2022 Sees A Massive Increase in the Popularity of Personalised Number Plates
The UK’s personalised number plate market has seen a huge increase with the industry now being worth £2 billion. March saw the arrival of the new ‘22’ registrations, along with new legislation for the design and manufacture of number plates to make them tougher and more easily identified by ANPR cameras. The changes have led to a vast 82% rise in the average number of searches for personalised plates each month.
Private plates can change hands for vast sums of money. The world’s most expensive plate is ‘D 5’ which was sold in Dubai for over £7.3 million, just topping the £7.25 million paid for the single digit ‘1’ in Abu Dhabi. The UK’s most expensive registration to date is ‘25 O’ which went under the hammer for £518,480 in 2014. However, if the owner of the iconic ‘F1’ personalised plate put it up for sale, it could break all records.
CarReg Guide to Buying a Personalised Number Plate
Search various combinations
The most popular personalised number plates spell out a complete name, but they can also be among the most expensive. While there is a huge number of private registrations available, you may not be able to find the exact combination of letters and digits you want within your budget.
Try to be flexible in your search. Look for abbreviated versions of your name, such as ROB for Robbie, SAM for Samuel, or GRA for Graham. With various three letter combinations giving you the most options, consider using your three initials instead of your name. Also, look at substituting numbers for letters such as ‘4’ for ‘A’, ‘3’ for ‘B’, or ‘5’ for ‘S’.
Check the different types of private plates available. Dateless plates have no age identifier and might look like ‘816 SAM’ or ‘SAM 253’. Older style dated plates feature either a prefix or suffix letter as the year identifier. These could be ‘SAM 412A’ or ‘V111 SAM’. Finally, you’ve got the newer style plates that have been in use since 2001. You could have options such as ‘AB22 SAM’ or ‘MH03 SAM’. Buying Irish registration numbersgives you another ageless option.
Avoid rude plates
With the issue of new plates twice each year, the DVLA blacklists any letter and number combinations that might be construed likely to cause offence. However, some less obvious offensive registrations slip through the net. If you display a private plate that is later reported as too rude, it can be withdrawn leaving the buyer out of pocket.
Abbreviations don’t tend to get banned, so combinations like ‘FFS’, ‘LOL’, ‘OMG’, and ‘WTF’ would be considered to be acceptable. However, before you part with your hard-earned cash on a cheeky plate, it’s advisable to check with the DVLA to save you making a costly mistake.
We’re Here to Help
You can search the huge CarReg database for your ideal personalised number plate. When you find the one the want, we’ll advise you on the documentation you need to show us and provide you with a V750 certificate of entitlement. If you want us to supply your number plates, you can be sure they’ll comply with the latest stringent legal requirements.
