What happens to number plates (when the car is scrapped)
Discussion
V8forweekends said:
I think the actual problem here is that DVLA don't want us to know just how bad their records are.
The truth is, they have no proper idea of how many vehicles are out there, what plates they have and who has them.
Due to this, they have a blanket policy of not re-issuing - even though developments in recent years have reduced the chances of duplicates appearing.
As an example, I have some plates for a V-suffix car in my garage. I also have the V5 and a small number of parts, but to all intents and purposes that car no longer exists, however, it's never been officially scrapped either - I have no intention of any wrongdoing, but if someone applied to re-use that number, they might find another car popping up with the same reg quite easily - DVLA would then have to get involved in adjudicating on who had the right to use the reg, and they can't even run the systems they have, never mind making things more complex.
But surely if someone applied for that reg DVLA would see on their system "ah! not registered as scrapped/exported so still attached to a car somewhere and potential to be put back on the road" = no cigar. Fair enough if the car (vin) has been recorded as scrapped/exported, then you can re-issue.The truth is, they have no proper idea of how many vehicles are out there, what plates they have and who has them.
Due to this, they have a blanket policy of not re-issuing - even though developments in recent years have reduced the chances of duplicates appearing.
As an example, I have some plates for a V-suffix car in my garage. I also have the V5 and a small number of parts, but to all intents and purposes that car no longer exists, however, it's never been officially scrapped either - I have no intention of any wrongdoing, but if someone applied to re-use that number, they might find another car popping up with the same reg quite easily - DVLA would then have to get involved in adjudicating on who had the right to use the reg, and they can't even run the systems they have, never mind making things more complex.
I do of course agree though that with it being a govt dept it's unlikely to ever happen.
ZOLLAR said:
Rangeroverover said:
My Ex in laws had 7BMW its on a car that is still sitting in the garage at their home undriven since 1979, the car will never be restored to usable state as thecost would be prohibitive, presumably they have lost it forever?
May not be completely correct but in order to retain the plate it needs to pass MOT and be taxed so if you could somehow get it through the MOT and TAX it they could remove the plate.Slow said:
ZOLLAR said:
Rangeroverover said:
My Ex in laws had 7BMW its on a car that is still sitting in the garage at their home undriven since 1979, the car will never be restored to usable state as thecost would be prohibitive, presumably they have lost it forever?
May not be completely correct but in order to retain the plate it needs to pass MOT and be taxed so if you could somehow get it through the MOT and TAX it they could remove the plate.A car doesn't need an MoT to transfer, just tax. If the car has been on SORN for less than 12 months, and was never untaxed, you can still transfer.
So if the Granada in question was a pile of rust with a tax disc, it wouldn't have been an issue.
But if you start with a pile of rust, it won't get a tax disc until it's been through a successful MoT.
So if the Granada in question was a pile of rust with a tax disc, it wouldn't have been an issue.
But if you start with a pile of rust, it won't get a tax disc until it's been through a successful MoT.
ZOLLAR said:
Slow said:
ZOLLAR said:
Rangeroverover said:
My Ex in laws had 7BMW its on a car that is still sitting in the garage at their home undriven since 1979, the car will never be restored to usable state as thecost would be prohibitive, presumably they have lost it forever?
May not be completely correct but in order to retain the plate it needs to pass MOT and be taxed so if you could somehow get it through the MOT and TAX it they could remove the plate.Senario A
My Ex in laws had 7BMW its on a car that is still sitting in the garage at their home undriven since 1979, the car will never be restored to usable state as thecost would be prohibitive, presumably they have lost it forever?
Answer - Yes you've lost it unless you get it thro an MOT and tax it then no the plate can't be removed
Senario B
Family friend has a Granada cosworth with a private plate on it, failed MOT miserably. Few letter with dvla regarding this situation and the fact it hasn't been scrapped, they got the plate off it.
Answer - The MOT aspect is actually not essential if the car has been recently taxed or SORN'd no longer than a year.
MOT can be expired and plate transfer can take place - it's the Tax/SORN element that matters for cars that haven't been buried in a barn for eleventy million years
Different cases - completely different
crashley said:
I have a motorbike with a private plate that is sorn and hasn't been taxed for a few years (it's effectively a trackbike) - do i risk losing this numberplate?
Yes, if it's written off having been on SORN over 12 months.However, if you can put an MoT on it at some stage in the future and thereby make it road-legal, you'll retain the plate.
B'stard Child said:
ZOLLAR said:
Slow said:
ZOLLAR said:
Rangeroverover said:
My Ex in laws had 7BMW its on a car that is still sitting in the garage at their home undriven since 1979, the car will never be restored to usable state as thecost would be prohibitive, presumably they have lost it forever?
