Bit of advice anyone sold one, Had an offer on a plate i have for sale, It's on Retention Assignment fee paid, after reading the forum i remain the owner until its been transferred to a vehicle by the new owner is it a case of sign the forum and send it to them and they inform the Dvla. Never sold one before and probably never will again.
I sold one I had to a plate company. All I had to do was sign the retention certificate and send it to them.
Just be careful with this, as the process was originally designed to be done via post / paperwork, and is susceptible to fraud now it's done online. It used to be that it a plate could only be assigned to the named 'nominee' on the certificate, but that's no longer the case. Now, anyone with the document ID number can enter that online and transfer the number to their vehicle. So, if someone asks to see a photo of the cert to prove you own it, they can take the that ID and transfer your plate, and you're left with a worthless piece of paper, and no plate. I think the DVLA need to make this process more secure.
If, when renewing your driving licence, the DVLA can deny you were ever entitled to ride a motorcycle despite having had the entitlement for 44 years and supplying evidence signed by a solicitor, they are capable of any sort of f&$k up. Andy
Unfortunately, with online assignment, a legitimate transfer looks exactly the same as one that isn't. The issue is that the registered owner of the plate and the nominee of the plate on the certificate no longer need to match the registered keeper of the vehicle to which the plate is being assigned.
I see your point, but if you had your registration effectively stolen, could prove your ownership, and the other person could not prove anything at all much less payment, I expect it would be returned It may take awhile, but many plates are worth a great deal of money so it would be worthwhile. The other person could end up being charged by plod with theft/ fraud too.