Delivery & postage

We send documents, not number plates, unless you ask us for number plates as well. If we assign the private plate for you, there is no certificate to post: the DVLA sends your new V5C directly to you.

What arrives & when

Expect your documents within 7 to 14 working days of us receiving everything we need from you.

We dispatch within 1 to 2 working days of your paperwork being complete. The wait after that is the DVLA, not us.

How it is sent & what it costs

Free Royal Mail Second Class delivery is included when you order the private plate on its own, and normally arrives within three working days. A tracked service is available for an additional charge: Royal Mail Signed For is £10.95, Royal Mail Special Delivery is £16.95 including VAT. You choose at checkout.

An upgrade is yours to take whether or not you order number plates: if you want your V750 certificate to travel signed for, or guaranteed for the next working day and insured, choose it at checkout and pay the extra.

If you ordered number plates as well and are assigning the private plate yourself with DVLA Swansea, we place your V750 certificate in the same package as your number plates, so there is one delivery rather than two. If you chose an upgrade, everything travels together that way.

Physical number plates

Number plates are optional and are not included in the price of a private plate. If you order them, they are made only after we have verified your identity and your entitlement, because the law requires that.

They are made by a DVLA-registered supplier to British Standard BS AU 145e and carry the supplier’s name and postcode, which is a legal requirement. Number plate sizes explains which size fits your vehicle.

New number plates arrive with a protective film over them. Peel it off before fitting, or they will look discoloured.

If something does not arrive

We remain responsible for your order until it is delivered to you. If it has not arrived within the expected time, tell us and we will investigate it with Royal Mail and either send a replacement or refund you.

That is the same whichever postage you chose, and whether it was free or paid for. The three services differ on how quickly they arrive and on what proof there is, not on who carries the loss.

• Royal Mail Second Class. Free, and normally arrives within three working days. It is not tracked, so it cannot be followed on its way.
• Royal Mail Signed For. Signed for on arrival, with proof of delivery. It is not tracked on its way, and updates once it has been delivered.
• Royal Mail Special Delivery. Guaranteed by 1pm the next working day, tracked, and signed for on arrival. This is how number plates are always sent.

Number plates are always sent by Royal Mail Special Delivery, tracked and signed for on arrival, and the postage is included in their price. Any paperwork you have bought goes inside the same packaging.

If something is damaged when it reaches you, or is not what you ordered, that is a different matter again and your rights are unaffected. Contact us if nothing has reached you within the times above.

Before you fit anything

Do not fit new number plates until we confirm the transfer is complete. Displaying a registration mark before it is assigned is an offence.

Pricing sets out every charge, the rules explain what you may fit, cancellation and refunds covers a lost or damaged delivery, and how ordering works puts delivery in the order of events.