May not be completely correct but in order to retain the plate it needs to pass MOT and be taxed so if you could somehow get it through the MOT and TAX it they could remove the plate.Senario A
My Ex in laws had 7BMW its on a car that is still sitting in the garage at their home undriven since 1979, the car will never be restored to usable state as thecost would be prohibitive, presumably they have lost it forever?
Answer - Yes you've lost it unless you get it thro an MOT and tax it then no the plate can't be removed
Senario B
Family friend has a Granada cosworth with a private plate on it, failed MOT miserably. Few letter with dvla regarding this situation and the fact it hasn't been scrapped, they got the plate off it.
Answer - The MOT aspect is actually not essential if the car has been recently taxed or SORN'd no longer than a year.
MOT can be expired and plate transfer can take place - it's the Tax/SORN element that matters for cars that haven't been buried in a barn for eleventy million years
Different cases - completely different
Hugo a Gogo said:
Rangeroverover said:
My Ex in laws had 7BMW its on a car that is still sitting in the garage at their home undriven since 1979, the car will never be restored to usable state as the cost would be prohibitive, presumably they have lost it forever?
what sort of car is it on?loose cannon said:
In 1993 I had a red Vauxhall Belmont 1.3 L the registration was D226TTN
It was stolen smashed up over the common and burned out,
If I check that same reg number now it shows not taxed since 1997
1200 Astra in white ? So how has that happened ?
The most likely explanation? Your memory's dodgy. The dealer that sold your Belmont new would have had a batch of DxxxTTN plates. 226 went on an Astra, 225 or 224 or 227 or whatever was on your Belmont.It was stolen smashed up over the common and burned out,
If I check that same reg number now it shows not taxed since 1997
1200 Astra in white ? So how has that happened ?
V8forweekends said:
I think the actual problem here is that DVLA don't want us to know just how bad their records are.
The truth is, they have no proper idea of how many vehicles are out there, what plates they have and who has them.
They ain't psychic. They can only go by what people tell 'em.The truth is, they have no proper idea of how many vehicles are out there, what plates they have and who has them.
If somebody forgets to send the docs back in when they break a car themselves, with the shell being weighed in at the metal yard - or it gets shoved in a barn and forgotten - how are DVLA meant to know that?
There's a pic been going around the Landy groups on FB this week of a 1950s s1 half-buried in long grass, totally derelict. The VERY desirable plate is still showing as registered, but untaxed since 1980. All the parts to restore that Landy are available, and would cost FAR less than the plate is worth. What, exactly, should DVLA have done with that apart from keep it on the books? If the physical plates had fallen off, then somebody cleared that land with a bulldozer and just ploughed the remains in, how would DVLA know that?
TooMany2cvs said:
They ain't psychic. They can only go by what people tell 'em.
If somebody forgets to send the docs back in when they break a car themselves, with the shell being weighed in at the metal yard - or it gets shoved in a barn and forgotten - how are DVLA meant to know that?
There's a pic been going around the Landy groups on FB this week of a 1950s s1 half-buried in long grass, totally derelict. The VERY desirable plate is still showing as registered, but untaxed since 1980. All the parts to restore that Landy are available, and would cost FAR less than the plate is worth. What, exactly, should DVLA have done with that apart from keep it on the books? If the physical plates had fallen off, then somebody cleared that land with a bulldozer and just ploughed the remains in, how would DVLA know that?
Of course I'm not suggesting the DVLA could or should be psychic. Ideally, we'd have tighter rules and proper enforcement - a bit like the local DMV system in the USA, but no system's going to be perfect. My point was that the data they hold is patchy at times - as you have pointed out.If somebody forgets to send the docs back in when they break a car themselves, with the shell being weighed in at the metal yard - or it gets shoved in a barn and forgotten - how are DVLA meant to know that?
There's a pic been going around the Landy groups on FB this week of a 1950s s1 half-buried in long grass, totally derelict. The VERY desirable plate is still showing as registered, but untaxed since 1980. All the parts to restore that Landy are available, and would cost FAR less than the plate is worth. What, exactly, should DVLA have done with that apart from keep it on the books? If the physical plates had fallen off, then somebody cleared that land with a bulldozer and just ploughed the remains in, how would DVLA know that?
V8forweekends said:
Ideally, we'd have tighter rules and proper enforcement
Well, for something that hasn't been on the road since 1980 to still be on the record, somebody's almost certainly requested a replacement V5C at least once, with all the various re-issues that are about.If it'd been last taxed after 1998, it should have been SORNed. Until 2013, SORN expired every year, so there was an incentive for people to "kill" (on paper, at least) anything that was never going to see the road again.
Of course, even if the paperwork for that Landy had timed-out or been bopped on the head... the vehicle still exists. It's still entitled to that plate. But what if the plate had been assumed dead, and re-issued? Does the owner of the Landy restore it at twice the value of the vehicle, then find the plate's now on retention somewhere? Does the Landy's owner get some recompense for the plate having been taken off 'em?
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