Show plates look great and allow you to personalise your vehicle without modifying the body. But are they legal to use on public roads?
The answer is simple – show plates are illegal to use on public roads and only number plates made to BS AU 145d are legal to use on public roads.
In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at show plates including their legality and whether you can be fined for using them on public roads.
Show plates are plates that are used for novelty and decoration. They are popular with car enthusiasts because they allow complete design freedom, allowing you to change the characters, font, font size, font weight, plate size and plate colour away from the standard number plate format which is required by law on public roads.
Show plates are a way to customise a vehicle and make it stand out. They are perfectly legal to use on private land but illegal to use on public roads.
‘Show plates’ are so-named because they are only for show. They are not in any way intended to be used on public roads.
Show plates are illegal to use on public roads because they do not conform to the DVLA’s standard for number plates.
At Bespoke Plates, we manufacture show plates for our customers with full disclosure that show plates are only intended for private use.
You can use show plates on private land however you can not legally use them on public roads. This includes ‘hopping’ from private to public land and vice versa. You must change your plates to legal plates before using public roads.
The relevant law for number plate display is The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001, which sets out the standards for number plates, which are then transcribed under the British Standard BS AU 145d.
Yes, you can be fined for using show plates on public roads, and in 2021 you could be given 3 penalty points!
The fine for being caught using show plates on public roads in 2020 is £100 via a Fixed Penalty Notice with no penalty points.
However, in 2021, you could be given penalty points thanks to new legislation under The Vehicle Registration Offences Penalty Points Bill.
The Vehicle Registration Offences Penalty Points Bill is under review by Parliament and is expected to pass in 2021. It will make using illegal plates on public roads a serious offence with a fine of £100 and 3 penalty points.
If you’ve had your licence for less than two years, it’s important to remember that if you rack up six or more penalty points you will have your licence revoked. If you’re a more experienced driver, you will receive a driving ban if you rack up 12 or more penalty points and you could end up going to court.
So, keep your show plates off your vehicle and only use them on private land. Using them on public roads is asking for trouble.
Your car number plates are important, and by law need to be in good condition and clear enough to read easily. So, if either of them are cracked, broken, faded or have marks obscuring the letters and numbers, then they’ll need to be replaced.
Luckily, LS Designs is here to help - we can create new or replacement registration plates for your vehicle while you wait. We can also make an extra set of car number plates if you're towing, or using a rear-mounted bike rack, so you’ll know that you’re ready to set off.
We can supply standard oblong or square number plates, complete with different national flags and borders, or a green stripe for electric vehicles.
We're registered with the DVLA as a supplier of legal UK number plates, which means that all our new and replacement number plates are completely road legal.
If your looking for Show plates (not for road use) please click here!!
To get your number plates made, you'll need to send us the right documents. The law states that you must provide current proof of identity and proof of entitlement in order to get replacement number plates.
If you reserve your plates online, they can't be made until we have verified your documents.
At least one original document from each of the lists below is required for us to supply you with a legal number plate - i.e. you need to send one document listed under 'proof of identity', and one from the list 'proof of entitlement', required by the DVLA to prove that you are allowed to display the plate. Together, the two documents must let us check your name, address and vehicle entitlement. We only accept the following documents:
Remember - whichever proof of identity document you bring needs to show your name and address.
For us to get your registration plates made, you may sometimes need to provide a third document if the two documents sent to us do not show your address. For example, if you send us a debit card and V948, neither document shows where you live - so you'd need to send in another listed document for proof of address.
Please note: These are legal guidelines imposed by the DVLA, and we can't provide you with new or replacement registration plates without the correct documents!
As of March 2015, the DVLA allows you put your personalised number plate registration (PR) number on retention online. You can receive instant confirmation that your personalised number plate has been put on retention, and you'll be told what the replacement registration number for the vehicle will be.
The DVLA also released an electronic version of the V948 certificate, called the eV948. You can download this certificate and present it along with your other paperwork to have your replacement plate made up.
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