Companies offering to register UK number plates are a dime a dozen, but they all charge a significant fee. What many potential customers don’t know is that specific, individual registration plates can be purchased directly from the DVLA.

DVLA Personalised Registration Plates have millions of number plates in a searchable database. Not only does the DVLA offer a purchasing facility through its website and over the phone, but it also has regular auctions of brand new plates – auctions that are increasingly popular with trade professionals, but also one that individuals can attend. Buying directly from DVLA Personalised Registrations costs from £250 upwards and carries a £80 assignment fee.

The DVLA Personalised Registrations website offers a number of types of car registrations including the ‘current style’ car registrations, (which consists of two letters, two figures, a space and then three letters); prefix and suffix car registrations (with a two figure identifier at the beginning and at the end of the car registration), and ‘dateless registrations’ which has a number followed by a letter and vice versa.

Once you have purchased the personalised plate from the DVLA registrations service, they will send you a Certificate of Entitlement (V750) which you need to keep safe, because you will need it to transfer your purchased number plate to the car of your choosing. You don’t need to put the plate on a car immediately – the V750 certificate can be renewed every year.