Can you trace a private plate to the owner?

I'm not sure where to start on this but basically my dad sadly passed away from cancer in January. He had a private plate on his car and since he gave me the money to buy my coop I asked if I could have his plate once he had gone, I just thought it would be a nice thing to have on there as like I said without him I couldn't have bought one.

But sadly he didn't leave a will and his b1#£h of a wife (knowing full well I wanted the plate) sold the car with it.

This was in February, I've asked her for the buyers contact details but surprise surprise "she lost them" since then it's turned very ugly and I no longer have or want contact with her.

Is there anyway I can trace it? As it genuinely and understandably it would mean a lot to me having it on the car he bought for me.

Via the DVLA as you would with any other plate. If I recall there's a fee and you need to provide a substantial reason for needing the data.

Have you tried calling Swansea and explaining the situation just in case there's a simpler way?

No not yet, I thought I'd give it time for the V5 to be completed and returned. I just assumed that as it's a private plate the owner remains private? Il give the dvla a try and see where that gets me.

I have just done this for the privet plate that came on my car. The form is a V888 from the DVLA with a fee of between £2.50-£5.00. Depending on whether the car you are enquiring about is registered in your name or not.

The fact it is a “privet” plate makes no difference, it is still registered with the DVLA and they own it.

If the car/plate is in your name then they don’t seem to be that bothered about giving you the complete history of the car, all previous owners and addresses etc. only saying that the information provided is for your own personal records blah blah.

If the car is not registered in your name then as said above you need a very valid reason for them to consider giving it to you, this is usually in the case of an accident. I would defiantly give them a ring first and explain the situation and see what they say.

Also I believe they can also get in touch with the registered keeper to inform them that there has been an enquiry about the car/plate.



All the best in your endeavour.

Sad to hear of your loss and the problems you have obviously had since then. A start point would be to do the check on the DVLA website to see if it is still on the car your Dad owned, if it is that will hopefully make it easier. If it is on a different car it could be that the person who bought the car decided to sell the number and that would make it more complex to sort I guess.

Thanks guys