number plates and car write-off

She had a personalised number plate on the car, and very nearly lost it. Luckily, her insurance company were very helpful. A quick alert from me, followed by a call to the insurance company – and everything was in hand. Close though.

Car insurance companies deal with 1000’s claims, so are unlikely to notice that you have a private number plate on your car. So they will just follow their normal process of either selling the car on to a salvage company, or sending it to a scrapyard. As the number plate belongs to the car, once it’s sold on the number plate belongs to the new owner.

What do I do about my personalised number plate?

So what happens if your car is written off?

If your car insurance company offers a total loss payment (in other words declares your car a write-off), you are effectively ’selling the car’ to your insurance company once you’ve accepted the payment. Before you do this, you need to transfer the personalised number plate to another car, or retain the number plate.

When you contact the DVLA, you’ll need to send them:

• letter of no interest from the car insurance company
• engineer’s report (which confirms the car’s details).

You’ll also need to make sure the insurance company makes the car available should the DVLA decide to inspect it.

See  more details on what to do with a personalised number plate when your car is written off.

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This little bit of ‘news’ caught my eye today…

It seems that having a Range Rover in Sevenoaks, without a personalised number plate, is a punishable offence(!).

A lady was stopped by the police, and given an on the spot fine for driving the 4WD vehicle with just a standard-issue number plate instead of a personalised one. Jane Smith (the driver of the vehicle) had not realised her error, and thanked the police profusely for highlighting the issue to her. It seems her mistake had let to her (and her husband) being ostracised within their local community. As soon as the mistake was rectified, their neighbours welcomed them both with open arms.

This is truly a “good news” story, in such times of doom and gloom!

Source: Newsbiscuit

Are celebrities still buying personalised number plates?

Well, judging by the latest spotting of Vinnie Jones’ in LA, I would say so. Vinnie’s personalised number plate was spotted on a black Range Rover in Los Angeles. His celebrity personalised number plate says it all: UK VIN. And spotted following him, his wife Tanya… with her very own personalised number plate UK TANYA. Vinnie also bought a UK number plate 100 VJ.

Not quite so easy to get such perfect private registration numbers in the UK though. Not without a big budget anyway…

Here are some celebrities with UK number plates…

Anyone who has seen the popular programme The Apprentice can’t have missed Sir Alan Sugar’s personalised number plate AMS 1. The success of the programme has made Sir Alan a celebrity and a household name. Even Theo Paphitis and Duncan Banatyne, and James Caan (all of Dragons Den fame) have got in on the celebrity (and personalised number plates) act – Duncan sporting F1 TSO and 23 D (as well as half dozen others) , James Caan with 28 JC, and Theo with T1 HEO, LA53 NZA (La Senza), DEB 131E, and a heap of other ones.

It’s well known that Paul Daniels owns MAG 1C, and Jimmy Tarbuck nabbed the much cherished registration number COM 1C.

Max Bygraves was famed for owning MB 1. And Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton has snapped up LEW 1S for a reputed £200,000 – mere pocket change.

Some perhaps lesser known celebrity personalised number plates…

Boxers Chris Eubank owns 1 KO, whilst Amir Khan has BOX 111G

But prestige personalised number plates are not just the reserve of the famous – if your pockets are deep enough, there are still plenty of great cherished registrations. Take for instance registration number plate CEO 7 – quite a prize for any big cheese. Or if you’re feeling brave, what about personalised number plate R4 NDY?

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The latest  DVLA auction of personalised number plates broke records yet again last week. Property developer Nabil Bishara outbid his rivals for registration number 1 D. The hammer price of £285,000 smashed the previous record of £201,000 paid for 51 NGH in 2006. Add in the vat, and buyer’s premium, and it brings the final bill up to over £352,000.

Given the level of interest in the sale of presitigious number plates like F 1 and registration number S1 last year it’s not entirely surprising that the registration number 1 D attracted a lot of attention.

