FAQs
Frequently asked questions when buying
Are all the cherished number plates from your site suitable for my vehicle?
No, you can only display a registration that is either of the same age from the first date of registration of your vehicle or older. It is illegal to to have a registration number that makes your vehicle look younger than its first date of registration. For example, if your vehicle was first registered in October 2003 it will be likely to have a '53' plate, therefore you can only replace tis with either another 53 plate or any of the older new syle (52, 02 etc) or any prefix, suffix or dateless plates. See our table of number plate dates.
What if I can't find a specific plate I'm looking for?
Very often Ask-Reg customers already know the specific details of the custom number plate that they would like to own. However, while we maintain one of the larger selections of stock, it may be that we don't have the cherished number plate you're looking for. However, if you contact us we can conduct a market wide search with other dealers on your behalf in an attempt to find that special registration. If it is simply unavailable we will do our very best to come up with suitable alternatives within your budget.
Why are some registrations more expensive than others?
As a rule the older, more rare plates are more expensive than those still being supplied by the DVLA (both new syle and prefix). However there are always exceptions, where a registration makes a word or name, this applies to any format and the more characters used in context in the registration the greater the value. So for example a registration like 'A 1' has an immediate value of hundreds of thousands of pounds, but something like Y106 PUR has relatively no value at all, similarly one of our stock plate 'A601 FER' has a value around £20k because all the characters are used in perfect context to read 'A GOLFER'.
What do we send you?
All our registrations are sold on certificate, either a V750 or V778 depending whether purchase is from our stock or from one of our customers.
Who is the official purchaser?
The official purchaser is either the original purchaser of the certificate prior to it being assigned to a vehicle or after it has been assigned to a vehicle the person who is named as the Registered Keeper on the V5C (logbook).
Who or what is the nominee?
The nominee is the person named on either the V750 or V778 as the person who has the rights to assign the registration to a vehicle registered in their name. It is therefore important when buying a registration from us that we know who is the exact name of the person as it appears on the V5C who intending to assign the registration.
When my certificate arrives what do I need to do?
The registration needs to be assigned to your vehicle before you can you can display the physical plates.
What does assigned mean?
Assigning is the official process of transfering the registration number from certificate to the vehicle.
Do I need to inform the DVLA about my new registration before I can use it?
Yes, you will need to officially assign your new registration to your vehicle before you can display your new number.
How do you assign personal number plates to vehicles?
Where the registration has been supplied on a V750, in most instances the only part of the certificate you need to complete is Section 1. You will see that we have already signed and dated the certificate as the official 'purchaser', leaving you to check the box marked Unregistered vehicle or Registered vehicle; in most instances you will mark the Registered vehicle box. Below this you will need to enter the existing registration number of the vehicle you are assigning your new registration to and include the validation character that can be clearly seen in Section 10 of the vehicles log book (V5C).
Having completed Section 1 of the V750 (you don't need to sign anything), simply send it to your nearest DVLA local office along with the V5C (log book), the MOT certificate (where applicable) and a photo copy of the Tax disc. Under normal circumstances it should only take a few days for the DVLA to return your MOT certificate and Tax disc with the new registration number and a Number Plate Authorisation Certificate (V948) allowing you to have your actual plates made with an authorised number plate supplier. Your log book will returned within the 2 to 3 weeks with new registration number. Alternatively you can take the documents along in person to your DVLA local office and they will process your new MOT certificate and Tax disc there and then allowing you to immediately have your new plates made and fitted.
What happens to my old registration?
Unless you apply to keep your old registration on retention, it will be reclaimed by DVLA and you will loose all your rights to it even though you still have the physical number plates. In the event that you choose to remmove your new cherished number from your vehicle where you are either selling the vehicle or its been badly damaged in an accident the chances are that DVLA will re-issue the original registration, so it might wisie to keep the old plates for future use.
Why is someone elses name and address on my certificate?
Where the certificate has been supplied on a retention certificate (V778), it is likely that you have purchased the registration from one our customers, therfore until you assign the reistration to your vehicle the previous owner will remain the Grantee (official owner) of the registration. It therefore very important that you assign the registration prior to to the certificate expiry date. If you fail to do this the original owner will need to renew the certificate on your behalf.
Why does the price of the plate of seen change when I click either BUY or More Info?
All our prices are initially shown as Gross prices, meaning they are exclusive of VAT and transfer fees. The reason for this is because some of our plates are subject to VAT and others are not, so to keep everything comparitive we initially show all our registrations at the gross price.
Why are some plates subject to VAT and others not?
Stock that we either own or is supplied directly from DVLA are subject to VAT and an the Department of Transport (DoT) £80 assignment fee, however where we are selling on behalf of a customer, VAT is not charged but in some instances the assignment fee may be passed on to the purchaser.
