DVLA plate transfer problem....
Discussion
I'm not actually sure what I've done wrong, but it appears that during a recent sale of my car, I've lost my private plate
Sequence of events goes like this....
1. Sold car on 30 Dec, and filled in form V317 to transfer the plate to another one of my cars.
2. Chap that bought my car already had his own plate on retention, and on the same day applied to put it on the car he's just bought from me.
Seems straightforward enough...
Then I get a reply to say they can't transfer my plate to my other vehicle, because I filled the V317 in as still being the owner of the car I've just sold (my view was that as the reg doc hadn't yet been sent off, I was still the keeper)
And that to transfer the plate, the new registered keeper has to fill that bit in....
Fair enough..... So I contact the new owner, and ask that as the registered owner of my old car, can he sign form V317, and transfer the plate to my other vehicle...
No problem, he's a nice chap, and doesn't live that far from me so I pop over and we complete the forms...
I've now had a letter back that says that as he'd transferred his plate onto his new car, that my plate was now unassigned, and couldn't be transferred to any other vehicle.....
So it seems that transferring a plate, and selling a car on the same day, is beyond the comprehension of the DVLA, and the plate I've used for the last 10 years, is now lost
The thing is the new owner of my car, signed the V317 as of 30th Dec, as thats when we did the sale. but the DVLA say that his private registration was applied for on the same day, and assigned on the 16th Jan...
The annoying thing is that I've done all this before at the DVLA offices, with no problems whatsoever, just rock up to the counter, pay the transfer fee, transfer the plate and let the new owner do what he needs to do and jobs a good un...
My plate wasn't particularly valuable, but I was fond of it......if I'd known this could happen, I'd have put the plate on retention before selling the car.... But I wrongly assumed that I could transfer and sell on the same day
Sequence of events goes like this....
1. Sold car on 30 Dec, and filled in form V317 to transfer the plate to another one of my cars.
2. Chap that bought my car already had his own plate on retention, and on the same day applied to put it on the car he's just bought from me.
Seems straightforward enough...
Then I get a reply to say they can't transfer my plate to my other vehicle, because I filled the V317 in as still being the owner of the car I've just sold (my view was that as the reg doc hadn't yet been sent off, I was still the keeper)
And that to transfer the plate, the new registered keeper has to fill that bit in....
Fair enough..... So I contact the new owner, and ask that as the registered owner of my old car, can he sign form V317, and transfer the plate to my other vehicle...
No problem, he's a nice chap, and doesn't live that far from me so I pop over and we complete the forms...
I've now had a letter back that says that as he'd transferred his plate onto his new car, that my plate was now unassigned, and couldn't be transferred to any other vehicle.....
So it seems that transferring a plate, and selling a car on the same day, is beyond the comprehension of the DVLA, and the plate I've used for the last 10 years, is now lost
The thing is the new owner of my car, signed the V317 as of 30th Dec, as thats when we did the sale. but the DVLA say that his private registration was applied for on the same day, and assigned on the 16th Jan...
The annoying thing is that I've done all this before at the DVLA offices, with no problems whatsoever, just rock up to the counter, pay the transfer fee, transfer the plate and let the new owner do what he needs to do and jobs a good un...
My plate wasn't particularly valuable, but I was fond of it......if I'd known this could happen, I'd have put the plate on retention before selling the car.... But I wrongly assumed that I could transfer and sell on the same day
Quinny said:
But I wrongly assumed that I could transfer and sell on the same day
Never assume... I thought it was a well known fact that you should take private plates off before selling a vehicle.Unfortunately in your situation I'm not sure there's much you can do, but at least the plate wasn't that valuable in monetary terms. Maybe check on the DVLA website to see if you can buy it back from them
Shaoxter said:
Never assume... I thought it was a well known fact that you should take private plates off before selling a vehicle.
