Driver and Vehicle Standards informed Jim McLachlan that he now has to pay for the JSY 303 plate all over again.He bought it in April as a special gift for his four-year-old son Jordan – who was born on 3 March 1999 – and was supposed to register it by 6 October.
He missed the deadline by just two weeks.
He said that DVS sent the reminder to his old address and when he finally received it it was too late.’I think it is petty and a disgrace,’ he said.
‘It has been a very expensive error.’Everyone I speak to thinks this is a joke.
It is just bureaucracy gone mad.’He added: ‘We spent money we had saved for a holiday on that number plate so that Jordan could have something special when he was older.
It is money we cannot afford to replace.’It is the first time that a motorist has fallen foul of the tight conditions of sale, which require the buyer of a number plate to register it on a vehicle within six months, since DVS started auctioning the ‘prestige’ numbers.Manager and administrator of services James Sinclair said Mr McLachlan was made fully aware of the conditions of sale along with all the other buyers at the auction on 5 April this year.’The rules are the rules,’ he added.
‘Everyone else abides by them.
No, he will not be given his money back.’Mr Sinclair said that the numbers remain the property of DVS and the buyer pays for the right to display it.
That right lasts indefinitely or as long as the inspector of motor traffic ‘sees fit’.
Mr Sinclair explained that the right could be revoked if, for example, the buyer did not space the letters correctly or tried to make them look like something else.The next number plate sale will take place in April next year and the money raised at the sales is donated to the Community Safety Fund.
