How does UK registration/insurance work?

[spinifex]

Aussie member here... and I'm always curious how the UK registration system works, when I read various threads on here.

 

Also a massive (original) Top Gear fan, and confused with their terminology also.

 

It seems your car registration and insurance systems are vastly advanced from our here in the colony..... if I'm making the correct assumptions.

 

Can someone please explain your car registration system in a manner n00bs will understand.

 

Specifically curious about "I have a 66 plate vehicle."  What does this mean?  It's obviously not the manufacturing year?

 

Also curious about "tax discs" - I understand diesel cars are all the rage over there, because of lower/less harmful (allegedly) emissions.... causing your rego or insurance to be cheaper?

Or does it go by engine capacity?

I fully understand that in congested cities like London, the smaller/less emitting vehicles are cheaper to register/insure, to encourage use by the population to reduce emissions etc, etc... but how does it actually work over there?

Here in Australia, our registrations are generally based on number of cylinders.  4cyl/rotary, 6cyl, 8cyl.  Not sure if the 8cyl is used for larger engines like V10 & V12.  There's no distinction between petrol versus diesel, turbo versus NA, CO2 emissions versus fuel consumption, etc, etc.

So a V8 diesel Landcruiser costs the same to register as a petrol Holden Commodore V8 SS (what you call the Vauxhall VXR8) !

 

Car Insurance here seems to ONLY be concerned with claims-history & availability of parts, & your location.  There's no reductions in insurance costs here, for advanced safety or accident-avoidance technology in your car, no reductions for having dash-cameras installed, no reductions for having completed advanced driver safety training (maybe a few very exclusive insurances offer a reduction on this, but none I've ever found)

 

[spinifex]

PS - apologies for posting in the Octy3 section - I really couldn't find anywhere else to post this.  Mods/admins please move to correct section as required.

[Ootohere]

Not simple to explain Registration or VED / Car Tax as that changes and is being changed again from April 2017. *No Tax Discs since October 2015, so nothing to stick on the vehicle.*

Some reading though.

http://gov.uk/vehicle-tax-rate-tables/overview

http://thecarexpert.co.uk/how-does-the-uk-number-plate-system-work

This years changes.

http://carwow.co.uk/news/ved-road-tax-from-2017-0182-2060

Edited 4 January, 2017 by Offski

[AllanDJ]

Every few years Governments decide to alter the tax rates applied to cars, which results in some newer cars having no or very little vehicle/ road tax and others are charged far higher rates, mostly it takes into account the alleged CO2 emissions, which has kind of favoured diesel cars for a while although it is changing as there are other nasty emissions from diesel cars which are not currently cleaned up by any of the filters or DPF technology on modern diesels. There are virtually no large petrol engined cars in the UK any more, apart from a few luxury brands, road tax and lousy fuel economy coupled with high fuel prices has all bit killed this section of the market off. I can remember visiting Australia many years ago and being surprised at the size of the cars there, compared to what we have in the UK, not many people would want these sorts of cars over here. Current thinking is that the diesel car market could be on the way out as people become more aware of the health issues connected with diesel emissions, so there may actually be a move back towards petrol engined cars and hybrid electric cars with a small petrol engine, road tax on newer diesel cars is likely to increase a bit in the short term until Governments and then car manufacturers can actually work out what is the best way forward.

 

Ignoring these links the current UK car numbering system kind of shows the age of the car in the last number of the car, so a 66 registered car is still the newest version and applies to all cars registered from September 2016 to February 2017, next one is 17 from March to August 2017 followed by 67 from September 2017 to February 2018, so currently a one or a six in front of the last number of the year shows a spring and an autumn registered car number, although that will change as we get to the end of this decade, when the prefixes will become a two or a seven and so it goes on and on!

[KenONeill]

It's all a complete mess beyond that a registration plate which somehow indicates the age of the vehicle is more or less permanent applied from first registration.

[spinifex]

Thanks all for your responses.

 

It seems the Aussie system of just saying "I have a 2016 model car" is a lot easier to understand than quoting a first-registration date.