Unfortunately in your situation I'm not sure there's much you can do, but at least the plate wasn't that valuable in monetary terms. Maybe check on the DVLA website to see if you can buy it back from them
Trouble was, that the chap that bought the car, had just transferred over £31k into my bank.... He wanted to drive it away, which was fair enough... He didn't want my plate as he had is own ready to put on it.... So based on this bit section 2, I thought that I as still the registered keeper on that day could apply to transfer....Unfortunately in your situation I'm not sure there's much you can do, but at least the plate wasn't that valuable in monetary terms. Maybe check on the DVLA website to see if you can buy it back from them
This wasn't the case, and the Dvla said that he, as the new keeper had to do the transfer..... But then they won't allow that, as he at the same time has applied to put his own plate on....... Looks like lose lose to me..
I just didn't realise that you couldn't sell and transfer on the same day
Section 2 – Details of the vehicle that
the vehicle registration number is being transferred or retained from
Only the registered keeper or the person about to become the registered keeper of this vehicle can apply. Give all the details section 2 asks for.
• If you are enclosing a New keeper’s details (V5C/2) with an ‘Application for a Vehicle registration certificate’ (V62) you must ensure that it has not been previously stamped by the DVLA. If your V5C/2 has been previously stamped or you do not have one, you
will need to fill in a V62 and wait for your registration certificate before you apply for a transfer or retention. You cannot continue with your application.
• Donotenclosethevehicle’staxdiscwiththisapplication.
• Do not apply for a refund of the vehicle tax either
before or while we are considering your application.
• The registered keeper of this vehicle must sign and
date the declaration.
You can sell with the private plate on and still get it back (as long as the buyer is compliant). I bought a car with a private plate, on which I wanted to put my private plate. I (the new keeper) sent off all the documents together with a note explaning the situation and it came out fine.
It sounds like the new keeper applied for his own plate to be put on the vehicle first and didn't bother to put your plate on retention at the same time which messed up the process.
It sounds like the new keeper applied for his own plate to be put on the vehicle first and didn't bother to put your plate on retention at the same time which messed up the process.
Quinny said:
Which form, and where??....
V317 page 3 section c"you must not sell or get rid of the vehicle until you
receive a replacement V5C. If you do sell or get rid
of the vehicle before you get a replacement V5C, the
new keeper is entitled to keep the vehicle
registration
number if they want to"
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
Problem you have now is the new owner has chosen to put his plate on without retaining the existing one - he's effectively told the DVLA he no longer wants it, and he's entitled to do so as the owner.
Bungleaio said:
If you've got a private plate that means anything to you ALWAYS put it on retention before you put your car up for sale.
Transfering plates and selling cars at the same time is possible but as you have found out it's easy for the DVLA to mess it up.
Not sure the DVLA can be blamed in this instance when the OP didn't follow their well publicised and simple procedures.Transfering plates and selling cars at the same time is possible but as you have found out it's easy for the DVLA to mess it up.
Shaoxter said:
It sounds like the new keeper applied for his own plate to be put on the vehicle first and didn't bother to put your plate on retention at the same time which messed up the process.
Yes.....but that's not the case...As the new keeper he could transfer the plate to my other vehicle, and this is what he did I was with him when he completed the form.The new keeper had no interest in my plate, and applied to transfer it to my other vehicle on the same day that he applied to put his own plate on......
I know this for a fact... Because I was sat at his kitchen table, when we both filled our forms in....
chr15b said:
V317 page 3 section c
"you must not sell or get rid of the vehicle until you
receive a replacement V5C. If you do sell or get rid
of the vehicle before you get a replacement V5C, the
new keeper is entitled to keep the vehicle
registration
number if they want to"
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
Problem you have now is the new owner has chosen to put his plate on without retaining the existing one - he's effectively told the DVLA he no longer wants it, and he's entitled to do so as the owner.
Thanks.."you must not sell or get rid of the vehicle until you
receive a replacement V5C. If you do sell or get rid
of the vehicle before you get a replacement V5C, the
new keeper is entitled to keep the vehicle
registration
number if they want to"
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploa...
Problem you have now is the new owner has chosen to put his plate on without retaining the existing one - he's effectively told the DVLA he no longer wants it, and he's entitled to do so as the owner.
