Smart-Search Guide

Helpful tips

If you need guidance you can access the Number Plates Guides for relevant help by clicking this icon
To find out which private numberplates are suitable for your age of vehicle, use our handy transfer age checking tool

About the Smart Search

Our Smart Search system is capable of producing results tailored to your needs. We have a number of tools available, whether you prefer a quick search which will generate all results related to the registration that you are looking for, if you require a specific style of registration.

The results of these searches will depend on what search you choose to perform, and are listed below;

Search All - This smart search will optimise your results, showing you both close and related matches using all plate styles. It will generate results from thousands of combinations, saving you time and effort to help you find the perfect number plate.

Our other searches relate to specific plate styles, which will perform more focused searches based on specific letter and number combinations that you choose.

If no results are available for the search that you perform, our plate style smart searches will offer alternatives that you may wish to consider.

When choosing a registration it is important to note that you cannot assign a registration mark which has a newer age identifier to a vehicle than the vehicle age itself. Essentially, you cannot make a vehicle look newer than it is by putting a newer private registration mark on. This means that you will need to check that the age of the registration is suitable for your vehicle. You can check your vehicle age here.

Helpful tip

If you're searching for a specific word let the Smart Search system work out the number/letter swaps for you; PETER, for example, will get you better results than P3T3R.

Your Search Results

Price Toggle

We endeavour to be transparent in the way we explain our prices, breaking them down so that you can understand the complex product you are buying. You can choose to view the prices listed on the website in two different ways. All of the results that are generated will automatically display the “base price,” which is the cost of the registration before any government charges. This is an industry standard and is how results will show on any website what sells personalised number plates.

We have added a unique price toggle to our website, which will allow you to view the total cost of a registration inclusive of VAT and the government transfer fee of £80. Simply select that you wish to include government charges in your results.

Regardless of how you wish to view the prices of registrations in your search results, a full breakdown of the costs is presented before you place an order.

Plate Status

As you browse through your search results, you will notice that the private number plates are listed with different descriptions such as ‘AVAILABLE NOW’ or ‘CHECK IT NOW’. These statuses help you to see the availability of a registration immediately.

Types of Number Plate Search

Search All Plate Styles

Our unique number plate generators produce all the possible searches available, based on your input, checking a database of over 50 million number plates for suitable matches.

To start, simply type in what you’re looking for (whether it’s a name, keyword, special number sequence, initials or anything!) and our ‘Search All’ feature will do the work for you, generating results tailored to your preferences.

The general Smart-Search will automatically work out the number and letter substitutions for you - for example if you search for PETER, the search will generate more results than PET3R or P3TER.

If are looking to search a little deeper for something more specific, simply click on the ‘Advanced Options’ tab to filter the search results by plate style, status, budget etc. Alternatively, you can choose to search by different styles (for example by all prefix registrations) by clicking the ‘Find & Buy Private Number Plates’ button and choosing which style. This will allow you to add in each character individually which will produce every available registration containing those letters or numbers.

Helpful tip

If you leave some selections set at ‘ANY’ then you will get more results.

Prefix-Style Number Plate Search

The Prefix-Style Search will show results for registrations following the format A*BBB where * is a number.

Prefix style registrations cannot incorporate the letters I, Q or Z; O and U can only appear in the last three letters. Choose at least two options from the drop down menu. If you are trying to spell a word and need to fill the space where a letter should be you can use any number, or select the number that most closely resembles the letter you need.

For example, if you wanted a registration for a dog grooming business, you may just want to find a registration beginning with K9. A Prefix style search will show you all of the private number plates that we have available that begin with K9

Examples Of Other Prefix Registrations:

Current-Style Search

The Current-Style Search will show results for registrations following the format AA**AAA where ** are numbers.

New registrations are released in this style twice a year. They are issued between 1st March - 31st August, and 1st September - 28th February. Current style registrations cannot incorporate the letters I or Q; and Z can only appear in the last three letters.

Choose at least three options from the drop-down menu. If you are trying to spell a word and need to fill the space where a letter should be you can use any number, or select the number that most closely resembles the letter you need.

Current style registrations allow for longer words and more combinations than previous styles.

Examples Of Current-Style Registrations:

Suffix-Style Search

The Suffix-Style Search will show results for registrations following the format BBB*A where * is a number.

Suffix style registrations cannot incorporate the letters I, Q or Z; O and U can only appear in the first three letters. Choose at least one options from the drop-down menu. If you are trying to spell a word and need to fill the space where a letter should be you can use any number, or select the number that most closely resembles the letter you need.

Most Suffix-Style private number plates are used as alternative for dateless plates as the format helps them to stand out against Prefix and Current Style registrations.

Examples Of Suffix-Style Registrations:

Dateless-Style Search

The Dateless-Style Search will show results of registrations that can be applied to any aged vehicle, suitable to take part in a transfer.

Type in a combination of letters or numbers, and the Dateless-Style Search will generate results containing those figures. If the search cannot find a match, try using fewer digits. A dateless style plate will have a maximum of 3 letters or 4 numbers, and will not contain an I or a Z.

Alternatively, by clicking on “Advanced” you can choose an exact search to enter individual digits. You can also choose to browse registrations by plate length. To select a plate length, please click here.

Examples Of Dateless-Style Registrations:

Irish-Style Search

The Irish-Style Search will show results for registrations which can be assigned to any age of UK vehicle.

Type in a combination of letters or numbers and the Irish-Style Search will generate results matching those figures. Irish Style registrations always contain an I or Z. Alternatively you can browse all of the Irish-Style letter combinations by clicking here.