Write-off and private plate

[CAPP0]

Scenario:

Expensive (c.£40k) car parked on driveway outside a house is deliberately set alight by persons unknown (captured on CCTV). There's also a significant amount of damage to the house and to another vehicle parked alongside. The insurance company want to remove the car but the owner has said it's not being removed until someone has been out to inspect the entire scene and associated damage.

The car is half-melted and is a very obvious total loss. It has a private plate on it.

The question: should the owner transfer the plate on to retention right now or await the insurance company inspection? When the car is taken away they'll probably take the V5 too so it definitely needs to be done before that point, but when is the correct time?

Thanks.

[J2daG1990]

No harm in doing the retention online.
You get given a new standard plate straight away so can print out the email verification and PDF document to get new plates.
Wouldn't even bother if it's a total write-off though, easy enough to explain when the car gets looked at/picked up.

[Hol]

Absolutely.

Transfer it now online but let the insurance company know that it is being done in expectation of the car being taken away. Stick the original plates inside the car.

It will have zero impact on the insurance claim, as there is no disputing it is the same vehicle and it was insured 100% correctly on the date of the accident, to which there is an audit trail.

[Cold]

It can be done is seconds online by the owner/keeper of the vehicle. I'd suggest the owner/keeper of the vehicle does that before the insurance company becomes the owner/keeper of the vehicle.
So much potential hassle otherwise.

[CAPP0]

Cold said:

It can be done is seconds online by the owner/keeper of the vehicle. I'd suggest the owner/keeper of the vehicle does that before the insurance company becomes the owner/keeper of the vehicle.
So much potential hassle otherwise.

Thanks for this and the other replies. This is exactly what I thought.

[2Btoo]

Interesting Q - would there be a possibility of losing the plate otherwise then?

I know nothing about private plates but surely if something is intangible but registered to you then how can it be lost? Surely you'd just apply to the DVLA for it to be 'returned' (i.e. registered to another car you own.)

[StevenB]

The plate needs to be transferred before the log book goes away.

[Pegscratch]

2Btoo said:

Interesting Q - would there be a possibility of losing the plate otherwise then?

I know nothing about private plates but surely if something is intangible but registered to you then how can it be lost? Surely you'd just apply to the DVLA for it to be 'returned' (i.e. registered to another car you own.)

Yes and no.

You shouldn't lose it. There was however a thread here recently where a finance company made a plate disappear and it took solicitors who charge telephone numbers by the hour to get it (I assume; the thread disappeared) resolved.

[InitialDave]

2Btoo said:

Interesting Q - would there be a possibility of losing the plate otherwise then?

I know nothing about private plates but surely if something is intangible but registered to you then how can it be lost? Surely you'd just apply to the DVLA for it to be 'returned' (i.e. registered to another car you own.)

That's the potential issue - put simply, whoever has the V5C has the plate, and if the car is written off, that would be the insurance company.

[CAPP0]

StevenB said:

The plate needs to be transferred before the log book goes away.

That was my understanding too, and I'm expecting that when the insurance company collect the remains of the car they will ask the owner for the V5. Total loss status will definitely not be up for discussion!

[silverfoxcc]

Sorry i cannot find a link ,but there was a thread on here where a car was repossessed and the plate 'sold on'.

Caused a lot of hassle so get it officially off the car ASAP via the DVLA even it is costs a few bob possibly buy a cheap 99.00 plate that doesnt make it newer put the old on retention and Robert is your fathers brother
There will be someone on here who has gone this route and give you the correct procedure

[vonhosen]

That thread was removed because of a NDA.

[Durzel]

vonhosen said:

That thread was removed because of a NDA.

Pretty lame really. Pages and pages of wasted energy debating something which just gets deleted and its as if it never happened.

[The Surveyor]

I had this many years ago (before you could transfer plates on-line) with a total-loss accident. The car (or the remains of it) and the plate remains yours until the insurance company have paid out for it, I confirmed to the insurance that I would be retaining the registration plate and they held-off their pay-out until the plate was on retention and the new V5 was received.

OP, I would be weary of them doing anything without getting confirmation from the insurance company. Insurance companies can be notoriously crap at dealing with simple claims and if the vehicle all-of-a-sudden has a different identity because the plate has been transferred part-way through a claim, and the new plate no longer matches their paperwork, they maybe in for a bumpy ride.

[The Surveyor]

vonhosen said:

That thread was removed because of a NDA.

Was that confirmed, or just a guess? I was following that thread like a lot of people and it disappeared after somebody posted up details of a registration plate linked to them which had been seen elsewhere.

[StevenB]

CAPP0 said:

StevenB said:

The plate needs to be transferred before the log book goes away.

That was my understanding too, and I'm expecting that when the insurance company collect the remains of the car they will ask the owner for the V5. Total loss status will definitely not be up for discussion!

As it can done on line makes sense just to do it now, the car will get it's original number or if it never had one be allocated one, no real need to get the plates made up chassis number will identify the car.

[Garybee]

Occasionally it can't be done online and has to be applied for via post (one reason is if there has been a period of SORN). If you leave it until the last minute you may not have time to get the plate on retention. For that reason I'd get it done straight away as it removes a potential problem.

[2Btoo]

InitialDave said:

2Btoo said:

Interesting Q - would there be a possibility of losing the plate otherwise then?

I know nothing about private plates but surely if something is intangible but registered to you then how can it be lost? Surely you'd just apply to the DVLA for it to be 'returned' (i.e. registered to another car you own.)

That's the potential issue - put simply, whoever has the V5C has the plate, and if the car is written off, that would be the insurance company.

Ah, interesting, thanks. That makes sense.

Presumably if the insurance company did take the car and the V5C and didn't agree a price for both car and registration number then you would be in a position to sue for return of the registration but I can see that this would be a tricky road to navigate, and would be sure to throw up a very big bill.

Thanks for the explanation.

[The Surveyor]

2Btoo said:

InitialDave said:

2Btoo said:

Interesting Q - would there be a possibility of losing the plate otherwise then?

I know nothing about private plates but surely if something is intangible but registered to you then how can it be lost? Surely you'd just apply to the DVLA for it to be 'returned' (i.e. registered to another car you own.)

That's the potential issue - put simply, whoever has the V5C has the plate, and if the car is written off, that would be the insurance company.

Ah, interesting, thanks. That makes sense.

Presumably if the insurance company did take the car and the V5C and didn't agree a price for both car and registration number then you would be in a position to sue for return of the registration but I can see that this would be a tricky road to navigate, and would be sure to throw up a very big bill.

Thanks for the explanation.

How are the insurance company going to 'take the V5c'?

Ownership isn't transferred over until a financial settlement has been reached, upto that point the private plate belongs on the car which belongs to the original owner.

As above, I would be very cautious about transferring a reg-plate off a car part-way through an insurance claim without full agreement from the insurance company.

[InitialDave]

The Surveyor said:

How are the insurance company going to 'take the V5c'?

Ownership isn't transferred over until a financial settlement has been reached, upto that point the private plate belongs on the car which belongs to the original owner.

Because you agree to let them have it, on the basis of an agreement that they will pass the plate back to you on a retention document.

Only it goes tits up either due to an error, or the person advising you being mistaken about company policy etc.

It's not that the insurance company is likely to be out to get you, trying to nick off with your plate, it's just that it's probably a good idea to be wary of letting it out of your control.