Valid Documents For Number Plates

What Documents Do You Need?

We need to check certain documents before we can sell you number plates. What we need depends on what you're ordering. These requirements are set by law and apply to all number plate suppliers in the UK.

1. Buying a Private Registration Only (No Physical Plates)

You don't need to send us anything. We'll handle the paperwork with the DVLA on your behalf.

If you'd also like us to transfer the registration onto your vehicle using our Done-For-You Paperwork Service, we'll just need a photo of the front page of your V5C logbook. We'll walk you through this after your purchase.

2. Ordering Physical Number Plates

We need two things from you:

A) Proof of your name and address

This confirms who you are. It must be dated within the last 6 months (where applicable).

Any one of the following:

• Utility bill (gas, electric, or water)
• Telephone or internet bill
• Council tax or rates bill
• Bank or building society statement
• Photo-card driving licence
• National identity card

B) Proof you're entitled to the registration

This confirms the registration belongs to you (or the person you're buying for).

Any one of the following:

• V5C vehicle registration certificate (or V5CNI)
• V5C/2 new keeper supplement (or V5C/2NI)
• V750 certificate of entitlement (or V750NI)
• V778 retention document
• V11 tax renewal reminder or SORN notice (or V11NI)
• V379 temporary registration certificate (or V379NI)
• V948 number plate authorisation certificate (stamped by DVLA or DVSA)
• eV948 electronic authorisation certificate

Buying plates as a gift? No problem. Your proof of address just needs to be in your name - the entitlement document can be in the recipient's name.

How to Send Your Documents

Documents you can email, if they were issued to you digitally (send the original file, such as the PDF you were sent):

• Paperless utility, telephone or internet bill
• Bank statement
• eV948 electronic authorisation certificate
• Fleet operator letter of authorisation (quoting the V5C document reference number)
• V5C on demand (suppression scheme) vehicle record printout

Documents that must be posted or brought in as originals:

• Everything else on the lists above (driving licence, council tax bill, V5C, V750, etc.), and any bill or statement that came on paper. We can’t accept a photo or scan of a paper document.

If you're not local to County Durham, just pop your documents in the post to us. After your order, we'll send you our address and guide you through the process. We'll make your plates and return everything together via Royal Mail Tracked delivery.

Why we have to check

A Registered Number Plate Supplier has to see one document that identifies you and one that proves entitlement to the registration before making any plates, and has to record the details. That record is what allows a plate to be traced back to the person it was made for.

The point of it is to stop plates being cloned: without the checks, someone could have your registration made up and put it on a similar vehicle. It is also why the original document counts rather than a copy. For a document issued on paper that means the paper original, and for one issued digitally it means the file you were sent. A supplier who makes plates from a photograph of a paper document is not working to the rules the register sets.

Fleet & Trade Customers

If your vehicle is operated by a fleet, lease, or hire company, we can accept:

• A letter of authorisation from the fleet operator, quoting the document reference number from the registration certificate
• If your fleet uses the V5C on demand scheme (also called V5C suppression), a PDF of the vehicle's details from the DVLA's view vehicle record service

These can both be emailed in their original digital form, as PDFs.

Still not sure what you need? Get in touch - we're happy to help.