Terms & conditions

PrivatePlates.co.uk is operated by New Reg Limited. These are the terms every purchase is made under, on this website and on newreg.co.uk, and they are the same terms in both places.

1. Who we are

1.1 We are New Reg Limited, registered in England and Wales under company number 03143909. Our registered office is 5 Parkgate, 117 Liverpool Road, Longton, Preston, Lancashire, PR4 5AA. Our VAT registration number is 604 5464 55.

1.2 newreg.co.uk and PrivatePlates.co.uk are both websites operated by New Reg Limited. Whichever of them you ordered from, your contract is with New Reg Limited, these terms apply to it, and every reference below to "we" and "us" means that company.

1.3 You can write to us at PO Box 911, Longton, Preston, Lancashire, PR4 5PS, or email us at the address shown on the website you ordered from: [email protected] or [email protected].

1.4 We are a member of the Institute of Registration Agents and Dealers.

1.5 We are a private company. We are not part of the DVLA and we are not an agent of the DVLA.

2. These terms

2.1 These terms apply to everything we sell you. Please read them before you order, because by placing an order you agree to them.

2.2 In these terms, "you" means the person placing the order; "the registration mark" means the letters and numbers you are ordering the right to have assigned; "the certificate" means the document the DVLA issues to hold a registration mark that is not on a vehicle; and "the number plates" means any physical number plates you order from us.

2.3 If you are buying as a business rather than as a consumer, the cancellation rights in clause 8 that come from consumer law do not apply to you, and your rights to cancel are those set out in your own contract with us.

3. What you are ordering

3.1 An order may contain up to four separate things, and each is treated differently. It matters that you know which you have ordered.

• The registration mark. The exclusive right to have that registration mark assigned to a vehicle, and to have it held for you on a certificate until you are ready. Clause 4 explains how it is held.
• Our service. The work we do for you: securing the registration mark, obtaining the certificate, and, where you ask us to, applying to the DVLA to assign it to a vehicle.
• The DVLA assignment fee of £80. A compulsory fee the DVLA applies to every assignment. The DVLA requires it in advance, so it is paid at the outset and held against the certificate until the assignment happens. It is not ours and we do not keep it, except in the one circumstance set out in clause 12.
• The number plates, if you order them. Physical number plates made to display your registration mark, in the size, material, finish and design you choose. They are optional and are never added for you.

4. How the registration mark is held

4.1 A registration mark that has never been assigned to a vehicle is held on a V750 DVLA Certificate of Entitlement. One that has been on a vehicle before is held on a V778 retention document. The two documents do the same job: each names the person entitled to have the registration mark assigned to a vehicle, and each runs for ten years. Everything sold on PrivatePlates.co.uk has never been assigned to a vehicle, so it is always the first of the two.

4.2 Some registration marks are held through New Reg Limited’s own account with the DVLA. Where that is so, the DVLA’s record shows New Reg Limited as the holder of the certificate and you, or the nominee you give us, as the person entitled to have the registration mark assigned. That is why we ask for that name at the point of purchase and why it has to be right. Others are held elsewhere and are obtained for you after you order. Which of the two applies to your order is shown to you before you pay, because it decides when your payment is taken and when your purchase becomes final: see clause 7. Everything sold on PrivatePlates.co.uk is held through our own account.

4.3 Where we hold the certificate, your agreement is with us rather than with the DVLA, and what you order is a right we grant you. In practice that right is close to absolute. While it lasts:

• we cannot sell the registration mark to anybody else, assign it to a vehicle of ours, or nominate anybody but you;
• you may ask us to assign it to a vehicle at any time, and we will;
• you may tell us to nominate somebody else, including a buyer if you sell it;
• once it is assigned to a vehicle it is on that vehicle’s record and this clause is finished with.

4.4 Because the certificate is ours, we are the only party the DVLA will deal with about it. That is what allows us to renew it, to replace it if it is lost and to correct a mistake on it, and it is why clause 12 matters.

5. What you are not buying

5.1 A registration mark is a right to use a mark on a vehicle. It is not a title to the mark itself, and it does not give you ownership of anything the DVLA can withdraw or refuse.

5.2 A registration mark may never be used to make a vehicle look newer than it is. This is the DVLA’s rule, not ours, and it is why some registration marks cannot go on some vehicles. We tell you the earliest date a registration mark can be assigned before you order it.

6. Prices

6.1 Every price we show you includes VAT. Where the £80 DVLA assignment fee is payable, the price of the registration mark includes that too, and we show the £80 separately so that you can see what it is. You see the total you will pay before you order.

6.2 Number plates and delivery are priced separately and are shown before you order. Our charges for the services in this document are in the schedule at the end. They include VAT. If we change a charge, the charge that applies to you is the one in force when you placed your order.