Can I make an offer to buy a registration at a cheaper price than shown on the site?
In a lot of cases the answer is yes. Stock which we either own or are selling on behalf of a customer has been valued on what we consider the correct market price to be, however you may have a different opinion on what you are prepared to pay and in most cases we will carefully consider your offer. But please do not make offers that are rediculously away from the original asking price, for example we would not concider an offer of £2000 for a registration like 'SPU 2S' (SPURS) which is offered at £40k but try us at £35k and you might get lucky.
Where we are selling new plates from DVLA supplies there is relatively no scope for offers unless multiple purchases are made, so in these instances the selling price would always be the price shown on the website.
Frequently asked questions when selling
Can any registration mark be tansfered/sold?
No. Vehicles which are not subject to testing, such as an agricultural machine or a milk float, cannot take part in a transfer. Also in certain limited circumstances, a vehicle may be given a non-transferable mark. If so the V5(NI)/V5C(NI) will state “This Registration Mark cannot be transferred to another Vehicle”. You must make sure that the mark is transferable before entering into any commitment.
How do I know how much my registration is worth?
The valuation of number plates is very similar to the valuation of art, different dealers will value the same registration at different prices depending on their interpretation. However you will be pleased to know that its not quite that arbitrary and as rule the market has predifined levels depending on the age and structure of the registration. In general the more expensive plates are the dateless ones that were first issued prior to 1963, these typically consist of a mixture of 1 to 3 letters followed or proceeded by 1 to 3 numbers. Examples being WOW 575 and 932 DKB, as a rule those with the letters first are the more expensive and those with the fewer letters and numbers are even more expensive like 'N 3' and finally those with just a '1' are usually the most expensive within their particular format. For eaxample in the dateless 3x1 format (3 letters and 1 number) a registration such as RRL 1 would be far more expensive than RRL 8. In some instances a 1 plate can have a value of more than twice that of the corresponding 2 plate.
The next signifiacant groups are suffix and prefix plates, issued between 1963 and 1999. Suffix plates are nolonger available unless issued at auction or sold through the secondary market, but prefix plates are still readily available in the primary market. By far the more popular style are prefix plates, but because of their availability prices are often realtively low (between £200 and £600), however as with the dateless plates a number 1 prefix will typically have a value of more than twice that of the other single digit plates in that format. For example S1 TBM may have a price around £1900 but S2 TBM would likely be sub £1000. Prefix plates can however command significantly higher values where a word or name is being made or even infered. For example M1 KEM, would have a significantly higher valuation than a standard number 1 prefix because it reads "MIKE M', in this case we have valued the registration at £15k.
Similarly new style formats that make names or words also command higher values such as 'PO10 SET' (POLO SET) or 'AC09 NAC' (A COGNAC).
Examples of dessired and not so dessired registration plates.
What is your commission?
Typically we give valuations based on the amount we would hope to return to you should we find a buyer for your registration, we then add between 10 and 15% which is our margin. So if we give a valuation of £500 we would look to market that plate at £575, where in the event of a sale we rturn to £500 and we keep £75 to cover our costs.
Why do you charge different amounts?
As a rule we add 15% to all valuations under £3000 and slide down to 10% for those over £5000. However there are no set rules and where a customer has clearly advised us to sell at a significant amount below our original valuation, looking for a quick sale, we will generally look to reduce our rate in order to assist with a speedy transaction.
What happens if I disagree with your valuation?
Very often an owner of a cheished registration will already have a pre-concieved price of where thay think their registration should be valued or what they would like to achieve in the event of a sale. We are always very happy to discuss any valuation discrepencies (we're definiely not expected to get it right for you every time) and we always listen to what you have to say. At the end of the day its your number plate and we are only acting as advisers, you always make the final decision.
Do I need to send any forms?
Not in the initial stages, we only ask you send in your signed retention certificate once we have a buyer and deposit has been taken.
How long will it take to sell my registration?
How long is a piece of string? At the time of writing this (Jan 2010) the market was still in a deep recession and consequently turnover of stock from both our own supply and customer supply was greatly reduced, meaning that its taking far longer than say 2 years ago to sell a similar registration. However, having said that where a plate is competitively priced and has rarety value we seeing a moderately successful turnover, so it is very much dependent on the type of plate and its price.
When do I get my money?
Funds are paid as soon as we have authenticated the registration, which typically involves assigning it to a new recipient vehicle and typically takes between 5 and 7 days from reciept of the double signed retention certificate arriving.
How do I get paid?
Generally we prefer to make an electronic bank transfer, alternatively a cheque is issued.
