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How to Get Personalized License Plates Online

find out how to get personalized license plates with All State Tags

When you get a new vehicle, you probably like to personalize it. You like to pick a sleek color for the exterior, select a nice color for the interior, and choose rims or tires that give your car an extra oomph. 

Some people may not bother with all of this hassle—they may not personalize every detail of their vehicle because the design isn’t the most important thing to them. Perhaps they care more about safety. It’s equally important to have a car that can go from point A to B. 

However, if you’re someone who cares about personalizing every aspect of your vehicle, then you need more than just a safe car. You need something that’s tailored specifically to you. 

Whether it’s a car, truck, or motorcycle, custom vehicles are essential to you. They act as an extension of your identity, and they give people a glimpse into who you are and what you like. That’s why you put so much energy into personalizing your vehicle and maybe even your license plates. 

Custom license plates can say a lot about you. They can reveal your interest, hobbies, favorite sports team, alma mater, and whether or not you’re active military or a veteran. But getting these plates is not always easy, especially when you go through the DMV. That’s why you need to learn how to get personalized license plates online. 

What to know about personalized license plates

Before you learn how to get personalized license plates online, you need to know something else first: custom plates can backfire from time to time. These pitfalls usually don’t occur if your personalized plates simply include a picture next to your license plate number. 

For example, maybe you want to include your favorite team’s mascot or your college logo on your license plates. In this scenario, you’ll rarely face issues with personalizing your plates.

However, when you go beyond choosing an image and try to select the numbers and letters on your new license plates, problems can sometimes occur. It’s not uncommon to see people who’ve chosen a combination of letters and numbers for their license plates and unintentionally and surprisingly faced hurdles. 

In fact, here are just a handful of stories that illustrate what can happen when you try to personalize your new license plates. 

Learn how to get personalized license plates for your motor vehicle.

1. License plates that say NOTAG

Multiple drivers have experienced the consequences of having NOTAG on their license plates. In 2004, a man with a Suzuki motorcycle received more than 200 citations because of Delaware’s computer system. According to the Associated Press, the system linked any ticket regarding a lack of plates to the man’s personal information. 

A similar incident also happened to a woman in 2012. While living in Florida, she found herself with 145 tickets that cost more than $8,000. And it was all because her personalized license plates had NOTAG on them. 

2. License plates that say NO TAGS

In Washington DC, a man had slightly different license plates than the one in the above example. Instead of NOTAG, his license plates read NO TAGS. And, of course, this variation also led to issues. 

The man kept his license plates for nearly 30 years, and during that time, he got more than $20,000 in tickets. He told an NBC affiliate that he had to visit the courthouse every few months to get the tickets removed. 

But eventually, city officials spoke to authorities to resolve the issue. Moving forward, ticket writers had to write down “none” instead of “no tags” if they came across a vehicle without license plates. 

3. License plates that say NONE

The next example comes from Los Angeles in 1979. According to LA Times, the state allowed people to write down their top three choices for a custom license plate. 

A sportsman who loved the ocean wrote BOATING and SAILING as his top two choices. Then, in the third slot, he jotted down NO PLATE, assuming the DMV would realize he wanted a standard license plate if his top two choices didn’t work. However, the DMV never made this realization. 

The characters on his license plate read NO PLATE. And after seven months, he had 2,500 citations. The LA Times reported that the DMV had to inform the authorities to stop writing “no plate” on tickets and start saying “none.”

4. License plates that say NV

In 2004, a man in California decided to use NV on his new license plates—these characters were his initials, and for a while, things were great. He didn’t run into any issues. 

But one day, he discovered something interesting. In California, NV stands for “not visible” to traffic cops. And it wasn’t long before the man started to get tickets, which he handled one-by-one. However, when something happened with Oakland’s computer system, the man started to receive tickets across different counties, totaling more than $3,000. 

Choose your new custom license plates carefully 

The list above offers just a handful of examples to showcase how tricky it can be when you get personalized license plates. But those examples shouldn’t scare you off. 

You can still personalize your plates, regardless of whether you want an image or your own sequence of letters and numbers. Just keep in mind that if you choose the ladder, select a combination of characters wisely. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you’re getting tickets on a regular basis for no fault of your own. 

Your state will try to do what it can to help you out—city officials are not required to approve your request for personalized license plates. So if your state notices that your combination of letters and numbers is problematic, they will reject it. 

But states are not going to catch every potential blunder. If you want to prevent any problems, you need to make sure the letters and numbers you’re picking won’t lead to any obstacles. 

Get personalized license plates online  

Once you figure out what you’re going to put on your personalized license plates, you have two options to get it done. You can either go through the DMV. The organization allows you to come in person, mail in a form, or use their website to get personalized plates. 

Or, you can have a transportation agency like Barry Risk Management, Inc. handle everything for you. Unlike the DMV, Barry Risk Management, Inc. makes things easy. Everything is online. Their processes are convenient, simple, and easy to go through. And there are representatives that are waiting to help you if questions arise.

