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Registration re-assignment after Cat C / Cat D?

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 9:04 am
by campbell
Not mechanical technical this, but certainly red-tape technical.

Anyone got any experiences (and procedural tips) from re-assigning a reg mark from a car that has just been written off?

I retained my plate from my S1, which was of course written off last year as Cat S (new Cat C). I have the normal retention cert so all is in order there. I have had this plate for over 20 years, 3 of which were before it even went onto the Elise.

If or when the day comes that I have a car worthy of fitting it onto, am I at risk of "tagging" that new car with a Cat label? I've heard horror stories of this. Can I simply contact DVLA to discuss? They are generally very hard to reach I find...

What did you do?

thanks in advance

Campbell

Re: Registration re-assignment after Cat C / Cat D?

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 12:53 pm
by rawsco
Write off is attributed to VIN IIRC, which is then connected to the reg through the normal plate allocation processes. if the plate is correctly transferred then the connection will be broken. Where it might be a problem is where sub standard check my vehicle services have not maintained their database subscriptions and thus don't know your plate has been moved. Insurancee companies are one of the worst offenders.... my 335i M-Sport was incorrectly listed as a 325 SE with a totally different VIN. DVLA had it right but when getting quotes from insurance companies they always had it listed as the wrong model. it did eventually sort itself out.

Re: Registration re-assignment after Cat C / Cat D?

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 4:00 pm
by campbell
Did you contact DVLA at all?

Re: Registration re-assignment after Cat C / Cat D?

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:36 pm
by ironside
If or when the day comes that I have a car worthy of fitting it onto, am I at risk of "tagging" that new car with a Cat label?
The write-off doesn't follow the plate in my experience. I transferred my plate onto a retention certificate exactly as you have done after a write off and subsequently applied it to another car without the category following it.

Re: Registration re-assignment after Cat C / Cat D?

Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2018 5:49 pm
by rawsco
campbell wrote:
Thu Apr 12, 2018 4:00 pm
Did you contact DVLA at all?
No, The DVLA had the correct record but I suspect the plate that was put back on the car after the previous owner took the private plate off belonged to a 325 SE, it just took ages to filter through to my insurance co (and others that I was getting quotes off)

Re: Registration re-assignment after Cat C / Cat D?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 10:22 am
by Dominic
VXJon had issues a few years ago. His VX was written off, He bought a caterham and put the reg from the VX onto that. When it came to sell the caterham, the buyer did a check and discovered it was a write off... but was not, was just the reg that had been on the written off car. That was probably more than 5 years ago now, so things may well have changed. Dealing with HMRC on a daily basis and seeing how inept they are, I would be wary of the DVLA screwing things up. Just my cynical 2p.

Re: Registration re-assignment after Cat C / Cat D?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2018 12:03 pm
by campbell
Thanks Dom. It has been pointed out that provided the offending plate is taken back off a car before it's advertised for sale, there would be no real issue. HPI searches would be on its replacement "mainstream" plate. Makes sense, although I bet DVLA could even screw that up...

Couple of other friends have said the Cat marker didn't follow their plate at all, so processes may have improved.