Putting a private plate on your car: rules, costs and number plates
Check the age rule, the paperwork and your number plates before a private plate goes on your car, and compare prices like for like before you buy.
A private plate is one of the few changes to a car that needs paperwork before it can go on the road, so it pays to understand the rules before you choose a registration mark. Here is what a driver needs to know, and where to buy one without paying more than you have to.
The first rule is age. A registration mark may never make a vehicle look newer than it is, so a mark carrying a recent age identifier cannot go on an older car. Dateless and Northern Irish marks carry no year at all and can go on a vehicle of any age. PrivatePlates.co.uk explains the age rule with examples.
Next comes the paperwork. A mark that has never been on a vehicle comes on a certificate of entitlement, which runs for ten years and has to be renewed before it expires if the mark has not been assigned by then. Assigning it to your car carries a compulsory £80 DVLA fee, and until the assignment is complete it is against the law to display the new registration on the vehicle.
The physical number plates matter as much as the mark. They must meet British Standard BS AU 145e, with the correct characters and spacing, front and back. Number plates that are badly spaced, styled or hard to read can fail an MOT, so buy them from a supplier that makes road-legal number plates, and read the rules on number plate design before you order.
On price, PrivatePlates.co.uk, an online trading name of Unison Automotive Limited, prices every registration the DVLA also offers below the DVLA's own published price for the same mark, currently by £1. Both prices include VAT and the £80 assignment fee, and nothing else is compulsory: you can assign the mark yourself at no further cost. The comparison was checked against the DVLA's price list on 16 October 2026, with live examples on its comparison page.
If you would rather not deal with the paperwork, the team will check the car is eligible, handle the DVLA and assign the mark for £20 a registration, and can send road-legal number plates by Royal Mail Special Delivery. Unison Automotive Limited has supplied registrations since 1989.
Changing number plates is also a good moment to make sure the rest of the car is in order. Check when your next MOT is due with our free MOT checker, then browse private plates at PrivatePlates.co.uk.