With over 30 years of experience in the DMV industry, Barry Risk Management, Inc. knows how to get you new personalized license plates. It doesn’t matter what state you’re in or what the rules are. If you want custom license plates, Barry Risk Management, Inc. can help you quicker than the DMV. 

For help getting new license plates that are personalized to your tastes, call 1-888-995-TAGS(8247) to speak with a representative!

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Why You Don’t Need the DMV to Get New License Plates

get new license plates

One of the worst things about going to the DMV is waiting hours to complete small, simple tasks.

You expect certain services to take awhile. For example, getting your driver’s license or Real ID always takes more than a few hours—sometimes, you can find yourself in the DMV for an entire day trying to complete those tasks.

But with straightforward services, like registering your vehicle, it shouldn’t take that long. Yet, still, you can easily find yourself waiting in a long DMV line or sitting in a crowded room until sundown, expecting someone to call your ticket number. 

What makes this situation worse is when you book an appointment, believing your proactive nature will save you time. Despite your motivated approach, you may still end up at the DMV for hours. This agency is notoriously slow, and if employees are running behind, your appointment gets pushed back.

However, it becomes even more frustrating when you’re only at the DMV to get new license plates. On the surface, this task seems so simple. You register your vehicle and fill out an application, and in return, someone hands you your license plates. 

But this straightforward process is far from the norm. It’s true that you do have to take a couple of steps. Yet, the time it takes to complete those steps is the discouraging part. 

What’s interesting, though, is that there was a time when you didn’t need to go through the DMV at all to get new license plates. 

The history of getting new license plates

the history of license plates

New York was the first state to require vehicles to have license plates. On April 25th, 1901, Governor Benjamin Odell Jr. signed a bill that demanded owners of motor vehicles to get license plates.

However, instead of going through a state agency, people could handcraft their own. Most owners used leather or iron to create their license plates and lettering. But others chose a simpler route and just painted the letters directly on their motor vehicles. 

Many people were happy with these identifiers and had no objection to producing the plates on their own. In fact, when the law passed, the Times reported that 17 drivers applied for new license plates in May.

By September, that number jumped to 715. And in the following year, there were 1,566 license plates on people’s vehicles. These new commodities afforded drivers equal rights with those who were still getting around on horses. 

As a result, the number of license plates continued to increase throughout the state, and New Yorkers happily handcrafted their plates until 1910. They were unbothered by the time they had to spend making them. While it wasn’t a 10-minute process, it was still a simple one. 

It didn’t require long lines, waiting rooms, unhelpful employees, or appointments. There wasn’t a DMV to visit. All anyone had to do was get the tools, find the material, and start building. 

When did the DMV start issuing license plates?

In 1903, almost two years after New York’s bill passed, Massachusetts became the first state to provide state-issued plates. These license plates were iron and covered in porcelain enamel. Their background color was cobalt blue, and their lettering was in white. 

While first to provide state-issued plates, Massachusetts set an example for other states. Governors across the U.S. started to distribute license plates to their citizens. And by 1918, every state in the U.S. was providing state-issued plates. Drivers were no longer allowed to make them on their own.  

Today, the DMV handles this responsibility. This is the only agency that’s allowed to provide new license plates to drivers. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. 

For fleets with federal vehicles or cars owned by foreign diplomats, a federal government agency provides license plates. Moreover, some Native American tribes in the West issue their own license plates and registration to members. 

Why you shouldn’t use the DMV

When the DMV started issuing license plates, the agency opened the door to personalized plates. For example, in New York, you can get license plates that fall in one of the following categories: 

  • Historical
  • I Love NY Adventure Plates
  • Sports 
  • Colleges
  • Sororities
  • Fraternities
  • Causes 
  • Military and Veterans
  • Organizations
  • Professions

While the opportunity to get custom license plates is a great idea and a benefit that many people enjoy, obtaining them is not always easy. When the DMV started issuing new license plates, they unintentionally created a tiring process to get them. 

As discussed above, getting your license plates at the DMV can take a long time. But most DMV agencies don’t tell you this information. In fact, many of their websites only outline a few simple steps: register your motor vehicle, submit an application, pay a fee, and get your license plates. 

None of them suggest the hours you might sit or stand at a DMV office or the frustration that’ll likely build during your wait time. 

How to get new license plates without the DMV

Thankfully, modern times and technology have created new ways for you to work around the DMV. If you want to complete simple tasks, like getting new license plates, you no longer have to rely on this state agency. 

In fact, you can get new license plates without ever leaving your house. Companies Barry Risk Management, Inc. makes this possible. 

Instead of waiting in long lines, you can work with a representative from Barry Risk Management, Inc. to get your license plates easily and efficiently. After registering your car, all you need to do is contact an agent, and they’ll help you fill out the application for license plates. 

The representative will help you over the phone. There’s no need to meet somewhere in-person or go to an office. You never have to leave the comfort of your home to complete this task because it happens online. 

All you have to do is call Barry Risk Management, Inc. and gain access to a computer. Once you do those two things, you’ll get your new license plates in the short amount of time that it should actually take. 

Ready to get new license plates? Contact a representative with Barry Risk Management, Inc. today to get started!