Glossary of terms
A useful list of terms and definitions often used in the registration transfers market.
D
- Dateless Registration
- A dateless registration in one that does not contain a age/year identifier and which may, thus, be transferred to a vehicle of any age. These plates are popular amongst purchasers who wish to conceal the ages of their vehicles.
- DfT, Department for Transport
- Department for Transport is the parent government department responsible for DVLA and other matters relating to the UL transport networks.
- Donor
- In the context of personal number plates, the donor is the party who holds entitlement to display a registration and who must, therefore, authorise the transfer (by sale or other means) of that entitlement to the person who will next own the registration in question. In short, the donor is usually the seller of a number plate.
- DoT, DOT, Department of Transport
- Department of Transport was the name, from 1981 until 1997, of the government department now called the Department for Transport (see above).
- DVLA
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. This is the government agency responsible for maintaining records of drivers, vehicles and their licence status. The agency also collects Vehicle Excise Duty ("road tax"). DVLA issues new vehicle registration numbers, and is responsible for the administration and regulation of vehicle registrations and number plates, including personal number plates.
N
- New Release
- A periodic issue of new registration by DVLA. New releases currently occur twice a year.
- Nominee
- On a Retention Document, the Nominee is the person to whom the Grantee may assign entitlement to display a registration.
P
- Prefix Registration
- A car registration in which the year of issue is indicated by a prefix letter code, as in the format: Y123 XXX, where "Y" is the year identifier. Visit our Car Registrations page for more information.
R
- Receiver, Rec
- The "receiver" is the person to whom entitlement to display a personal registration is transferred.
- Road Fund Licence
- An archaic term for VED. Still in occasional colloquial use.
- Road Tax
- A common, unofficial, colloquial term for Vehicle Excise Duty (see above).
S
- Suffix Registration
- A car registration in which the year of issue is indicated by a suffix letter code, as in the format: XXX 123Y, where "Y" is the year identifier. Visit our Car Registrations page for more information.
