing-related number plates at present.

For example, if you are a builder you could look out for something related to your trade. You can buy DVLA cherished plates direct from the DVLA themselves, and at present they have B15 LDR available for £399 which does seem to be a very reasonable price. They also provide other suggestions such as AB16 LDR, AB17 LDR, and AB19 LDR. Presumably, someone somewhere is running around with AB18 LDR on his van, as that one doesn't show. So there are plenty of options open to you: it is just a matter of putting your thinking cap on.

There are also quite a number of companies that deal in private number plates, and you might like to know that there are in excess of 45 million registration plates available, so there ought to be something around that will suit you. Another place to search is on eBay. Enter "personalised number plates" into the search box and you will come up with quite a list. Just today they have A V12RUS which would be ideal for a doctor, for £1,250, or if you support Tottenham Hotspur Football Club you can get D1 7HFC for £550.

So as you can see, there are many, many different combinations of letters and numbers that you can play around with in order to find something that fits in with your name, your lifestyle, or even the make of your vehicle.

Mark Hunt is a number plate dealer and has been in the business for 35 years. The company has stocks of thousands of DVLA private number plates that belong to it and cannot therefore be purchased anywhere else.

MarkHunt is a specialist in personalised number plates for sale offering first class services that rivals all industry competitors.