The term cherished number plate has traditionally been associated with classic dateless registrations. Many of these number plates have often been owned by families for decades or have a high sentimental value. Since the introduction of number plates in the early 1900’s, the desire to own a cherished number plate has grown steadily. During this time the administration of car registrations has moved from the responsibility of local councils the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), which was set up in 1965.

The introduction of the DVLA brought with it new rules and regulations for the sale and transfer of cherished car registrations and for the next 10 years the trade of personal number plates boomed. Dealers across the country were buying old cars and motorbikes for their number plates and selling the registrations on for profit. Many of the vehicles were not in working order however their registration marks could still be legally transferred.

In 1976 however the DVLA head office in Swansea went about changing the laws of cherished number plate transfers with the view to totally prohibit the transfer of cherished registrations in the future. The implications of these new laws would have been devastating to number plate dealers who had built up the industry from scratch. The stock piles of old vehicles that they had bought would become useless as the registration numbers could no longer be transferred, the general public would not have a chance to own their perfect plate and many of the best cherished registrations would be lost forever. It was clear that something must be done about these changes.

The backlash of these proposals was strong and included public campaigns, rallies and protest marches. In 1977 the DVLA took into account all these issues and re-introduced the cherished number plate transfer scheme and trade flourished once more. There were however certain key changes made to the cherished transfer scheme which are still in effect today. One main change was that once a registration number had been transferred off a vehicle the replacement mark was non-transferable. This prevented dealers from continually transferring the replacement cherished registrations off the vehicles for profit. A second change required each vehicle to have a valid MOT in order for the transfer to be successful.

Applications to transfer a number plate can be made in person at any local DVLA office or by post to DVLA Swansea. An £80 transfer fee is payable to the DVLA in the transfer process. The DVLA also offers a retention scheme which enables owners of cherished number plates to transfer their car registration off their vehicle and hold it on certificate. By doing this people can collect and own cherished registrations without having them assigned to their vehicles. The current fee for transferring a cherished registration onto a retention certificate is £105. During the changes made in the 1970’s the retention scheme was abolished due to the level of fraudulent activity associated with it. Much of this was due to the scheme being paper based. It was reintroduced in 1992 with extra measures to minimise the amount of fraud and is now administered by a central DVLA database.

With the rising demand to own a cherished number plate, prices have increased year on year. Cherished registrations can change hands for tens of thousands of pounds and some are worth more than the average house. In today’s terminology however the term cherished number plate has been diluted somewhat by owners of prefix and current style car registrations who use the term to describe their private number plates. Many of these newer style registrations are also worth a great deal of money however there are cheaper options available.