Reg Plates DVLA Format Number Plates

THE information on your car’s DVLA number plate may look like just a random set of numbers and letters but they actually convey important information about the car. Here’s what they mean, why they are there and when new plates are introduced.

DVLA number plates 2017 - What do they mean, when will they be introduce, can I be fined?

THE information on your car’s DVLA number plate may look like just a random set of numbers and letters but they actually convey important information about the car. Here’s what they mean, why they are there and when new plates are introduced.

What do UK number plates prefixes mean?

Next month new DVLA number plates will be introduced, with all new cars manufactured after that date in the UK receiving the updated plates.

New 2017 ’17’ number plates were introduced in March and will run until the end of August.

From September 2017 new number plates will be introduced and run until the end of February.

These numberplate will be given the ’67’ number identifier.

Here's a simple guide to what the new number plates mean.

Each new plate is given a number identifier which represents the period of time they were introduced.

This number appears in the first half of the plate after the two letters.

The two letters are the local memory tag which shows where the vehicle was registered.

On the plate the first letter represents the region it was introduced in and the second the local DVLA offices.

For example the L at the start of a number plate stands for London. However, where it gets confusing is that multiple letter can signify the same DVLA office.

At the end of the number plate the final three letters are random.

It is not uncommon, however, for cars with similar letter sequence to be from the same manufacturer.

The letters Q and I do not feature in the random sequence and neither do any offence phrases.

he current numberplate system was introduced in 2001 with the labelling of new cars starting at ’01’ in 2001 followed by ’52’ in the following September.

After 2010, however, the half year mark number was changed from five to six - for example November 2009 got 59 and November 2011 got 61.

Before this point licence plates used a single letter that represented the year it was registered in.

This system began in 1983 with the letter A and ended in August 2001 with ‘Y’.

Here is a how you can identify the age of a car since its introduction:

2001/02: 01/51

2002/03:02/52

2003/04: 03/53

2004/05: 04/54

2005/06: 05/55

2006/07: 06/56

2007/08: 07/57

2008/09: 08/58

2009/10: 09/59

2010/11: 10/60

2011/12: 11/61

2012/13: 12/62

2013/14: 13/63

2014/15: 14/64

2015/16: 15/65

2016/17: 16/66

2017/18: 17/67

2018/19: 18/68

UK drivers should also be aware that if their number plate is obscured by any dirt or grime then they could land themselves a fine of up to £1,000.

If the plate is unreadable then the can land the hefty fine.

Legal requirements of a number plate:

-be made from a reflective material

-display black characters on a white background (front plate)

-display black characters on a yellow background (rear plate)

-not have a background pattern.

So what are the top selling number plates in the UK? The DVLA has been selling private plates to UK motorists since 1989. During this time, there have been a number of records set, but most of the top 10 have been bought in the past 15 years. Here’s what currently makes the list:

25 0 – A Ferrari dealer bought this for £518k in 2014. It is now on a £10 million Ferrari 250 SWB.
F 1 – A businessman, Afzal Khan, bought this for £440k in 2008 and put it on his McLaren-Mercedes SLR.
S 1 – This was bought in 2008 for £404k by an anonymous buyer.
1 D – Businessman Nabil Bishara bought this plate in 2009 (before One Direction was formed, so it is not a reference to the band) for £352k.
M 1 – Businessman Mike McCoomb bought this number plate in 2006 for £331k, apparently for his son, who was 10 at the time.
VIP 1 – Chelsea owner and businessman Roman Abramovich bought this plate for £285k in 2006.
51 NGH – This number plate, which looks like the surname Singh, was sold in 2006 for £254k.
1 RH – Businessman Robert Haverson bought this in 2006 for £247k.
K1 NGS – This reg plate, which looks like the word “kings”, was bought anonymously in 1993 for £231k.
1 0 – This very simple but striking number plate was bought anonymously in 2009 for £170k.

These are large amounts of money, but they are all small compared to the top-selling number plates found in other parts of the world. Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, has the record for the most expensive number plate ever sold. That number plate was a simple “1”. It was bought in 2008 by businessman Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri for £7.25 million.

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