 

So a "66 plate" car - which is assumed to be recently-registered if I'm understanding this correctly (first 6 meaning the last-half of the year, second 6 meaning 2016) could still be an older pre-2016 or even pre-2015 model car, that just hasn't been sold or registered until this time?  Is that correct?

[Ootohere]

Correct, the Build date does not matter it is when First Registered in the UK,

(Unless a Used Import from China, Australia, Japan etc then it may get an age related to build date plate when Registered in the UK.

But that also is all a bit mixed up like so much the UK Government has responsibility over.)

 

1st March 2016  gets 16 plate, 1st August 2016 66 plate & on the 1st March 2017 out comes 17 plate.

 

1st April 2017 and any vehicles first registered after that are on the new Vehicle Excise Duty / Road Tax, what ever the Government call it at the time.

Cars with no Tax Discs and supposedly ANPR cameras cover the country picking up cars not Taxed.  

Pity they do not issue Taxed & Insured & Tested Sticker for the windscreen or to put on the Registration Plate.

Edited 5 January, 2017 by Offski

[vrskeith]

Correct, the Build date does not matter it is when First Registered in the UK,

(Unless a Used Import from China, Australia, Japan etc then it may get an age related to build date plate when Registered in the UK.

But that also is all a bit mixed up like so much the UK Government has responsibility over.)

 

1st March 2016  gets 16 plate, 1st August 2016 66 plate & on the 1st March 2017 out comes 17 plate.

 

1st April 2017 and any vehicles first registered after that are on the new Vehicle Excise Duty / Road Tax, what ever the Government call it at the time.

Cars with no Tax Discs and supposedly ANPR cameras cover the country picking up cars not Taxed.  

Pity they do not issue Taxed & Insured & Tested Sticker for the windscreen or to put on the Registration Plate.

1st Sept 2016 is 66 plate?

Edited 5 January, 2017 by vrskeith

[mac11irl]

Its nearly the same here in Rep of Ireland, except we start on 1st Jan and (since 2013) 1st July..

so example reg plates-

06 TS 1234 - means it is the 1,234th new vehicle registered in County Tipperary South in 2006.

141 T 2345 - is 2,345th vehicle registered in Co Tipperary in 1st half 2014

142 T 3456 - is 3,456th vehicle in 2nd half 2014.

Tax rates pre 2008 were based on engine cc's so my old 2004 Octavia 1896cc cost €673/yr in tax.

Since 2009 its based on CO2, so my current 2009 Insignia 2litre diesel is 390/yr.

Edited 5 January, 2017 by mac11irl

[Phil-E]

In terms of insurance all cars are given an insurance group number. They range from 1 to 50 with 1 being the lowest and cheapest to insure.

These ratings are based on the car's safety features, performance, price etc.

Our postcodes are also grouped into ratings from A to F based on risk:

http://www.motorcarinsuranceuk.co.uk/post-code-ratings.php

Your insurance quote then takes this along with personal details such as location, past claims, age, profession, annual mileage etc.

Quotes can vary wildly between companies and it's a bloody minefield!

Number plates used to just start with a letter which indicated the year so "N" would be 1996 "O" was skipped then "P" was 1997 "R" was 1998 up to 2001 where we switched to the current system where "51" became 2001 since it started in September.

The letters at the start of the plate also show the area the car was registered:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_the_United_Kingdom,_Crown_dependencies_and_overseas_territories

[KenONeill]

Number plates used to just start with a letter which indicated the year so "N" would be 1996 "O" was skipped then "P" was 1997 "R" was 1998 up to 2001 where we switched to the current system where "51" became 2001 since it started in September.

 

Before this system, where a plate for a 1997 car might have been "P123ABC", we had a similar system but with the area identifier and year designator reversed, so a 1997 car might have been "ABC123P", and before that, up to 1960 to 1966 (depending on how many new cars were registered in that area, we'd just have the area designator and series number!

[Phil-E]

Before this system, where a plate for a 1997 car might have been "P123ABC", we had a similar system but with the area identifier and year designator reversed, so a 1997 car might have been "ABC123P", and before that, up to 1960 to 1966 (depending on how many new cars were registered in that area, we'd just have the area designator and series number!

