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Private number plates
It depends where the number is. On a vehicle, it is recorded in that vehicle’s log book, so you change the name on the V5C and nothing else. Held on a V750 certificate of entitlement or a V778 retention document, it changes by post only: send the document with a signed letter giving your new name, and a copy of your Deed Poll or marriage certificate, to DVLA Personalised Registrations, Swansea, SA99 1DS.
GOV.UK’s private plates guide draws the line in one sentence: a number already assigned to a vehicle needs only the vehicle log book updating, while a number on no vehicle is held on a V750 or V778, and that document is the one to change. Find yours below and there is one envelope to send.
If the plate is on your car now, it is the first. If you bought a number and never put it on, or took it off and kept it, it is the second.
On a vehicle
On a V750 or V778
No online route for a name. A V750 address can be changed in your DVLA personalised registration account, but GOV.UK says a change of name on either document goes by post only.
A V750 comes when you buy a number; a V778 when you take one off a vehicle and keep it. Either way, your name is on it as the grantee.
GOV.UK asks for very little: a letter saying what your new name is, signed, sent with the V750 or V778 and a copy of your proof. If you no longer have the document, say so in the letter and send it anyway.
Giving your old name and the registration number as well makes it plain which record you mean. Keep a copy, and pay the right postage, because the certificate itself is inside.
When the new V750 or V778 arrives, GOV.UK says to destroy every earlier one: they stop being valid and cannot be used online or to tell DVLA about a change.
DVLA Personalised Registrations
Swansea
SA99 1DS
Change of name: registration [the number]
I have changed my name from [your old name] to [your new name] by Deed Poll. Please issue a new [V750 or V778] in my new name. I enclose the document and a copy of my Deed Poll.
Signed [your new name]
An example, not a DVLA form. Use your own words if you like.
For a certificate, GOV.UK asks for “a copy of” your proof. That is unlike your driving licence, where DVLA wants the original Deed Poll and posts it back afterwards, so the plate can go the same day as the licence.
Form D1 with the original Deed Poll and one document in your new name. What DVLA accepts.
The V750 or V778, your letter and a copy of the Deed Poll, posted the same day if you like.
Once the original is back, if the V5C needs it: GOV.UK’s log book page does not say a copy will do. The log book.
Certified copies cost from £6 for 2, up to £25 for 20, added when you order, and suit organisations that want more than a photocopy. Certified copies explained.
Write to DVLA Personalised Registrations, Swansea, SA99 1DS for a replacement, enclosing a copy of your proof of the new name. It must not have expired, you must be the grantee, and a new one takes around 3 to 4 weeks.
A number not on a vehicle has to be renewed every 10 years, free, from 28 days before the expiry date. Miss the date and the right to it is lost for good, so check it while the document is in your hand.
GOV.UK warns against sharing a photo or scan of a V750 or V778: someone other than your buyer could use it to put the number on another vehicle.
From GOV.UK’s private number plates guide and DVLA’s services update, checked October 2026.
If the number is on your vehicle, change the name on the vehicle log book (V5C): GOV.UK’s plates guide points you to the log book alone. If it is held on a V750 or V778, post that document with a signed letter giving your new name and a copy of your proof to DVLA Personalised Registrations, Swansea, SA99 1DS. Which one is yours.
By post. Send the V750 certificate of entitlement or V778 retention document with a letter saying what your new name is, signed, and a copy of your Deed Poll, marriage or civil partnership certificate, or divorce or dissolution papers, to DVLA Personalised Registrations, Swansea, SA99 1DS. What to put in the letter.
No. GOV.UK says a change of name on a V750 or V778 can only be made by post. The online personalised registration account can change the address on a V750, but not the name.
Not for a V750 or V778: GOV.UK asks for a copy of your proof of the name change. That leaves the original free for your driving licence, where DVLA does want it. Doing both at once.
Write to DVLA Personalised Registrations, Swansea, SA99 1DS asking for a replacement, and include a copy of your proof of the new name. You must be the grantee and the document must not have expired. GOV.UK says a new one takes around 3 to 4 weeks.
Once the new one arrives, destroy every earlier one. GOV.UK says they are no longer valid and cannot be used online or to tell DVLA about a change.
Something else? Ask a paralegal and we will answer, usually the same working day.
Apply online in about five minutes. Your Deed Poll is hand-drafted, checked and posted the same working day, and certified copies can come with it for DVLA Personalised Registrations and everyone else.
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