6.3 If a price is obviously wrong, and you could reasonably have realised it was wrong, we do not have to sell at that price. We will tell you before we do anything, and you may cancel with a full refund.

7. When your payment is taken, and when your purchase becomes final

7.1 This depends on how the registration mark you have chosen is held, and which applies to your order is shown to you before you order.

• Where the registration mark has to be secured first, payment is only taken once it is secured. Once it is secured, the purchase cannot be cancelled.
• Where supply has to be confirmed, your payment is held securely until the transfer is confirmed. If we are unable to supply the registration mark, you receive a full refund.
• Where we already hold the registration mark, the purchase cannot be cancelled once it is made.

7.2 On PrivatePlates.co.uk, when you place your order your bank checks your card and we hold the full amount on it. Immediately before we secure a registration mark, we confirm it is still available and take payment for it, and we secure it only once that payment has gone through. There is no deposit and no balance to pay later. If the registration mark is no longer available at that point, we take nothing for it, nor for any number plates or assignment service ordered with it, and release the hold on that amount. If we have taken payment and are then unable to secure it, you receive a full refund of everything you paid for it.

7.3 Where your order on PrivatePlates.co.uk has more than one registration mark, we take a single payment before we secure any of them. That payment covers every registration mark still available, with anything ordered with them and your postage. Nothing is taken for a registration mark that is no longer available, and the rest of the hold is released.

7.4 If we have not secured a registration mark within seven days of your order on PrivatePlates.co.uk, your order for it is void. If nothing has been taken for it we release the hold on it, and if anything has been taken for it we refund it in full. This applies to orders placed on PrivatePlates.co.uk only.

7.5 Where the registration mark is due for release and cannot be secured until then, we tell you the release date and time before you order, and we take payment in full when you place your order. Ordering opens no earlier than seven days before the release. We cannot guarantee that we will secure a registration mark that is due for release; if we cannot, you receive a full refund.

7.6 Nothing in this clause affects your rights if what we supply is faulty or is not as described, or the cancellation rights in clause 8 that arise before we have performed.

8. Cancelling your order

8.1 The parts of your order are cancellable on different terms, because the law treats them differently. This clause sets out all of them. Nothing in it affects your rights if something we supply is faulty or is not as described.

8.2 The registration mark and our service. By placing your order you expressly ask us to begin work straight away, and you acknowledge that you lose your right to cancel this part of your order once the registration mark has been secured for you. We ask you to agree to that because securing it at once is what stops somebody else buying it. Before it is secured you may cancel this part at any time. On PrivatePlates.co.uk nothing has been taken by then, so we release the hold on your card and you are not charged; where you have already paid, we refund what you have paid for it less a proportionate charge for the work already carried out.

8.3 Assigning the registration mark to a vehicle. This is a separate service. You may cancel it at any time up to the point we submit the application, and we will refund our charge for it in full. The registration mark stays yours on its certificate.

8.4 The DVLA assignment fee. If your order does not complete, or if you decide before the expiry date that you do not want to renew your certificate, we apply to the DVLA to reclaim the £80 and return it to you. The one circumstance in which it is not returned is in clause 12, and it is not a charge we make: after a certificate has expired there is nothing left to reclaim.

8.5 The number plates. Number plates are made to carry one registration mark and nothing else, and we begin making them as soon as your order is confirmed. Because they are made to your specification and are clearly personalised, the right to cancel does not apply to them. This does not affect your rights if they arrive faulty, damaged or not as described.

8.6 How to cancel. Email us at the address in clause 1, or write to us there, quoting your order number and saying what you wish to cancel. You do not have to give a reason. We will confirm in writing what has been cancelled and what we are refunding.

8.7 Refunds. We refund to the card or account you paid from, within 14 days of agreeing that a refund is due.

9. If you bought on finance

9.1 If you paid using a credit agreement, you have 14 days to withdraw from that credit agreement under section 66A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

9.2 Withdrawing from the credit agreement does not by itself cancel your order with us. It means the credit is repayable. You must pay us by another method, within 30 days, for whatever part of your order is not cancellable under clause 8.

9.3 Anything you can cancel under clause 8 you may still cancel, on the terms set out there.

10. What we will do, and how long it takes

10.1 We will use reasonable care and skill, and we will do what we have agreed within a reasonable time.

10.2 We cannot guarantee a date for a whole transfer. Part of the process belongs to the DVLA, who may ask to inspect a vehicle, and part may depend on the keeper of another vehicle. We will keep you informed.

10.3 If we have all your documents and we have not been able to submit your application to the DVLA within 12 weeks, for any reason that is not your fault, you may cancel what remains and we will refund you in full for the parts not yet performed.