 

Long before my time then  :D

 

But yes I was aware there was a different format but didn't know what it meant actually.

[@Lee]

I prefer the German system of registration plates;

 

HH - AB 123 or SE - AB 123 The first letters denote the city the car's from so HH would be Hamburg (Hansestadt Hamburg), SE is for Segeburg, H is Hanover and so on

The last digits and numbers are random but you are asked if you'd like any specific variation of these and you can have them if they are available at no charge.

e.g. SE- JE 930 (JE being SWMBO's initials and the 930 a memorable number of hers)

Below and above the dashed line I put in is the flag of the 'Lande' or region the car is from and the TuV (MoT) expiration date.

 

Eiti: The plates don't stay with the car. Upon sale they are removed and a new plate issued to the new owner when they register it.

 

Also, pressed metal plates look cool B) :yes:

 

Hamburg plate

 

Hanover plate

 

Lande flags

[mac11irl]

/\ pressed metal with German typeface are quite nice.. on German/ German engineered/ former Eastern Block cars.

had a set on the Octavia, standard irish size, spacing and it never got a second look from gardai, customs or NCT testers..

must see about a set for Gerhart Zee Siggy..

They look stupid on Japanese/French/Italian cars though.. unless IN Germany.

[spinifex]

WOW - what a complicated mess you guys have over there.

 

Here, your number plate has no useful information on it - it's simply a random mix of 3 numbers & 3 letters - only varied by the state/region it was registered.  Plates stay with the car, unless you have "personalised plates" which you pay significantly more for, where you can nominate (if available) your own combination of letters &/or numbers.

 

So looking at a car's number plate here in Aus, will tell you nothing about the vehicle except the state that it is registered in.

 

Our registration prices are also only variable by number of cylinders or rotors - not engine capacity or emissions or economy.

So a tiny 4.2L V8 is the same price as a massive 7.0L V8 to register, and a 1.0L 4cyl petrol is the same price as a 3.0L 4cyl diesel.

[mannyo]

its not complicated when you have lived with it for years, you kind of understand it.

 

I had a 1974 Mini as my first car, its registration was: TLM 636M, with the M being the year letter and TLM representing the area the car was registered.

 

I've also had a 2001 Skoda Octavia vRS, its registration was; Y407 JTM, in this system the Y represented the year. This system is even more confusing because at one point each letter increment represented a year, changing towards the autumn, however towards the end of this series the government changed it to twice yearly. The reason given was to smooth out the peak in new car registrations as everyone wants to have the latest registration.

 

My Current 2004 Audi A8 lets say: LJ04 YBB, now this is also a twice yearly system, with LJ representing where the car was first registered, in this case London, Wimbledon. Then 04 for the registration year. 04 is March and 54 September for 2004. YBB would just be three random letters.

 

Another good read.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_the_United_Kingdom,_Crown_dependencies_and_overseas_territories#Characters

 

However you can also buy any plate to fit your car, as long as it does not make the car look newer than it is and is not currently issued. For example I could put M4 NNY onto the Audi as its issue date would have been older than the car, but I could not put MA58 NNY on the Audi as it would not have been used until 2008. These plates are purchased direct from DVLA and start from £250 right up to many thousands of £.

http://dvlaregistrations.direct.gov.uk

 

Plate remains with the car until it is scrapped, and it will never be re-issued.

Edited 6 January, 2017 by mannyo

[KenONeill]

Having said which, I could win the Lotto, obtain "KEN 151T" for my new Porsche, then win the Euromillions and transfer the plate to my new Bugatti Chiron. At this point, the Porsche would get a plate like "HS65 ABC".

[mac11irl]

What i dont get about the UK system is why the numbers dont change on Jan 1st & July 1st. so the vehicle year syncs with the calendar year

[BJM]

What i dont get about the UK system is why the numbers dont change on Jan 1st & July 1st. so the vehicle year syncs with the calendar year

Because rather like the twice annual letter change the intention was, at the request of the Motor Industry, to deliberately move it away from the Xmas / New Year holiday period, which over the years had proven a nightmare.

 

March and September were chosen to spread the load over the year.