Car Christmas Presents: Personalised Plates

These days personalised plates are more affordable than ever.

Alex Eckford looks at how to get your hands on the plates, how much they cost, and why you’ll have to get your skates on if you want one in time for Christmas.

Buying a plate

The rules surrounding the transfer of plates between cars are strict. This is because traffic enforcement in the UK relies on cars' registration numbers, so the integrity of any transfer has to be closely monitored.

The plate transfer rules can be quite complicated, especially if you don't own the vehicle the number is coming from, so you may want to use a personalised plate dealer. They will have thousands of registrations to choose from, but more importantly they will do all the paperwork for you, saving you time and effort.

To buy a new personalised plate you'll need your car's logbook (also known as a V5C document), its MOT document (if applicable) and a copy of your tax disc (or a note detailing its expiry date).

You'll need to pay a transfer fee (plus a possible extra cost if the plate is to be held on retention with a certificate).

It's worth noting if a VAT registered company purchases the plate then VAT will be added to the price.

Transferring a plate

The whole process of transferring a plate to a car should take somewhere between ten days and five weeks (usually closer to ten days).

Currently the third and fourth digits of the UK number plates denote when the vehicle was registered (07 for March to August 2007, 57 for September 2007 to February 2008, and so on). It's illegal to make a car look younger than it is. For example it's not OK to transfer an 07 plate to a 06-registered car.

The same applies to plates with a ‘Q’ prefix, which are assigned to cars with uncertain ages or origins (e.g. kit conversion vehicles), and imported vehicles where the date of first registration can’t be established.

Plates with an ‘S’ prefix are also no longer allowed, as they can only be assigned to vehicles registered as new on or before August 1 1998.

You can transfer a number plate from a bike to car, or vice versa.

Personalised plates are often bought as an investment as, historically, plates have always gone up in value.

But you’ll have to hurry if you want a new plate in time for Christmas - the latest date to get your application in to transfer a plate over to in time is 14 December.

Here are a few Christmas-themed plates up for grabs:

NOE 1L £24,995
HOL 111Y £12,495
GOO 5E £16,795
Y1 ULE £4,690
G12 FTS £1,844
XMA 55S £9,490
N17 OEL £1,095
X12 MAS £995