Shocking reason you may want to ditch your personalised number plate NOW revealed

Personalised number plates are popular in the UK, giving drivers a chance to give their car a unique touch.

It’s a lucrative business too and some drivers will pay huge amounts to secure the plate they want.

For example, car designer Afzal Kahn spent almost half a million pounds buying the However, those looking to get their hands on a personalised plate or owners of them are being warned it could put them at an increased risk.

According to research released earlier this year, there is a link between having your car stolen and owning a personalised number plate.

It is claimed that those personalised plate owners are 50 per cent more likely to have their car stolen, compared to those who own a regular registration plate.

The research highlights a potentially dangerous trend with personalised plates.

Some reason drivers may be being targeted is due to the unique and potentially valuable nature of the plate.

Sometimes the price of the plate can massively exceed the cost of the car.

For example, Saeed Abdul Ghaffar Khouri bought the ‘1’ number plate in 2008 for an eye-watering £7million.

Despite the high number of people who own, or have previously owned, a personalised number plate, the data reveals that a large portion of Brits feel they send out a negative message.

A third (32 per cent) automatically class someone with a personalised plate as a ‘poser’, 27 per cent believe they are an ‘attention seeker’, and one in four (26 per cent) think they have ‘more money than sense’.

Kevin Pratt, consumer affairs expert at MoneySuperMarket, said: “As the release of the new ‘68’ plate launch approaches, more ‘non-standard’ plates become available to buy, and many people will be considering getting a personalised plate of their own.

“However, if you do choose to get one, there are a few things to consider.

“Firstly, you need to ensure that your insurer is aware of your new plate details, so it can be reflected in your policy – your cover could be invalidated otherwise. 

“Owners of a personalised plate should also be conscious that in the event their vehicle is written-off or stolen and they make a claim on their insurance, the car will become the property of the insurer, along with the plate.

“To avoid this happening, it’s vital the driver tells the DVLA and also the insurer that they wish to keep the plate.

“If they don’t do this and the car is sent to the scrap yard or the plate is sold on, they’ll lose all rights to use the personalised plate in the future.”

Contrary to the assumption that personalised plates are most common among those going through a midlife crisis, MoneySuperMarket found that it is actually 25 and 34 year olds who prefer their own plates (36 per cent), followed by 18 to 24 year olds (23 per cent) and 35 to 44 year olds (17 per cent).