Plates4Less Launches New Guide to Help Private Plate Owners Avoid Losing Their Registrations
As the DVLA’s 10-Year Renewal Deadline Approaches, Thousands Could Lose Their Cherished Personalised Registration Marks - Our New Guide Shows You How to Protect Yours.
05/03/2025News
Plates4Less advises thousands of people every week about buying and selling private number plates. While these conversations often focus on getting
the best price or finding the perfect plate, safeguarding your registration mark is another equally important topic that often gets overlooked.
With fraudulent activity on the rise and a major DVLA renewal deadline now in effect, we’ve put together a comprehensive new guide to help private
plate owners protect their investments. This guide outlines the essential steps to secure your personalised registration, avoid falling victim to
scams, and prevent losing your plate for good, due to DVLA regulations.
Why Is This Guide Needed Now More Than Ever?
The DVLA’s 10-year renewal rules mean that personalised registrations issued on government certificates in 2015 are now rapidly reaching their expiry
date. If a registration isn’t renewed in time, the owner will permanently lose all rights to it and the prepaid £80 transfer fee with no exceptions,
no refunds, and no way to reclaim it.
Even if the mistake is due to something as simple as a missed renewal reminder due to a change of address, the DVLA will not reinstate the
registration, regardless of how valuable it may be. Many private number plate owners don’t realise how strict this policy is and the consequences of
inaction can be both devastating and expensive. Our crucial guide aims to ensure that no one loses their cherished number plate due to a simple
oversight or lack of a reminder.
The Risk: How Many People Are Likely to Lose Their Registrations?
To gauge the scale of this issue, we analysed industry data and DVLA sales figures from 2015 onwards to estimate how many registrations are due for
renewal this year. We also considered how many owners may have moved address since purchasing but failed to update their details with the DVLA.
Based on these factors, Plates4Less conservatively estimates that annually at least 4,000 registrations will be lost. As a result, we expect a minimum
of £320,000 in prepaid government transfer fees per year will also be forfeited.
What’s Inside Our New Guide?
Our guide is designed to help vehicle registration mark owners understand all the potential pitfalls and how to avoid them. It covers:
✅ Learning how to keep your registration safe whilst it’s on a vehicle.
✅ How to retain your private registration & keep it safe whilst it is on retention
✅ How to check if your registration is due for renewal & how to renew
✅ What to do if you haven’t received a DVLA renewal reminder
✅ Steps to update your address and contact details to ensure you get these important notifications
✅ What to do if your registration mark is still in a previous owner’s/Dealer’s details
✅ How to spot and avoid common private number plate scams and fraud
✅ What to do if you lose your private registration certificate (V750 or V778)
✅ Why assigning your private plate to your vehicle can help safeguard your investment
✅ Options if you no longer want to keep your private registration
We’ve also included direct DVLA contact details and answers to the most frequently asked questions about vehicle registration renewals and security. See the link to our new guide here
A Timely Warning from Our Industry Experts
Commenting on the issue, our experts have strongly urged all private plate owners to check their registration mark certification details immediately:
We strongly advise anyone with a private plate held on a DVLA certificate to double-check their expiry date deadline and ensure their details are
correct. If your registration expires, the DVLA will not reinstate it—even if it was worth tens of thousands of pounds. The best way to safeguard your
plate is to stay informed and take action in advance.
Plates4less Experts
What Should You Do Next?
If you purchased a personal registration through us, we’ll be in touch.
If you own a private plate and it’s currently held on a V750 Certificate of Entitlement or a V778 Retention Certificate, you need to:
✅ Carefully check your certificate’s expiry date
✅ Ensure your contact details are correct with the DVLA if not, you won’t get a reminder and also, if the certificate is not in your name, the
renewed one will be sent to the wrong person.
✅ Renew your registration before it expires
If you’re unsure about any of these steps, our new guide will walk you through the entire process.
The DVLA’s strict renewal rules mean that owners of private plates can not afford to be complacent. If your registration mark is on a certificate, it must be renewed before the expiry date, or you will lose it permanently.
Our guide is designed to ensure you stay protected and don’t become one of the thousands set to lose their plates and their money this year. Check
your documentation today, update your details, and take action to safeguard your cherished plate before it’s too late.
