Fact Sheets
Fact Sheets
Car Dehire Guide
Van Dehire Guide
Provided Courtesy of Lex Autolease.
Cherished Number Plate Retention
If you have a cherished number plate and you need to change your car but have no immediate vehicle to transfer it onto, it is possible to use a retention certificate to store your plate until you need it.
What is the Retention Facility?
This facility enables a registration number to be removed from the vehicle to which it is assigned and held on a Retention Document for 12 months pending assignment to another vehicle.
What are the requirements for participating vehicles?
Participating vehicles must be currently licensed, subject to annual testing and available for inspection. However, applications involving unlicensed donor vehicles will still be considered considered under certain conditions.
Is there any type of vehicle that is not eligible to participate in the retention scheme?
Non-testable vehicles e.g. tractors, electrically propelled vehicles etc, cannot participate in either scheme.
Who can apply for a licence number retention?
As the registered keeper of a vehicle only the contract hire company can apply to retain or transfer a license number.
How to apply to Retain a Registration Number.
What application form do I use?
The V778/1 application form. It has a tear-off sheet containing notes for guidance in question and answer form. You should read these very carefully and retain them for future reference. The completed application and associated documents should be sent to the nearest DVLA Local Office. On request an authorised form will be sent to you along with the supporting documents. If you obtain your form elsewhere it must be completed and sent to us for authorisation. The signed form and associated documents will then be returned to you. Completed forms and supporting documents should be taken or sent to the DVLA local office.
What do I take or send to the DVLA Local Office?
1) The completed V778/1 retention application form (minus the notes for guidance).
2) The V5 registration document for the donor vehicle. The V5 for the donor vehicle is held by the contract hire company. It will be sent to you with the authorised V778/1.
3) A test certificate for the vehicle if it requires one (although the vehicle may not be old enough to need one, it must belong to a class of vehicle that normally requires MOT or HGV testing). If applicable, this will be sent with the V5.
4) The current fee of £105. This represents the £25 retention fee and £80 assignment fee.
5) If you need to license the vehicle at the same time, you will need to complete a V10 Licence Application Form or the V11 Licence Reminder Form and provide the relevant certificate of insurance or valid cover note, and the appropriate rate of vehicle excise duty (VED).
Cherished Plate Retention
Alternative Fuels
Number Plate Transfer
Mobile Phones
What happens once I have taken or sent my retention application to the DVLA Local Office?
The DVLA Local Office may wish to inspect the vehicle. If everything is in order, the donor vehicle (the vehicle giving up the registration number) will be allocated a replacement age-related registration number and, if appropriate, a replacement tax disc will be issued and the MOT certificate will be amended to show the replacement registration number. You will then be instructed to replace the number plates on the vehicle and return any old tax disc for cancellation.The papers will be sent to DVLA, Swansea for the records to be updated.
Within a few weeks the contract hire company will receive a V778 Retention Document showing them as the grantee (valid for 12 months) and a V5 registration document for the vehicle under its replacement registration number. The V778 will be kept very secure because you will need it when you come to assign the number at a later date. The notes on the V778 will tell you how to go about assigning the number to a vehicle. It will also explain how to extend entitlement and add or change nominee details. The current fee for these services is £25.
ONCE THE EXPIRY DATE HAS LAPSED, ENTITLEMENT IS LOST.
Although it is not obliged to, the DVLA issues expiry reminders to the finance company. We will forward the reminder to you at the latest address we hold on file. It is however your responsibility to notify the contract hire company if you want us to apply to extend entitlement.In accordance with the Master Hire Agreement all vehicles that have had a personalised number assigned must be re-registered and the personalised number plate replaced with the number assigned by the DVLA prior to termination of the Agreement. Where a number is transferable, the vehicle to which it is assigned must meet certain criteria.
The V317 and V778/1 Transfer and Retention application forms respectively, outline the requirements of the schemes and offer further advice in question and answer form.
Where can I obtain these forms?
From your nearest DVLA Local Office or Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency [DVLA], Swansea SA99 1AR
Contacting your nearest DVLA Local Office:
For the address of your nearest DVLA Local Office you can look on the DVLA web site at www.dvla.gov.uk or look in booklet V100 -Registering and Licensing your Vehicle, which is available from post offices.
Contacting DVLA, Swansea:
You can contact Customer Enquiries (Vehicles) on phone number 0870 240 0010 between 8.00am and 8.30pm, Monday to Friday or between 8.00am and 5.30pm on Saturdays.