“We always expected interest in this registration to be among the highest we’ve ever had and the pre-auction bids certainly backed that up,” explained DVLA Personalised Registrations Marketing Manager Damian Lawson.

The DVLA Auction took place last week at Ardencote Manor Hotel and Country Club, in Warwick. Around 1600 registration numbers were offered at the auction, over a 3-day period. The DVLA publishes a full list of registratin numbers for sale, with reserve prices. Though this is not necessarily an indication of the final price. It all depends on who is bisdsing on the day. For instance, the reserve price for KUR 7T (KURT) was £500. The final hammer price, however, was £2000. Registration number HU57 LER (HUSTLER) attracted even more bids – the reserve price was just £1000, but the final hammer price was £30,000!

There were, nevertheless, some bargains to be had. My favourites were JUG 613S (JUGGLES) – a snip at £350, HAD 113Y (HADLEY) at a mere £700, KYL 13S (KYLIES) at £1000, and RAB 111T (RABBIT) at £900.

And some interesting ones remained unsold – such as 7 GBT, DUA 1S (DUALS), PUP 913S (PUPPIES), and TOE 74P (TOE TAP).

The DVLA holds 6 Auctions each year, in different locations around the country. The auction is spread over 3 days, and each auction generates around £4m in sales. The next sale will take place Wychwood Park, Weston Crewe, Cheshire, from 3rd-5th June 2009. Full list of forthcoming DVLA Auctions of personalised number plates.

The DVLA publishes a full list of numbers plates for sale before the auction. And anyone can register to bid.

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Oops.

Apologies….it seems to have been quite some time since I last blogged.

I’ve been busy. Yes, very busy. Involved in something new and exciting. But that can wait for another time.

But for now, I want to talk about the strength of reaction personalised number plates seem to invoke. Words like ‘tosser’ and ‘wazzer’ are commonplace amongst those who see fit to comment on the topic – and probably among the more polite terms used. It never ceases to amaze me why they seem to invoke such strong feelings. Here’s a case in point. Even this number plate video expresses some attitudes outside the UK.

And yet, wherever I go, most people I speak to seem to aspire to having personalised number plate. That’s men and women. Young and old. And everything in between.  I’m not saying everyone I meet wants one. But a very high proportion either want a personalised number plate, or already have one.

I get very frustrated when I see comments like this, especially as personalised registration numbers are so popular.

So why do personal registration numbers seem to attract such a strength of (negative!) feeling? The problem is, those personalised number plates that really look like the name or word that they’re supposed to represent are few and far between. They’re very sought after, so only those with pots of money can afford to buy them. The rest of us have to compromise…either by going for something that’s more easily available (like initials), or thinking more laterally and going for something less popular.

Unfortunately, though, some of us push that ‘lateral thinking’ a little too far….we’re swapping letters around, adding strategically placed screws and some black tape, moving the spacing around, and squishing or distorting letters to get what we want. And the final result (as well as being illegal) ends up looking like a dog’s dinner. And that’s where the problem lies. Some of the so-called personalised number plates need lot of imagination and squinting to work out. Not good.

I’ve seen the name Josh constructed using J50 HRP, displayed as J50H RP (took me a while to work it out, and I ended up asking the owner). Oh and L16 AWR, displayed as L16A WR. I can only assume it’s intended to represent the name LISA. I’m sure most of us agree, that really isn’t cool. And it doesn’t do the rest of us any favours.

So, guys & gals, if you can’t afford a reasonable personalised registration number….either buy yourself a cheap Irish number plate, or start putting those pennies away – till you can afford one that doesn’t make everyone cringe.

And if you object to personalised number plates just because you don’t “get it”…find something else to get vocal about! I’m sure there’s stuff you spend your dosh on that the rest of us could be equally scathing about. Each to their own….

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If you’ve ever tried to sell a personal number plate, the first thing you needed to do is decide how much the number plate is worth.

So…..chances are you rang a few companies, and asked them to ‘value my number plate‘. Those number plate valuations may have been similar, or may have varied significantly. There are a number of reasons why number plate valuations may vary.

