I also need a number plate back

[overrun]

The pink Mini thread reminds me, I meant to post this on here, before.

 

I have owned a number plate for about 12 years, but the car it is on has been SORN for around a decade and has zero chance of ever returning to the road - my own fault. Stupid and ambitious plans...

 

Is there any way at all of reclaiming it? Well, I know it is technically still mine, but at the same time, I have no access to it.

 

As I own the car in question and do not intend to sell the plate on, you would think the DVLA would have exceptions. :/

 

It is my first car, and the number plate was a gift for my 21st.

 

Short of ringing a car, is there any way?

An MOT would be a very good start, I guess!

[Pete-M]

Nope. Not without getting it through an MOT.

[overrun]

This is something I have attempted in the past, and not had any success with.

It isn't even that old, really. 1998.

 

So not as if it could be a totally shagged out rot box.

 

I understand why they brought in these rules, but when it affects property that you already own, it is highly annoying.

Yeah, I should have put the plate on retention, but at the time, I could never see the car not returning to the road.

[beko1987]

Surely you could ring it, but do it to get the plate back then scrap the rung car?

 

Failing that, you've got a lovely garage wall trophy with a backstory...

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Surely you could ring it, but do it to get the plate back then scrap the rung car?

Failing that, you've got a lovely garage wall trophy with a backstory...

This or a form of it used to be commonplace, I knew a bloke who traded in number plates , he had a Morris Minor,a 100e and ,I think , a Standard 10 that always seemed to have a fresh coat of paint.

[Timewaster]

Does that all still count if it is a plate that you bought?

Shirley it is less of a rigmarole if you aren't transferring the original plate off the car?

Or is that applying logic and common sense to a government department?

[seacow]

Nope you are fucked unless you get an mot. End of

[dave21478]

The problem with ringing it is that when a car suddenly appears back on the road with a fresh MOT and requests a plate transfer the DVLA can be wary and demand an inspection. They are wise to all this by now.

[BavarianRetro]

You don't MoT it one day and then tax it and apply for a transfer the next. MoT it. Wait 8 months. Insure it, tax it and apply. Theoretically they can inspect it - the last time I had one called for inspection, it was chucking it down and I was able to point to it on the trailer in the car park and that was the inspection - but with the local offices closed, I don't think they're inspecting now. I believe they can do nothing about the MoT after 6 months even if they do inspect it.

[overrun]

You don't MoT it one day and then tax it and apply for a transfer the next. MoT it. Wait 8 months. Insure it, tax it and apply. Theoretically they can inspect it - the last time I had one called for inspection, it was chucking it down and I was able to point to it on the trailer in the car park and that was the inspection - but with the local offices closed, I don't think they're inspecting now. I believe they can do nothing about the MoT after 6 months even if they do inspect it.

Good info, thanks mate.

 

This is what I was thinking, concerning the local offices.

 

Now to get an MOT*.

 

Cheers, all.

[panhard65]

I seem to think there was something about if it has been on continuous SORN they will allow transfer. I could be wrong though, it is worth a call to the DVLA before doing anything.

[BavarianRetro]

No. It needs to be taxed at the time of the transfer OR the tax has run out less than six months ago AND it has been on continuous SORN since the tax ran out. 

 

And I'd not call the DVLA. All the info is online. First step is to get the remains MoTd by an amenable tester and that is far more difficult to do now. The old days of drive by MoTs or MoT by phone are gone, but it can be done. Or perhaps get a very similar car, the same colour  and wearing your car's VIN tags and number plates MoTd?

 

I'm afraid there's simply no legit way to do it if the shell is unMoTable. 

[Pillock]

I'd also stop posting about plans such as what this has turned into online. I hear the DVLA can use computers these days.....

[BavarianRetro]

I have it on good, albeit unofficial, authority that the people within the relevant DVLA department are aware of what gets done to retrieve old private plates and that they have more to worry them. 

 

It was also pointed out that a dead plate is, in revenue terms, worthless. It will never be reissued by DVLA.  Putting it on retention generates a fee of £105, at least one months tax, and an MoT fee and potential further transfer fees. 

 

What I've suggested - done purely to recover the plate - is a victimless crime which generates income for the DVLA. 

[Pillock]

Assuming nobody at the DVLA is a jobsworth chimp. You may well be right but I doubt this task is the sole responsibility of one person who never goes on holiday, the bloke that sits next to him might have a right complex.

 

Also, buying a new cherished plate generates even more revenue for them....