Private number plates are a brilliant way to make your car feel more personal. But how about if you have a lease? Can you put a private plate on a lease car? The good news is that you can put a private plate on a lease car as long as you follow the instructions on this page. In this guide, we explain how to put a private plate on a lease car, letting you know about the forms to fill in and whom to contact.

TLDR: Can I put a private plate on a lease car?

Yes, you can. Putting a private plate on a lease car is absolutely possible. Follow the instructions below, and you can have your personal number plates or dateless registrations legally assigned to your lease.

How to put private registration plates on a lease car

Ask permission from the car leasing company

Due to the fact that you do not own the car you are leasing, it will be up to the car leasing company whether you can have a private plate. Therefore, the first thing you need to do is ask them if they will let you have a private plate on your lease car. Check your policy documents for the correct contact number, and if they give you the green light, you can proceed to the next step.

Purchase a private number plate

If you don’t already own a private number plate, you will need to buy one. This is the fun part of the process, letting you get creative with your personal registration and enjoy looking to see what plates are currently available. Have a look online at private plates for sale and grab something that strikes your fancy.

What to do if you already have a private plate?

If you already own a private plate and want to use it on your new lease car, you need to put your private plate on retention with a V778 form. Putting a private plate on retention means that you own the registration but don’t want to assign it to a new vehicle right away.

What is a V750 form?

When you buy a registration that has never been assigned to a vehicle before, the DVLA will issue a V750 Certificate of entitlement.

What is a V778?

A V778 Retention Document is a green slip of paper issued by the DVLA when a private plate has been placed on retention because it isn’t going to be assigned to a vehicle at present.

What is a V317?

A V317 form is used when a registration is transferred from one car to another.

Fill in the nominee’s details

Because the finance or car leasing company owns the vehicle, they must be named as the nominee on the license plate certificate. The company will inform you of the correct details to use on the V750 form (if you have bought a new plate) or the V778 (if the plate is on retention), or the V317 (if your plate has been transferred).

Send the documents to the lease company

Once the nominee details have been updated on the required form, you must send this off to the lease company to process (they may charge an admin fee for this). Once processed, the company will send the form off to the DVLA for them to process the paperwork. When the DVLA has assigned your private plate to the leased vehicle, they will return your paperwork.

Attach your private plates to the lease car

Now you are ready to attach your plates to the lease car. If you want your private plates attached before your new lease car is delivered, you can request this with the leasing company. However, this may slow down the process. The best thing to do is wait until the car is in your possession, and once your private plate has been officially assigned, get them fitted yourself.

How to put a private plate on a lease car

Ask permission from the car leasing company.
Purchase a private number plate.
Fill in the nominee’s details.
Send the documents to the lease company.
Attach your private plates to the lease car.

What happens when my car lease contract ends?

Once your car lease contract ends, you will have to remove your private plates by contacting the lease company, which will start the process.

Private plate removal

Six weeks before the contract expires, contact the leasing company and explain that you want to remove and retain your private number plate. They will then fill in a V317 form and send it to the DVLA, who will process the change and send you a V778 retention certificate.

Your leasing company may charge a small admin fee for this process, and the DVLA will charge a retention fee of £80. If the process is completed before the end of your contract, you will need to use the original number plate assigned to the car. Make sure to update your insurance company about the change in registration.

If you want to assign your private plate to your next lease car, you can use the same process described, or if you are buying a car, you can use the V778 form.

Benefits of a private number plate

While this might sound like a long process, there are a number of benefits of having a private plate.

Private plates can make your lease car feel personal to you and make up for the fact that you don’t own the car.
Private plates are a great marketing tactic for businesses.
Private plates allow you to express yourself and help your car stand out from the crowd.
Private plates can deter criminals as your car will become more recognisable.
Private plates are a great investment.

Where can I get a private plate?

If you want a private plate for a lease car, you can buy private number plates from Right Reg. We are the experts when it comes to buying and selling private plates.

You can also get us to bid on plates for you at the next DVLA auction. If you need to order a new print of your private plate for your lease car, we can help with that too.

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