Do Custom Plates Raise Insurance?
The demand for personalised registrations has never been so high in Britain, with the DVLA having sold nearly 6 million by 2019, which generated a staggering £2 billion for the Treasury.
As a leading supplier of personalised number plates, we at Bespoke Plates are often asked the question, do custom plates raise insurance?
Well, in this article, we will outline all the details you need to know, to ensure that your personalised number plate is perfectly legal for use on the road.
Read more content about custom number plates
Here at Bespoke Plates, we regularly publish articles on our website and our blog, to provide the answers to frequently asked questions about number plates.
To learn more about custom number plates, click here to read our blog articles on:
- How Much Is the Fine for Illegal Number Plate?
- Will 4D Plates Fail MOT?
- Will 3D Plates Fail MOT?
- Can You Create Your Own Number Plate DVLA?
- The Difference Between 3D and 4D Plates
- What’s Better, 3D or 4D Number Plate?
- Are 4D Coloured Gel Plates Legal?
- The Number 1 Plate Maker in the UK: Bespoke Plates
- Can I Drill My Number Plate?
Do custom plates raise insurance?
So, do custom plates raise insurance?
Well, in most cases, a personalised number plate does not count as a modification to your car, hence, it won’t raise your insurance premiums.
You should always inform your insurance provider if you have installed custom number plates on your vehicle, and check whether this counts as a modification to your car. Your insurance provider will let you know if your new plates will affect your insurance in any way.
What if I don’t inform my insurance provider that I have put custom number plates on my car?
If you don’t tell your insurance provider that you have installed personalised number plates on your vehicle, then this could invalidate your insurance cover.
If you are driving a vehicle with illegally or incorrectly displayed number plates, then this may impact your car insurance. The police will pull you over and fine you up to £1,000, as the number plate is not identifiable on ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition).
Your insurance rate could bump up too if you have been handed a hefty motoring fine by the police. Your insurance premium could rise by up to 86%, which means you could be paying nearly twice the price.
Will my custom plates be covered by my insurance if my vehicle is stolen?
That depends on your insurance provider’s policy. Not all insurance providers cover the loss of a custom number plate.
If you put a custom number plate on your vehicle and your vehicle gets stolen, inform your insurance provider immediately, and ask them whether their policy covers the loss of a custom number plate.
What are the legal requirements for a number plate in the UK?
The UK has strict laws about what your number plate should look like on your vehicle.
Firstly, private plates must have either a V750 certificate or a V778 retention document to prove you have legal ownership and the right to use the bespoke design.
The V750 is the document that assigns the actual registration mark to the new owner. This document will be needed for assigning a plate and for selling in the future.
The V778 is the retention document needed to keep ownership of a private plate and to be able to use it legally on the roads. Valid for ten years, it only needs to be renewed if the plate is not currently assigned to a vehicle.
Also, your number plate must meet the following conditions:
- be made from a reflective material – for the purpose of road safety
- black display characters on a white background (front plate)
- black display characters on a yellow background (rear plate)
- not have a background pattern – so as not to distort the readability of your plate
- be marked to show who supplied the number plate – to assist with thefts and sourcing queries
- be marked with a British Standard number – this is ‘BS AU 145e’ for plates fitted after 1 September 2021
- The characters must not be removable or reflective. If your number plates were fitted after 1 September 2021, they must also be a single shade of black.
Your personalised number plates can also:
- have 3D (raised) characters
- display certain flags, symbols and identifiers
- display a green flash, if you have a zero-emission vehicle
As you can see, the instructions are clear, encompassing both 3D and 4D number plate designs within the approved list. Further recommendations also state the British standard number should be permanently marked, non-retroreflecting, a single colour, and be no less than 3mm x 10mm in size.
At Bespoke Plates, our team will guide you in creating your number plate so that it is perfectly legal to drive on the road.
What is the fine for illegal number plates?
Should your plate not be deemed legal, you will be subject to a £1000 and a failed MOT, making your car not road-worthy.
Will custom number plates fail MOT?
If your number plate is illegally or incorrectly displayed, then your vehicle will fail its MOT test.
Your registration plates will be checked during your MOT test. So, what aspects of the number plate are they actually checking?
- condition
- secure attachment
- colour
- characters correctly formed and spaced
As long as all of these conditions are met, you will pass an MOT.
At Bespoke Plates, we offer installation on all of our plates, guaranteeing you will pass your MOT. Self-installation may result in you damaging the plate, or not securing correctly, which is why we offer this service to you. The only exception to this is show plates.
Do you have to pay a fee every year for a personalised number plate?
Nope, not every year!
You will permanently lose the right to use the number if you do not renew it before the expiry date. DVLA will not accept applications made after that date.
You can apply to renew your V750 or V778 up to 28 days before it expires. Do not apply earlier than this or your application may be refused. You can renew it for up to 10 years, and there is no fee for this.
Where can I buy a custom number plate for my vehicle?
We are a trusted supplier of number plates here at Bespoke Plates, offering options for your car, van, motorbike, or lorry. We also sell number plates for electric cars.
From 3D plates, 4D plates, standard number plates, and gel plates, our products are durable, weather-resistant, and eye-catching.
Customers are increasingly going for our 3D and 4D number plates, as these offer a sleek, three-dimensional appearance, which gives any vehicle an instantly contemporary finish.
If you need a number plate which is road-safety compliant, then there’s no need to worry: at Bespoke Plates, all of our custom number plates are 100% legal for use on the road.
Looking for a decorative, promotional number plate instead? Well, our number plates are available in show form, so this is for you!
For each of our products, as a custom number plate maker, we have all bases covered as far as your customisation options are concerned. Our product pages, therefore, let you choose the style, tint, border, badges, and type of plate with choices for both legal and show plates.
Purchasing a Number Plate from Bespoke Plates
At Bespoke Plates, our process is very straightforward:
- Head to our website, and choose between 3D or 4D plates under the ‘build your plate’ tab.
- Enter your registration for a preview of the plate.
- Specify whether this will be a legal plate or a show plate.
- Choose your style.
- Select whether your plate will be for the front and back of your car or just one of them.
- Select your size.
- Select additional customizable options.
- Have it delivered to your home.
About Bespoke Plates
As one of the established number plate makers in the UK, we at Bespoke Plates have all the options you can ask for. From 3D plates, 4D plates, standard number plates, and gel plates, we offer outstanding craftsmanship with every number plate we produce.
We are an approved license vendor, so we can guarantee that your modification abides by the DVLA rules, whilst offering same-day collections and a full fitting service.
So, what are you waiting for? Browse our options today to get the plate that speaks to you, and speaks for you, with Bespoke Plates.
Want to read more about all things custom number plates? Check out our blog here.
To get in touch and discuss the full fitting service we offer with our plates, you can talk to one of our friendly team members by:
Email – info@bespoke-plates.co.uk
Phone – 0333 006 7878
Visit us in-store at 36A Broughton Street, Manchester, England, M8 8NN.
Follow Bespoke Plates on Facebook and on Instagram here.
We hope to have provided valuable information, whilst also answering the question ‘do custom plates raise insurance?’
