The Private Plate Company

The Private Plate Company: personalised number plates and DVLA transfers from Port Talbot

The Private Plate Company is a British agency dedicated to the buying, selling and transferring of personalised number plates, with declared activity since 1993. Its team, based in Port Talbot (Wales), handles the entire DVLA paperwork, including updating the V5C logbook and, where applicable, the V778 retention certificate. The company states that more than 14,000 customers have rated it 4.95 out of 5 and that its database allows searching among more than 70 million UK number plates.

Catalogue: from budget plates to auction registrations

The offering is structured across several fronts. On the one hand, plates from £49 with same-day transfer in certain cases; on the other, registrations from DVLA auctions from £250, with buyer's premium and VAT applicable. The company also sells dateless or cherished style plates, suffix, prefix and new format, as well as Northern Ireland plates, which do not include a year identifier and are common among fleets and owners of high-end vehicles. The catalogue shown on the site includes examples such as 9 JL for £65,000, 87 PC for £16,995, 82 EB for £13,495, KAT 1H for £11,995, MA71 LOA and 67 JEN for £9,995 each, 98 DRM for £5,495, JEF 63 for £5,395, MO70 WAY for £5,995, H22 NAH for £3,995, H21 AMH and D21 AMC for £1,195, F21 ALX and E21 BEX for £1,595, F21 CJM for £1,195 and E21 CLO for £1,295.

Fully managed transfer service and costs

The service includes the assignment application to the DVLA, the V5C update and the issuance of the retention certificate when necessary, without the customer having to deal directly with the administration. The company details only two amounts: the price of the plate, from £49, and the DVLA statutory assignment fee of £80, payable at the time of purchase. It states that it does not apply administrative or hidden charges. The usual timescales are three to four working days for most prefix plates, with the possibility of same-day transfer on selected registrations; if the plate is on another vehicle or comes from auction, the timescale may be longer and the company states that it communicates a firm schedule before purchase.

Types of number plates and regulations

The site explains the main categories of the British system. Dateless or cherished plates lack a year identifier and date back to 1903; suffix plates were issued between February 1963 and July 1983; prefix plates, from July 1983 to August 2001; and the new format, in force since 2001, combines an area code, two year digits and three random letters. It also describes Northern Irish plates, which include the letter I, Z or both and do not reveal the age of the vehicle. As for regulations, it reminds that a plate can never make a vehicle appear newer than it is, except in the case of dateless plates, which fall outside that rule.

Three-step purchase and customer service

The process described by the company begins with a search of its database by name, word, initials or number, including auction entries and cherished registrations. The customer then reserves the plate online or by phone, and finally the company submits the assignment to the DVLA, updates the V5C and confirms legal ownership. Telephone support is provided by the same team that processes the transfers. The company also warns about competitor ads on Google and brand impersonation, and urges customers to verify that they are operating on its official site.

Publications and resources

The site maintains a news section with entries on sports and golf themed number plates, and a customer notice about competitor ads and brand impersonation. It also offers a frequently asked questions page with information on buying, retaining and transferring registrations, and a section for selling a plate already owned.

Location and contact

St Davids Park, Eglwys Nunydd, Port Talbot, SA13 2PA · Phone: 01639 888833 · Email: info@the-ppc.co.uk · Hours: Monday to Friday: 09:30–17:00