But this bit, says the new keeper can keep the plate if they want to........ He didn't want to, and filled in form v317 transferring it to another vehicle....
If you do sell or get rid
of the vehicle before you get a replacement V5C, the
new keeper is entitled to keep the vehicle
registration
number if they want to"
Impasse said:
Not sure the DVLA can be blamed in this instance when the OP didn't follow their well publicised and simple procedures.
Yep there's always someone smarter than you 
Fact is I'm 52 years old, reasonably well educated, as is my buyer, and between us we still got it wrong...As I said above, I've sold a car and transferred a plate on the same day on a number of occasions at the local DVLA office..
Although the offices have now gone, That process should still be available...
The OP's situation is one of the disadvantages of not being able to deal with somebody face to face at your local office.
In 2012 I bought a car and the seller wanted the number back (onto a retention cert). I had a number on retention to go on the car. I went to my local office and the assistant carried out both procedures in one go. V5 was being transferred into my name at the same time. I thought they might have to put a replacement number on the car once the seller's number came off but no.
In 2012 I bought a car and the seller wanted the number back (onto a retention cert). I had a number on retention to go on the car. I went to my local office and the assistant carried out both procedures in one go. V5 was being transferred into my name at the same time. I thought they might have to put a replacement number on the car once the seller's number came off but no.
Jagmanv12 said:
The OP's situation is one of the disadvantages of not being able to deal with somebody face to face at your local office.
In 2012 I bought a car and the seller wanted the number back (onto a retention cert). I had a number on retention to go on the car. I went to my local office and the assistant carried out both procedures in one go. V5 was being transferred into my name at the same time. I thought they might have to put a replacement number on the car once the seller's number came off but no.
Thankyou......that is exactly what I've done in the past.In 2012 I bought a car and the seller wanted the number back (onto a retention cert). I had a number on retention to go on the car. I went to my local office and the assistant carried out both procedures in one go. V5 was being transferred into my name at the same time. I thought they might have to put a replacement number on the car once the seller's number came off but no.
The really funny part in all this, is that I didn't want to mess my buyer about, and as he was fairly local, on the day of the sale we both drove to the DVLA office in Chester to do the transfers..... Only to find it had shut down a few weeks before.... Neither of us knew...
If the plate that was on your car was a personal plate ie not automatically assigned to the vehicle, then the DVLA normally insist on written confirmation from the "new" owner that they no longer want the plate. Therefore when the transfer went through they should have delayed it by writing to the new owner....are you sure this didn't happen?
I'm looking to do this right now so this is very interesting.
In my transaction, I am the buyer and have no interest in the seller's private plate.
It looks to me like the mistake was that it is the new owner that should fill out the V317 as "someone about to become the new keeper". I think the mistake was assuming that the OP was the registered keeper, from the perspective of the DVLA processing the forms, whereas in fact the new owner fills out the form either transferring the plate to the old keeper's other car, or stating that the old keeper should be the "Grantee" for the reg.
Trying to do this on Monday so any well-informed advice is welcome!!
In my transaction, I am the buyer and have no interest in the seller's private plate.
It looks to me like the mistake was that it is the new owner that should fill out the V317 as "someone about to become the new keeper". I think the mistake was assuming that the OP was the registered keeper, from the perspective of the DVLA processing the forms, whereas in fact the new owner fills out the form either transferring the plate to the old keeper's other car, or stating that the old keeper should be the "Grantee" for the reg.
Trying to do this on Monday so any well-informed advice is welcome!!
MrReg said:
If the plate that was on your car was a personal plate ie not automatically assigned to the vehicle, then the DVLA normally insist on written confirmation from the "new" owner that they no longer want the plate. Therefore when the transfer went through they should have delayed it by writing to the new owner....are you sure this didn't happen?
This is exactly what happened with us. We sent off the forms to transfer my wife's plate onto her new car, the new car already had a private plate on it when we bought it that we didn't want to keep. The dvla returned all the forms and said we had to write confirming that we had no further interest in the plate coming off the new car.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff