Grantee and Nominee Explained

DVLA use the terms Grantee, Purchaser and Nominee on the V750 Certificate of Entitlement (pink) and the V778 Retention Document (green). These terms are not used in everyday conversation and often confuse owners of personalised number plates.

In this blog post we will attempt to explain in plain English what the terms actually mean and how they affect you in relation to your personalised registration.

IMPORTANT UPDATE
In May 2015 DVLA launched an online service enabling the Grantee or Purchaser to put a private plate on a vehicle without adding a nominee. The online assign a number plate facility is quicker & easier and the system does not require there to be a match between the names on the V778/V750 and the V5C registration document (log book).

At the top left hand-side of the V750 and V778 is the word Grantee or Purchaser. For the purpose of this explanation we will use the term Grantee (which covers both the Grantee and Purchaser). Underneath is a name and address; it could be a company name or the name of an individual. In simple terms the company or person named as the Grantee has the rights to the registration shown on the document.

Only the Grantee can sign the document and the DVLA will only release information to the Grantee.

The purpose of a V750 or V778 is to hold or retain a cherished registration when it is not registered to a vehicle. There are only a few tasks that are associated with these documents:

Assigning or transferring the registration to a vehicle
Adding or changing a Nominee
Renewing or extending the document beyond its expiry date
Changing the address of the Grantee
Applying for a refund of the £80 transfer fee

Just to reiterate only the Grantee can carry out these tasks.

So who or what is a Nominee? The Nominee information appears on the document at the left hand-side underneath the vehicle registration number and the expiry date. You will either have the words ‘NOT APPLICABLE’ showing, or you will be able to see a name or company name.

The Nominee comes into play when it is time to transfer or assign the personalised registration to a vehicle. The easiest way to explain this is to use an example. Benjamin Saperia has the personalised registration BEN 962 held on a DVLA document. Benjamin is the Grantee; his name and address is shown on the document.

Benjamin is moving abroad and plans to live outside of the United Kingdom for the foreseeable future. He sells his registration BEN 962 to Ben Foster. As it stands the registration BEN 962 can only be transferred or assigned to a vehicle showing the registered keeper as Benjamin Saperia. He is the Grantee and the Nominee section states ‘not applicable’. To be able to transfer or assign the registration to Ben Foster’s car, Benjamin must add Ben Foster as the Nominee on the document (unless he uses the DVLA online service to assign BEN 962 to Ben Foster’s car).

By adding the Nominee ‘Ben Foster’ to the document the registration BEN 962 can be assigned to a vehicle registered to either the Grantee; Benjamin Saperia or the Nominee; Ben Foster. When we talk about a vehicle being registered to a person, this is the name of the Registered Keeper on the V5C registration certificate (logbook) for the vehicle.

As soon as BEN 962 is transferred or assigned to Ben Foster’s car, Benjamin Saperia loses all rights to the registration, the retention document is obsolete and BEN 962 is now registered to Ben Foster’s car.

The Grantee name can not be changed on either the V750 Certificate of Entitlement or the V778 Retention Document. Ownership of the document itself can not pass from one person to another. The Grantee remains until the registration is assigned or transferred to a vehicle.

The Nominee has no rights to the registration number until it is transferred (assigned) to their vehicle. What if Benjamin added Ben Foster as a nominee but he then backed out of the deal? Benjamin would be a bit miffed but he has nothing to worry about with regards to ownership of the document. The Grantee has the authority; the nominee has no rights while the registration remains on the retention document/certificate of entitlement.

If the Purchaser or Grantee dies the executor or beneficiary can apply to DVLA to have the document amended.

Hopefully this information has cleared up any confusion. The Grantee has the rights, the Nominee exists to allow the Grantee to assign or transfer the registration to a vehicle in a different name.

For more information please visit the number plates & vehicle registration section at GOV.UK or contact DVLA.