Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Vehicles Crime (Registration of Registration Plate Suppliers) (England and Wales) Regulations 2002 and shall come into force on 1st January 2003.

Interpretation

2. In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Vehicles (Crime) Act 2001;

“company” means a body corporate; and

any reference to a document described by the letter V and a number is a reference to a document issued by the Secretary of State bearing that letter and number.

Exempted activity

3. The activity of selling a vehicle which is fitted with registration plates where the seller is a dealer in vehicles and has arranged the first registration in the United Kingdom of the vehicle on behalf of the intending purchaser, is not an activity which consists in selling registration plates.

Prescribed particulars of register

4. The register of persons carrying on business as registration plate suppliers established and maintained by the Secretary of State under section 18(1) of the Act shall contain the following particulars as respects each registered person’s entry—

(a) in the case of a sole trader—

(i) the full name and usual residential address of the trader;

(ii) any other name under which he trades and the address of any premises where he carries on the business as a registration plate supplier;

(b) in the case of a company—

(i) its name and number under which it is registered, and

(ii) the address of its principal place of business and the address of any other premises where it carries on the business of registration plate supplier;

(c) in the case of a partnership—

(i) the name of the firm, and

(ii) the address of its principal place of business and the address of any other premises where it carries on the business of registration plate supplier;

(d) a telephone number for the registered person;

(e) the date of registration and of any subsequent suspension of registration;

(f) details of any conviction for an offence under Part 2 of the Act where the date of that conviction is less than five years, or in the case of a person who was under eighteen years of age at the date of his conviction, 30 months, before the date on which the register is being maintained;

(g) the identity number allotted by the Secretary of State on registration of the registered supplier.

Requirements for applications for registration

5. An application for registration under section 19 of the Act shall—

(a) contain the information which an entry in the register in respect of the applicant is required to contain by virtue of paragraphs (a) to (d) of regulation 4, and

(b) be accompanied by a fee of £40 in respect of each premises to be entered in the register as the principal place of business or one at which the business of supplying registration plates is or is to be carried on.

Information on sale of registration plates

6. —(1) Before selling a registration plate, a person registered under the Act shall, subject to paragraph (5), obtain from his prospective purchaser, before the completion of the sale, the information described in paragraph (2).

(2) The information is—

(a) where the purchaser is an individual, his name and usual residential address,

(b) where the purchaser is a company, its registered name and principal place of business, or in the case of a partnership, the name of the firm and its principal place of business,

(c) where an individual acts for the purchaser, his name and usual residential address,

(d) the registration mark to be shown on the plate,

(e) in the case of a registration plate being fitted to a vehicle by a person carrying on the business of a vehicle body repairer at the request of an insurance company, the name of that company and the number of the insurance policy in question,

(f) the connection of the purchaser, or of the person for whom he is acting, with the registration mark or the vehicle on which the registration plate is intended to be affixed.

(3) The information as to the name and address either of the purchaser being an individual or of the individual acting for the purchaser shall be verified by the person registered under the Act against the documents described in Part I of the Schedule.

(4) Subject to paragraph (6), the information required by paragraph (2)(f) shall be verified by the person registered under the Act against a document described in Part II of the Schedule.

(5) The information described in paragraph (2) to (4) need not be obtained in relation to any sale—

(a) to a registered person, or

(b) to a person who carries on the activity described in regulation 3.

(6) In the case described in paragraph (2)(e), and where the records contain the information there described, paragraph (4) does not apply.

(7) Section 25(3) of the Act shall apply to the provisions of this regulation.

Keeping of records by registered persons

7. —(1) Every person registered under section 18 of the Act shall keep records at his principal place of business or at any other premises at which he carries on the business of registration plate supplier.

(2) The records shall contain as respects each sale of a registration plate entered into by that person and for a period of three years after that sale—

(a) the information required to be obtained by regulation 6;

(b) a description of the method by which the purchaser or person acting for him paid;

(c) where payment is by debit or credit card, the name of the issuer and account number;

(d) where the payment is by cheque, the name of the bank on which it is drawn, and the account number;

(e) a statement of the document used to verify in accordance with regulation 6(3) the name and address of an individual;

(f) where that document is a driving licence, the driver number (or in the case of a non-UK licence equivalent number) from it;

(g) a statement of the document used to verify in accordance with regulation 6(4) the connection with the registration mark or the vehicle; and

(h) where that document is the V5 or the authorisation described at head (7) of Part II of the Schedule, either the reference number from the V5 or the vehicle identification number.

(3) Section 24 (3) of the Act applies to the provisions of this regulation.

Regulation 6

SCHEDULE

PART 1 Documents which may be used to verify name and address

1. The document used shall be either that described in paragraph 2, or one of the documents described in paragraph 3 together with one of the documents described in paragraph 4.

2. The document described in this paragraph is a driving licence which includes a photograph of the holder (whether or not issued in the United Kingdom).

3. The documents described in this paragraph are in each case addressed to the purchaser or individual acting for him and dated within 6 months of the purchase—

(a) a bill issued by an electricity, gas or water supplier,

(b) a bank or building society statement.

4. The documents described in this paragraph are—

(a) a driving licence whether or not issued in the United Kingdom (without a photograph of the holder),

(b) a passport (whether or not issued by the United Kingdom),

(c) a national identity card issued by the government of a state or territory other than the United Kingdom,

(d) a debit or credit card having a photograph of the holder issued by a bank or building society,

(e) a travel pass having a photograph of the holder issued by a local authority, a person having an operator’s licence issued under Part II of the Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981( 2 ) or a passenger service operator as defined in section 83(1) of the Railways Act 1993( 3 ).

PART II Documents which may be used to establish connection with the vehicle

The document used shall be one of the following—

(1) V5 (registration document),

(2) V750 (certificate of entitlement to a registration mark),

(3) V778 (right to a particular registration mark under section 27 of the Vehicles Excise and Registration Act 1994( 4 )),

(4) V11 (vehicle licensing reminder issued to registered keeper by the Secretary of State),

(5) V379 (certificate of vehicle registration),

(6) V948 (authorisation issued by the Secretary of State for the purchase of the number plate),

(7) An authorisation for the purchase of the number plate issued by a company owning more than one vehicle stating that it holds the V5 and giving either the reference number from the V5 or the vehicle identification number.