Terms and Conditions

1. About these terms

1.1 These terms and conditions ("Terms") govern your access to and use of the Plate Circle website, app and related services (together, the "Platform"), operated by Plate Circle Ltd (company number 16736844), registered at Unit 82a James Carter Road, Mildenhall, Bury St. Edmunds, England, IP28 7DE ("Plate Circle", "we", "us", "our").

1.2 In these Terms: "Registration" means a vehicle registration mark and the associated right to have it assigned to a vehicle, evidenced by DVLA documentation (for example a V750 Certificate of Entitlement or V778 Retention Document); "Listing" means an advertisement of a Registration on the Platform; "Seller" and "Buyer" mean users acting in those capacities; "User", "you" means any person who accesses or uses the Platform.

1.3 By creating an account, making or accepting an offer, or otherwise using the Platform, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, you must not use the Platform.

1.4 We may update these Terms from time to time (see clause 22). The version in force is the one published on the Platform when you use it.

1.5 Please also read our Privacy Policy and our Acceptable Use Policy, which form part of these Terms.

2. Eligibility and accounts

2.1 You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a legally binding contract to use the Platform.

2.2 You must provide accurate, current and complete information when registering and keep it up to date.

2.3 You are responsible for keeping your login credentials secure and for all activity under your account. Notify us immediately at support@platecircle.com if you suspect unauthorised use.

2.4 You may use the Platform as a private individual or as a business. If you are acting as a business (for example, a registered dealer or trader), you must tell us, and additional obligations under consumer law may apply to you when you sell to consumers.

2.5 We may refuse, suspend or close accounts in accordance with clause 19.

3. Our role , what Plate Circle does and does not do

3.1 The Platform is a marketplace and venue that allows Sellers to advertise Registrations and Buyers to discover them, make offers and arrange purchases. Except where we expressly state that we are buying or selling as principal (see clauses 11 and 12), the contract for the sale of a Registration is between the Buyer and the Seller alone. Plate Circle is not a party to that contract.

3.2 We do not own, take title to, hold, inspect, verify or guarantee any Registration listed by a User. We are not an agent, broker, valuer, auctioneer in the regulated sense, conveyancer, or financial or investment adviser for either party, except to the limited extent (if any) expressly stated.

3.3 We do not verify the identity, entitlement, solvency or conduct of any User, or the accuracy of any Listing, valuation, or statement made by a User, except where we expressly say we have done so.

3.4 You are responsible for satisfying yourself, before entering into any transaction, as to the Registration, the other party, the DVLA transfer process, and the suitability of the transaction for your needs.

4. Listing a Registration (Sellers)

4.1 By creating a Listing you represent and warrant that:

• (a) you are the registered keeper or otherwise legally entitled to sell and to procure the assignment of the Registration, and you hold (or are entitled to obtain) the relevant DVLA documentation;
• (b) the Registration is not subject to any charge, lien, dispute, finance agreement, retention by a third party, or other restriction that would prevent its lawful transfer;
• (c) all information in the Listing is accurate, complete and not misleading, including any images;
• (d) you will not use the Registration or describe it in any way that would make a vehicle appear newer than it is, or that breaches DVLA rules or any law; and
• (e) the Listing and the sale comply with all applicable laws.

4.2 Seller ownership and entitlement , no Plate Circle liability. Responsibility for entitlement to, and good title in, a Registration rests entirely with the Seller. Plate Circle does not investigate or warrant a Seller's right to sell. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Plate Circle accepts no liability to any Buyer or third party arising from a Seller's lack of entitlement, defective title, encumbrance, or failure to complete a transfer. The Seller indemnifies Plate Circle in respect of such matters under clause 18.

4.3 You are responsible for the accuracy of your Listing and for keeping it current. You must withdraw or update a Listing promptly if the Registration is no longer available or any detail changes.

4.4 We may edit, refuse, re-categorise or remove any Listing at our discretion, including where we consider it inaccurate, unlawful, or in breach of these Terms. We are not obliged to monitor Listings.

4.5 Licence in your Listing content. By submitting a Listing (including images and descriptions) you grant Plate Circle a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable and sub-licensable licence to host, store, reproduce, publish, display and promote that content in connection with operating and marketing the Platform. This licence lets us display your content and, together with clause 16, enforce against third parties who copy or misuse it; it does not transfer ownership, which remains yours.

5. Making and accepting offers (Buyers and Sellers)

5.1 A Listing is an invitation to treat, not a binding offer to sell, unless we expressly state otherwise (for example, a fixed "Buy Now" price).

5.2 Offers. A Buyer may submit an offer for a Registration. An offer is binding when made and remains open for the period stated on the Listing unless withdrawn before acceptance.

5.3 Counter-offers. A Seller may accept, decline or make a counter-offer. A counter-offer rejects the original offer and replaces it. A Buyer may then accept, decline or counter again. The Platform may set limits on the number or timing of offers and counter-offers.

