Published 9 June 2025
Everything you need to know about UK number plates
From the cheapest personalised plates to some that cost more than the car they’re on, let’s take a look at all things car registration plates…
- ‘250’ holds the record for the most expensive plate ever sold in the UK for £518,000.
- Number plates are common targets for thieves.
- The DVLA bans a few controversial plates each year.
Why do we need number plates?
Number plates were introduced by law in 1903 to prove a car has been officially registered. These plates consist of numbers and letters which in UK law must be shown at the front in white and back of the vehicle in yellow. This is so drivers can be aware if they’re looking at the front or rear of a vehicle.
What do the letters and numbers stand for in a number plate?
- On a standard UK plate, the first two letters always represent the area code.
- The first two numbers represent the year that the car was registered, but there are two different registration periods within a year. So, for example, plates registered from March 2025 up to September 2025 will have the number 25, while plates between September 2025 up to March 2026 will have the number 75.
- The last 3 letters are random.
If you’re playing number plate bingo, you might spot that some cars have a green rectangle at the start of the plate. This green rectangle started appearing from 1 March 2021 and represents an electric vehicle. This was brought in to raise awareness of electric vehicles.
If you spot a classic or vintage vehicle, they might have a black number plate with silver lettering. These can only be put on vehicles that were built before 1 January 1980.
Cars registered before 2001 will have a slightly different format. They use three numbers and three letters, with the first letter showing the year of build, and the last two letters representing the location.
Number plate games
There are various number plate games that you can play with your fellow passengers of all ages on a long boring trip or even in the pub! Best of all, this can help take the edge the kids on a long and tiring journey.
Number plate theft
Over the last few years, there’s been a rise in number plate thefts. You might think number plate theft is rather odd, as each number plate can only be assigned to one car, but stealing a number plate is usually a crime committed to help cover up a bigger one.
Thieves can put your number plate on their vehicle which effectively clones your vehicle – meaning they could get out of various offences such as speeding, stealing petrol, avoiding tolls and more.
They might even go as far as not buying their own insurance, by using your plates as a disguise for their own, uninsured vehicle.
What should you do if you get your plates stolen? It’s important to act quickly, as police may think you’re responsible for any crimes committed in a vehicle with your plates.
Here’s what you should do:
- Let the police know immediately.
- Do not drive your car without number plates as this is illegal.
- Order replacement number plates as soon as you can.
Did you know?
Personalised number plates
In a few scenarios, personalised number plates can cost more than the car they’re on!
If you do purchase a private number plate, always make sure to let your car insurance provider know, and to keep them updated with any other changes you might make to your car.
How to get a personalised number plate
- You could recycle your old number plate. Most recycling centres in the UK will accept old number plates. This is also a great measure for making sure they don’t fall into the wrong hands.
- If you’d rather sell your plate, there are many website or even auctions that you can sell your plate from. Just make sure all paperwork is completed, so you don’t fall victim to any car cloning.
- You may choose to keep your old plate. If you want to keep your personalised registration plate, you’ll want to keep hold of the car’s original plates, too, so you can remove the personalised plates before selling your car and swap back the originals on.
- Surrender your personalised plate using the latest V778 or V750 documents you could get a refund of up to £80.
Fun facts about some UK number plates
The number plate “A1” is commonly confused as the first number plate registered, but “DY 1” was in fact the first ever number plate registered! A1 was the first plate registered in London though, just one month later.
“25 0” was bought for £518,000 by Ferrari collector John Collins and put on a classic Ferrari 250 SWB, the car is valued at over £10 million and was formerly owned by Eric Clapton!
“F1” perhaps might be the most famous private registration in the UK due to its connection with Formula 1. The owner Afzal Kahn is asking for a cheque of £16.5 million for it.
At the turn of the 20th century, the number of cars on the road reached 5,000 and numbers were ever-increasing, so the motor act 1903 was introduced requiring all motor vehicles to have a number plate.
The current number plate format will lead up to 2099, but technology is always evolving and that may bring changes. There are some places in the world that are placing microchips in cars which has information about the ownership and vehicle information. This could help prevent theft and display warning messages if the plate or car is stolen. Currently the UK hasn’t got any plans to implement these systems, but that might change in the future.
If you’re considering putting on a new or personalised registration plate, make sure you let your insurance provider know.