10.4 We are not responsible for delays caused by the post, by the DVLA, or by another keeper. Where a delay happens we will tell you, and the 12 week right above still applies.

11. What you need to do

11.1 Please check that the details you give us are right before you confirm your order, particularly the registration mark, the vehicle and the name the certificate is to name. We will correct a mistake if you tell us quickly, but once an application has gone to the DVLA a change may cost the charge shown in the schedule.

11.2 Please send us the vehicle documents we ask for within three weeks, unless we agree otherwise with you.

11.3 A vehicle involved in a transfer must meet the DVLA’s conditions. In summary it must be registered with the DVLA in the United Kingdom, be of a type that needs an MOT or HGV test certificate, be currently taxed or have a SORN in place, have been taxed or held a SORN continuously, and be available for inspection if the DVLA asks. We will tell you if a vehicle does not qualify.

11.4 If a vehicle turns out not to meet those conditions, we will refund you in full for every part of your order that has not been performed, and we will reclaim and return the DVLA assignment fee.

11.5 Please tell us if your address, email address or telephone number changes. Clause 12 depends on our being able to reach you.

12. Keeping the registration mark on a certificate

12.1 A certificate is valid for ten years from the date the DVLA issues it.

12.2 The DVLA will not accept a renewal application after the expiry date. Once a certificate expires the registration mark is gone: the entitlement to it ends, and the right we granted you ends with it, because there is no longer anything to assign. Nothing can be done after that date, by us or by anybody.

12.3 The £80 goes the same way. It is prepaid against that certificate, not held in an account for you. Before the expiry date it can be reclaimed from the DVLA. After it, there is nothing left to reclaim.

12.4 Because none of this can be undone, we will write to you before your certificate expires, at the address and email address we hold for you.

12.5 Where we hold the certificate, we are the only party who can renew it. Tell us to renew and we will, for the charge shown in the schedule. Tell us you do not want to, and we will apply to reclaim the £80 DVLA fee and return it to you.

12.6 Where the certificate is held in your own name rather than ours, the renewal is yours to make and we will tell you when it is due.

12.7 If we cannot reach you before your certificate expires. We will write to you more than once and in more than one way: by post to the address we hold for you, by email, and by telephone or text message where we hold a number. Our last reminder will give you the expiry date, will say that everything is lost if nothing is done, and will tell you what we will do if we do not hear from you.

12.8 If you do not reply and the expiry date is close, we may renew the certificate at our own expense rather than let the registration mark be lost. We are not obliged to, and you should not rely on it. Where we do, we pay the renewal ourselves, the new certificate is ours as the previous one was, and the rights we granted you under clause 4 come to an end on the expiry date of the old one. The registration mark and the £80 held against it are then ours to assign or to sell.

12.9 Even then, we would rather you had it. For twelve months from the date we renew, tell us and we will reinstate your rights on payment of what the renewal cost us. If we have already sold the registration mark within those twelve months, we will pay you what we received for it, less those same costs. This is something we choose to offer, not something the expiry leaves you entitled to.

12.10 None of this arises if you reply to us. One reply, by any means, at any point before the expiry date, and your registration mark is renewed or your £80 is reclaimed, whichever you ask for.

13. Naming somebody else, and selling before assignment

13.1 The certificate names you, or the nominee you give us, as the person entitled to have the registration mark assigned. The nominee should be the person who is or will be the registered keeper of the vehicle.

13.2 If you want to change the nominee, tell us in writing. There is a charge, shown in the schedule, because it is an amendment to documentation already processed.

13.3 If you sell the registration mark before it is assigned, tell us in writing who the new holder is so that the paperwork is correct.

14. The number plates

14.1 Number plates are made to the size, material, finish and design you choose, and we begin as soon as your order is confirmed.

14.2 If you order number plates, we must verify your identity before manufacturing them. This is a legal requirement for registered number plate suppliers. We will provide a secure link explaining which documents we accept and how to present them for verification. A clear photograph or a photocopy is sufficient; we do not need, and ask you not to send, original documents. Your number plates cannot be manufactured until the check is complete, but the rest of your order can continue.

14.3 Number plates must be displayed correctly. You cannot rearrange or alter the characters, or make them hard to read. Incorrect display can mean a fine of up to £1,000 and an MOT failure.

14.4 It is against the law to display a registration mark on a vehicle before it has been assigned to that vehicle. Please keep your number plates until the transfer is confirmed.

14.5 Delivery charges are shown in the schedule. We give you a delivery estimate when you order.

14.6 Your order is our responsibility until it is delivered to you, or to somebody you have asked us to deliver it to. That is so whichever postage you chose and whether it was free or paid for.

