Rules for a UK Number Plate and Factors to Keep in Mind Before Buying

Number plates are no more just a unique identification for your vehicle, now they are much more than that, especially when they are made on demand as per personal choice. These plates or the Custom ones adorn the look of your vehicle and at the same time speak a lot about you, your choices and your personality. And since they mean a lot, they come at a price much higher than the usual number plates, so it is very much necessary to pay attention while buying personalised ones. Below written are certain factors to be taken care of when buying a customised number plate:

Decide a budget – Buying a personalised plate can dig a big hole in your pocket, even when the number plate in question doesn’t seem a popular choice. So, decide for the amount you want to spend in buying the plate and stick to it. The plate you buy may be of great value to somebody else and may yield you a lot of money sometime later.

Pick the number plate of your choice – While reselling the vehicle plate in the future at a higher price could be one thing in your mind when purchasing a plate, don’t ever compromise on the look of the vehicle. Number plate would stick on both the sides of your vehicle, back and front so, be wise and select the plate that suits your vehicle’s look and is in accordance with your liking.

Keep your options open – It’s not necessary that you’ll get the customisation you want, there are chances that the number you apply for is already possessed by someone else. So, be prepared for such chances and think of two or more combinations for your personalised number.

Now, that you have read what factors to focus while getting a number plate, the article will further guide you about the rules laid for deciding the numbers of the plate in the UK. Below mentioned are the formats, one of which has to be followed for the number plates in the UK.

The Current/New Style

In September, the current style or the ‘new style registration’ as it is called was released. According to this format, the year identifier is considered as a number. For example: 01= March 2001 while 61 = Oct 2001 and so on.

The Prefix Style

Introduced in the year 1983, this kind of registration consists of a single year identifier letter, followed by a number which could vary between anything from single to three digits and then finally three more letters in the end. The letter ‘A’ would represent the year 1983 while ‘Y’ would represent 2001. Example: K50 WTB could be the number for any vehicle manufactured after August 1992.

The suffix style

This style consists of three letters in the beginning, followed by a number which could vary between anything from single to three digits, then a single year identifier letter and finally the letter that represents the age of the vehicle.

The dateless style

The plate having this kind of number format is the most valued one. It can be added to any vehicle irrespective of its age and contains numbers and letters in various combinations.