Personalised Registration Plates

In early December 2014 DVLA opened up their site launching sales of the new 15 plate number plates due out in March 2015. An exciting time for many as the number 15 can easily be read as the letters ‘I’ and ‘S’ creating many individual and personal number plates.

BUT…. Don’t get too excited. It turns out unless you are looking at a plate that is exclusive to you, and you only, and doesn’t really make a common word or name then you most likely have no chance at all of getting the plate you really want.

The reason for this is that personalised plates have become big business here in the UK with some popular names fetching well into five figures, even six. This has meant that it is no longer individuals trying to purchase these plates but businesses too.

These businesses use modern technology to constantly scout for upcoming plate combinations that make names or words. Names and words that have a resale value.

These computer programs are also used to log into DVLA’s site on the launch date and select the required plates. On December 4th DVLA’s site was jammed when it opened at 8.30 in the morning making it virtually impossible to get on. Impossible, that is, unless you were a computer program designed to keep trying until it got in.

This I know as I tried to log on but struggled. It was after 10.30 when I finally got on only to see (surprise surprise) that none of the plates I was looking at were available. Since checking again a couple have now already been listed on a future auction.

Here are some examples of what you could have had:

BR15TOW (Bristow)

TR15TAN (Tristan)

KR15TAL (Kristal)

PK15TAN (Pakistan)

But since these have been taken how about:

RA15UBL

YE15STB

FR15GAH

Okay they may not mean anything but hey you could always change your name by deed poll!

So there you have it guys and girls. A personalised plate with your name on it may just be a little further away than you thought. Unfair as it is this is how currently things are and until that changes you just got to keep your fingers crossed that you may just get lucky in your search.