14.7 If your order has not arrived within the delivery estimate we gave you, tell us. We will investigate it with the carrier and either send a replacement or refund you. If we cannot complete the delivery within a reasonable further period, you may end the contract for the goods and we will refund what you paid for them.

14.8 Number plates are always sent by Royal Mail Special Delivery, tracked and signed for on arrival. On PrivatePlates.co.uk the postage is included in the price of the number plates, and the schedule shows what newreg.co.uk charges. Any paperwork that goes with them, such as the certificate for a registration mark you have bought, is put inside the same packaging and travels the same way. A registration mark bought on its own is sent free of charge by Royal Mail Second Class. If you would like it to arrive sooner or to be signed for, you may choose Royal Mail Signed For or Special Delivery instead: they are optional extras, which you choose and pay for separately at the checkout.

14.9 None of this affects your legal rights if what arrives is damaged, incomplete or not what you ordered.

15. If something goes wrong

15.1 We are responsible to you for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of us breaking this contract or failing to use reasonable care and skill. We are not responsible for loss or damage that is not foreseeable.

15.2 We do not exclude or limit our liability where it would be unlawful to do so. That includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, for breach of your legal rights in relation to the services we supply, and for breach of your legal rights in relation to goods.

15.3 If number plates arrive faulty, damaged or not as described, tell us and we will put it right. Your legal rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 are not affected by anything in these terms.

15.4 If you are a consumer, we are not liable to you for business losses.

15.5 We do not accept responsibility for a transfer that the DVLA declines for a reason outside our control. Where that happens we refund every part of your order that has not been performed and we reclaim and return the DVLA assignment fee.

16. If we stopped trading

16.1 A registration mark we hold for you is held on a certificate through our own DVLA account, so if we ceased to trade it would form part of our assets. It follows from the way these registration marks are held, and you should know it rather than find it out.

16.2 You can put that beyond doubt at any time by asking us to assign the registration mark to a vehicle, which we will do. Once it is on a vehicle it is on that vehicle’s record and nothing about us affects it.

17. If you die, or cannot deal with this yourself

17.1 If you die before a registration mark is assigned, your personal representatives should write to us with the grant of probate or letters of administration and tell us what they would like done with it. We will nominate whoever they name, or assign it to a vehicle they name, without further charge.

17.2 If somebody holds a power of attorney for you, we will deal with them on the same footing as we would with you, once we have seen it.

18. Complaints

18.1 If something is wrong, please tell us first. Email us at the address in clause 1 with your order number and what has gone wrong. We aim to acknowledge within one working day and to give you a full response within ten working days. If it will take longer we will tell you why and when to expect an answer.

18.2 If we cannot resolve it between us, you may refer your complaint to the Institute of Registration Agents and Dealers at Ventura House, Ventura Park Road, Tamworth, B78 3HL.

18.3 If your complaint concerns a credit agreement, you may refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, firm reference number 626225.

19. Telephone calls

19.1 We record telephone calls, so that we have an accurate record of what was agreed, for training, and to deal with complaints and legal claims.

19.2 We do not give a recording to anybody else unless you ask us to, we are required to by law, or we need it to deal with a complaint or a legal claim.

19.3 You may ask for a copy of a recording of your own call. The first copy is free. We keep a recording only for as long as we need it for the purposes above, and then delete it.

20. Your personal data

20.1 We use your personal data to carry out your order, to meet our legal obligations, and to contact you about your registration mark, including the reminders in clause 12.

20.2 The privacy notice on the website you ordered from explains what we hold, why, how long for, and the rights you have over it, including your right to a copy of your data. They are at newreg.co.uk/services/privacy_policy/ and PrivatePlates.co.uk/privacy.

21. General

21.1 Nothing said to you in conversation changes these terms unless we confirm it in writing.

21.2 We may change these terms for future orders. The terms that apply to your order are the ones in force when you placed it.

21.3 If a court finds part of these terms unlawful, the rest continues to apply.

21.4 If we do not insist that you do something, or we delay in taking action, that does not prevent us from doing so later.

21.5 These terms are the whole of the agreement between us in respect of your purchase.

21.6 These terms are governed by English law and both of us submit to the jurisdiction of the English courts. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may bring proceedings in your own country.

21.7 Your statutory rights are not affected.

22. Schedule of charges

Every charge includes VAT. The charge that applies to your order is the one in force when you placed it, and these are the charges in force now.

Number plates are priced separately and every option is shown with its price at the checkout before you order. What a private plate costs sets all of it out.

Age restrictions explains clause 5 in plain English, delivery covers clause 14, the rules cover what a number plate must look like, and cancellation and refunds sets out clause 8 case by case.