What does a number plate valuation really mean?

Does a personal number plate valuation mean that’s how much you’ll actually get for it? Well…maybe. But probably not. If you’ve approached a number plate dealer, the final amount you receive will depend on whether the valuation takes account of the dealer’s commission. But most likely, a potential buyer will make an offer – sometimes significantly lower than the asking price.

Is that all there is to it? Well no. You see, just because you receive a number plate valuation, that doesn’t guarantee that you will actually get that amount…. or that it will sell at all! It doesn’t mean that the valuation is wrong. Number plate valuations are based on similar number plates on the market, and the level of demand for that number plate. Many of the lower priced number plates (usually below £500) are much more difficult to sell. That’s because there are just so many number plates in this price range, that it really is a buyer’s market. At best, it may take some time to sell the number plate, even if you price it competitively against other number plates. It’s important to remember that, if there are a lot of similar personal number plates for sale, there may not be much of a demand for that particular combination of letters!

For instance, you may be selling what appears to be a good personal number plate like J2 OVR. However, at the time of writing this, there are over 400 prefix number plates where the last 3 letters are OVR…all under £500.

Sometimes, when DVLA fees are taken into account, it’s not worth keeping / retaining a personal number plate.

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You may or may not have heard…. the DVLA are finally releasing F prefix registration numbers in October this year.

Anticipation of the release of the F registration numbers has been building for quite some time – the DVLA have received thousands of enquiries.

So what’s the big deal about F registration plates?

What difference does it make?

The DVLA have never made available F number plates for sale. When E registration numbers were released, there was a flurry of activity , and the best ones were snapped up so quickly your head would still be spinning! And F registrations will be no different.

F registration is the last of the prefix registrations to be released. Numbers F1 ??? to F20 ??? will be available on general sale in October. And that will be that.

If they’re not released yet, how come some number plate dealers are selling them already?

I’ve seen one dealer in particular offering F registration number plates for sale. However, the DVLA have not released them for sale yet.

I raised this with Steve Taylor at the DVLA. He told me “We’re still working on the pricing at the moment. No decisions have been made”. So it looks like some number plate dealers are taking a chance and applying some guesswork. And taking payments from customers on this basis.

Number plate dealers do not have special access to the new F registration number plates – they have to fight it out with everyone else who wants to buy. And the DVLA will only sell you one number plate at a time when you get through.

Some F number plates have been sold.

Some of the best F reg number plates have been sold at various DVLA auctions over the years. Especially those that make a whole word, such as F1 LES, F1 FTY, F4 TTY, and F1 ONA.

Don’t think about it too long

If you’re thinking about buying an F reg number plate, make your plans now. Decide what you want to buy, and what you would choose as an alternative. And get dialling as soon as the lines are open. These personal number plates won’t be around for long.

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Well, not a lot I suppose.

After all, there’s lots of choice, and they’re generally very cheap number plates, especially compared to dateless registration numbers or prefix style number plates.

So what’s the problem?

Well….they’re boring! Or at least…. they can be.

There are a few gems, of course. The rest of these registration numbers are just too samey.

In most cases, it’s not immediately obvious that it’s a private number plate. There are just too many letters and numbers… always seven in total. And often too may left over after the target word’s selected. Especially compared to prefix registration numbers. That’s the reason 3-digit prefix number plates don’t sell well.

So what do you do with all those extra letters? Maybe repeat your initials or add a ‘Mr’ or ‘Mrs’ on the front perhaps? With some exceptions, the options look ‘clunky’ and unappealing. Especially if the numbers are just sitting there making the registration number look untidy instead of adding to it. This is the kind of thing I mean…

AT53 AST or

MR57 SUE

And then, of course, there are two releases every year. So you get registration numbers AT51 AST, AT02 AST, AT53 AST, AT03 AST…and so on. All the way up to AT08 AST. So if your initials are AST, you’ve got plenty of choice. Good? Yes, when you’re buying. But don’t expect these ones to go up in value too much. The appeal of the registration number lies in its age. As the registration number gets older there are more people with cars old enough to be able to assign it.

