Short Legal Number Plates

Throughout the R&D phase, we came across many obstacles. Initially, the first obstacle was actually getting into this industry! Prior to setting up JDM Plates, our team didn’t have much experience and found it difficult to know where to start; including knowing the best printing methods, what materials we needed, what legislation we needed to comply with and even terminology… That is all in the past. The team at JDM Plates now have the knowledge, the service and the product!

When carrying out our market research, we noticed that most of the mainstream number plate sellers would only supply standard UK number plate sizes using the raw materials from the aforementioned distributors. These sellers included, but are not limited to; PlatesForCars, DemonPlates, A1ShowPlates & FancyPlates. However, after our research, we knew that JDM imported vehicles, and even UK vehicles, could legally display shorter number plates. Most of the mainstream number plate sellers were reluctant to sell smaller number plates and a few of them offered to supply a shorter number plate but without any legal markings on it – this is not recommended to be used on a public road…

We did manage to find some companies that can offer bespoke number plate services such as FourDot. FourDot were able to supply smaller UK number plates but were not able to supply smaller JDM number plates; not to mention that are relatively expensive! From this point on, we knew we were entering a niche market and could even try and compete in the smaller UK number plate market too!

It is mandatory to have all the correct legal marking on a number plate which is to be displayed on any UK public road. These markings consist of: the company name and postcode of the company that printed the number plate; the BS AU 145d British Standard code and the proper registration mark of the vehicle. It is also mandatory to have the correct character spacing, character margins and character sizes printed onto the number plate. However, we have covered all bases for you and for a range of number plates on our ‘Number Plates & Accessories’ page. If you want to see what we have to comply with, read our article on smaller number plates. We can even produce bespoke number plate so long as the legal sized characters and legal markings do not encroach onto the minimum reflective area required…

Anyways, away from the legal jargon… As soon as we realised that we had the opportunity to enter a niche market; we wanted to offer the best customer service and best quality number plates for all UK customers. From experience, we have noticed a lack of customer support and lack of knowledge with regards to the legality of a number plate on UK roads. For instance, number plate sellers in Ireland are not under the DVLA’s jurisdiction and therefore Irish sellers are not obligated to comply with the rules set by the DVLA and UK legislation. Some UK consumers have actually been fined up to £100 for these illegal number plates, who believe they are actually fully legal due to the misinformation (or lack of information), given to them by some sellers. We issue a Declaration of Legality with all small legal number plate orders to prove your plates are within the law.

Shortened plates are growing to be an ever popular choice for drivers in the UK who are looking to add a touch of identity to their vehicles with a private registration, but wants to meet the legal requirements of vehicles on the road. There are many benefits to having your front or rear plates short, including:

Personalised Style: Your short number plate will be created to a specific size which adds a more unique visual aesthetic to your vehicles plates.

Value: Shortened number plates that have been well looked after can increase the overall resale price of the vehicle, meaning you can get some good prices on your investment, and the plate itself can appreciate in value over time.

Exclusivity: Many luxury vehicles are manufactured with short plates as standard, so they are often viewed as a rare and exclusive plate option to those who aren’t aware you can buy them separately.

Memorable: A shortened plate will often have less characters than a regular number plate which can make them easier to remember, an benefit for both convenience and security purposes.

Neater: Additionally, fewer characters leads to a neater looking number plate in the long run with more space between characters and the edges of the plate, and at JDM Plates we can create your short reg plates to suit your personal preferences.

Here at JDM Plates, we have trailed many manufacturing methods and we can confidently say that our process is now finalised. All of our number plates use BS AU145e compliant materials and are fully UV protected. If you want to read about our 4D number plates and legal documents then feel free to read our articles; ‘Are 4D Number Plates Legal?‘ or whether ‘Imported size number plates can be legally used on UK spec vehicles‘. However, the carefully specified materials are UV stable; weather and abrasive resistant; humidity, chemically and corrosion resistant and have a class 1 fire rating. Not only this, but our number plates are impact and bend stable and have been tested to British Standards Institution (BSI) specifications; we can assure this as we source our materials from British Number Plate Manufacturers Association (BNMA) registered suppliers! The materials consist of very high tack values therefore our shorter number plates are also not prone to peeling over time.  As we use a high quality materials and have a solid plastic surface; there will be no surface bubble unlike cheaper laminated plates. FACT.