What Should I Do If My Number Plates Are Stolen?

If your number plates have been stolen, report the theft to the police and ask for a crime reference number, then have a replacement set made by a registered number plate supplier. Your registration number itself does not change, and there is no charge from DVLA for the theft: what you are replacing is the physical plate. Act the same day if you can, because the risk is not the plastic, it is what someone does with your registration while it is on their car. Our guide to the rules on number plates and the law covers what a legal replacement has to show.

Report the theft and get a crime reference number

DVLA's leaflet INF104 gives one instruction for stolen plates: "Contact the police so they can try to trace and prosecute the culprit to prevent any illegal activity." GOV.UK's guidance on reporting a crime says to call the police on 101 or contact them online, and to call 999 instead if someone is in immediate danger or the crime is in progress. Ask for the crime reference number while you are still on the call and write it down: it is what an issuing authority asks for when you challenge a penalty charge that belongs to someone else, and what DVLA asks for if your registration is being misused. Photograph your own car showing both plates as well.

Watch for fines and charges that are not yours

Plates are usually stolen to disguise another vehicle. INF104 describes it as cloning: "Criminals find an exact make, model and colour of the car they have stolen, and use the same registration number on the stolen vehicle to make it look legal." The warning sign is a charge for a journey you did not make. As INF104 puts it, "If you're receiving fines or charges you're not responsible for because someone else is using the registration number from your vehicle, your vehicle may have been cloned." Congestion and clean air charges, tolls, parking tickets and fuel-station letters are the usual ones, and they can arrive weeks later.

Telling DVLA, and what to write

The DVLA step in the official guidance is a letter. INF104 sets out three things to do if you suspect your vehicle has been cloned: contact the police so they can try to trace and prosecute the culprit, "return any fines or letters to whoever issued them, along with any evidence you have to prove your case", and "write to us at DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1ZZ, giving us the crime reference number the police gave you". Include your registration and the make, model and colour of your vehicle. Deal with each fine directly with whoever issued it, in writing, and keep a copy of everything you send.

Does your registration have to change?

No. A stolen plate does not affect your right to the registration, because the registration belongs to the vehicle rather than to you. INF104 states that "the registration number is given to the vehicle, not the registered keeper", and that it stays with the vehicle unless the keeper applies to take it off. Your replacement plates are made with exactly the same registration. That holds for a private registration too, which stays yours and can still be moved to another vehicle or on to a retention document in the normal way.

Getting replacement plates made

GOV.UK lists a stolen plate as one of the reasons to have plates made up, and is specific about who may make them: "You can only get a number plate made up from a registered number plate supplier." We are on that register and make plates in County Durham, so a replacement is the same plate you had, to the same British Standard, BS AU 145e, with our name and postcode along the bottom. It is made from your registration and your documents rather than from anything left on the car, so order the style you had before. If you can reach the workshop the plates are made while you wait; otherwise they are posted. You can order replacement number plates with the same registration in the builder.

The documents your supplier has to see

This part is set by law and applies to every supplier in the UK, which is why nobody can post you a plate on trust. GOV.UK says the supplier "will need to see original documents that: prove your name and address" and "show you're allowed to use the registration number". In practice that is one identity document, such as a bank statement or a utility bill from the last six months, and one entitlement document, usually the V5C, the green new keeper slip, a V750, a V778 or a V11 reminder. A document issued to you digitally can be emailed in the original file you were sent. Anything that came on paper is posted or brought in as the physical original. If your log book went with the theft, you can apply to DVLA for a duplicate. The full list of documents you need for replacement plates sets out which is which.

Fitting the new pair, and making them harder to take

Get the replacements on the car as soon as they arrive, and take the chance to change how they are fixed. GOV.UK's advice is short: "You can get theft-resistant number plates - these make it harder for someone to remove them from your vehicle quickly and reuse them. Ask your local car dealer or registered number plate supplier for more information." Where you park matters as much as the fixing: a plate under a light, on a driveway or facing a camera is a far less attractive thirty seconds of work than one at the dark end of a car park. Our guide to how to fit number plates covers the fixings themselves.

Cover if it happens again

If you are ordering a replacement set now, you can cover it against a repeat. Our protection plan covers new plates bought from us against theft, loss and damage for 24 months, with up to two like-for-like replacements, added at checkout with the order. It is not an insurance policy: it is a replacement guarantee from the people who made your plates.

The short version

Report the theft on 101 and get a crime reference number. Keep it to hand and watch for fines you did not incur. If the registration is being used on another vehicle, return each fine to the issuer with your evidence and write to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1ZZ with the crime reference number. Order a replacement set from a registered supplier with your identity and entitlement documents ready, and fit it as soon as it arrives, because driving with plates missing or incorrectly displayed carries a fine of up to £1,000 and an MOT failure. Your registration stays exactly as it was.