The good current style number plates disappear pretty quickly, so you have to be quick off the mark. Even if your vehicle is too old to assign the registration number, it may still be worth buying it when it’s first released. For instance, registration number 0004 SUE is lot more appealing than MR57 SUE. So it will sell better at some point in the future!

So, my conclusion….? Just like any number plate, the good ones are worth a bit extra. The ordinary ones just look too busy.

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I’ve chatted to many clients over time, advising them on personal number plates. I’ve helped them choose the right cherished registration number, for themselves or as a gift for a loved one.

Buying a personal number plate isn’t always straightforward. I don’t mean the paperwork – that’s just paperwork. I mean choosing a registration number. There are just so many to choose from – especially under around £1500.

The trouble, I find, is emotion. Buying a private number plate is usually an emotional decision. Very few of us are dispassionate when we buy a personal number plate. Though there are some who just buy purely for investment.

Even when the decision is purely emotional, and there are no plans to sell the numberplate, there is always an assumption that it will go up in value. And if we don’t buy wisely… it comes as a bit of a shock when we find it hasn’t. Unfortunately, not all number plates go up in value. I’ve blogged previously about buying a personal number plate for investment so I won’t repeat myself here. Save to say that a little careful thought can make a difference. And it doesn’t necessarily mean spending more money.

Here is an example:

A client contacted us, having decided on the private number plate he wanted to buy for his wife. I won’t tell you the exact registration number, but it was similar to OK03 SUE. I asked him the age of his vehicle (standard practice!) – it was ‘54 registration. A quick check revealed that registration number OK04 SUE was also available for sale… at the same price. Compare the registration numbers: OK04 SUE is a much better registration number (do I need to explain why?), which is likely to sell more quickly when it goes back on the market.

In the meantime, I’m sure this gentleman’s wife was very happy with her anniversary gift.

There’s more detail, with some hints and tips on buying a personal number plate.

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To the innocent buyer of a personal number plate, it’s easy to fall prey to unscrupulous activities. After all, most of us buy a personal number plate occasionally…. so we’re not aware of the potential pitfalls.

Today I received this query from a lady, who (understandably) was rather upset….

“…if the grantee on a retention document cannot be contacted or has moved house, how can i now use a number plate i have purchased if i cannot get the grantee to fill out the retention document ….”

The answer, in short, is… you can’t.

The ‘grantee’ on a number plate retention document V778 must add the buyer to the retention document, as a nominee. It requires the grantee’s signature to do this. As a buyer you must make sure it’s done at the time of purchase. Once you’ve been added as the nominee, you can assign the cherished registration number to your car.

Unfortunately, that’s not the end of the story. As the buyer of the personal registration number, even if you’ve had your name added as nominee, you’re still vulnerable. The grantee still has the rights to assign the registration number to vehicle of his own – even though he has sold it to you. An unscrupulous seller may just do this. In fact, this happened to my brother some years ago.

As the named nominee on the number plate retention document, your rights are limited.

What you can do as the nominee:

• Assign the registration number to your vehicle. That’s it.

What the grantee can do:

• Remove your name as the nominee
• Renew the document when it’s due to expire
• Change the address details
• Claim the document is lost

As the nominee you have no right to do any of these.

There’s a big hole in the cherished registration transfer scheme which leaves the buyer open to being swindled. The way to minimise the risk is to assign the personal number plate to your vehicle straightaway. Once you have assigned it, the grantee has no more rights to the registration number.

Unfortunately, buying a personal number plate is not without its risks.

In summary, my advice…..

• Use a reputable company to manage the transfer of the number plate for you. Even if you’ve purchased the registration number privately.
• If you’re not purchasing via a company, have your name added as the nominee before you hand over payment
• If you can, assign the registration number to your vehicle as soon as possible

.

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