5.4 Formation of contract. A binding contract of sale between Buyer and Seller is formed when an offer or counter-offer is accepted through the Platform and any deposit/payment step described in clause 8 is completed. At that point the Buyer is obliged to pay and the Seller is obliged to transfer, subject to these Terms and the DVLA process.

5.5 You must act in good faith. Submitting offers you do not intend to honour, manipulating prices, or "bidding up" your own or associated Listings is prohibited and may lead to suspension.

5.6 Fair use of offers and bids. Offers must be genuine, serious, and made with a real intention to buy at the offered price. You must not:

• (a) submit frivolous, joke, or unrealistic offers (including absurd low or high amounts) that you do not intend to honour;
• (b) flood a Listing, Seller, or the Platform with excessive or repeated offers, or use offers to spam, disrupt, harass or pressure a Seller; or
• (c) use bids to manipulate a Listing's price, ranking or visibility, or coordinate with others to do so.

To protect Users and the integrity of the marketplace, we may apply measures including minimum offer amounts and increments; limits on the number of offers per User, per Listing or per period; cooldown or rate-limiting controls; requiring a verified account or a valid payment method on file before bidding; treating certain offers as binding; and authorising or pre-authorising a payment method. Where you breach this clause we may cancel offers, restrict or remove your bidding privileges, suspend or close your account, and recover any reasonable costs we incur.

6. Fees and buyer's premium

6.1 Buyer's premium. Where stated, a buyer's premium of 3% (no VAT) of the accepted offer price is payable by the Buyer to Plate Circle in addition to the price paid to the Seller. The premium is shown before the Buyer commits and is non-refundable except as required by law or as set out in clause 9.

6.2 Seller fees. Sellers may be charged a listing fee, a commission, or a fixed completion fee, as set out in our published fee schedule.

6.3 VAT and taxes. Fees are stated inclusive of VAT where applicable. You are responsible for your own tax position, including any VAT, on the sale or purchase of a Registration.

6.4 When fees are payable. Fees become payable on acceptance of an offer or on completion of the DVLA transfer, as specified at the point of transaction. We may collect fees via the payment method on file.

6.5 We may change our fees on reasonable notice for future transactions. Changes do not affect transactions already committed.

7. Completing the sale and the DVLA transfer

7.1 Completion of a sale requires the lawful transfer of the Registration through the relevant DVLA process. The Buyer and Seller are responsible for completing that process correctly and promptly. Plate Circle may provide guidance or tools to assist but does not carry out the transfer on the parties' behalf unless expressly agreed.

7.2 The Seller must provide valid DVLA documentation and take all steps reasonably required to assign the Registration to the Buyer or to the Buyer's nominated vehicle/retention.

7.3 The Buyer must provide the information reasonably required to effect the transfer and must comply with DVLA requirements.

7.4 If a transfer cannot be completed because of a Seller's lack of entitlement or default, the Buyer's remedy is against the Seller. Plate Circle's role in any refund of monies it holds is set out in clauses 8 and 9.

8. Payments and handling of funds

8.1 Plate Circle does not hold buyer funds. The price for a Registration is paid by the Buyer to the Seller directly. Plate Circle does not receive, hold, escrow or release the sale proceeds and is not a party to the payment of the price.

8.2 Plate Circle (through its payment provider, Stripe) collects only its own charges , for example the buyer's premium and any seller fees , at the point specified at clause 6.4. Those charges are separate from, and additional to, the price paid to the Seller.

8.3 Future optional services. Plate Circle may introduce additional optional services, including a managed transfer service, in future. Any such service will operate under separate terms made available at the time.

8.4 We are not responsible for the acts or omissions of any third-party payment or transfer provider, and your use of that provider is subject to its own terms.

8.5 You must not attempt chargebacks or payment reversals in bad faith. We may suspend accounts and recover amounts owed to us, including reasonable costs.

9. Cancellation, refunds and consumer rights

9.1 Nothing in these Terms removes or limits any rights you have as a consumer that cannot lawfully be excluded.

9.2 Where a transaction is cancelled before completion, refunds and fee treatment are handled in accordance with our published process.

9.3 Buyer's premium and seller fees are non-refundable once a transaction is committed, except where the cancellation arises from Seller default or where a refund is required by law.

9.4 Disputes about the Registration itself (condition, entitlement, transfer) are between Buyer and Seller. Plate Circle may, at its discretion and without obligation, assist in resolving disputes but is not the arbiter of, or liable for, the outcome.

10. No completing sales off the Platform (anti-circumvention)

10.1 The Platform's services are provided on the basis that transactions discovered or facilitated through it are completed through it. If you are introduced to, or made aware of, a counterparty or a Registration through the Platform, you must not, for the purpose of avoiding Plate Circle's fees or these Terms:

• (a) complete, or attempt to complete, that transaction outside the Platform; or
• (b) solicit or accept an introduction to take a transaction off-Platform.

10.2 Sharing contact details to move a transaction off-Platform, or encouraging another User to do so, is a breach of these Terms.

10.3 If you complete a transaction off-Platform in breach of clause 10.1 within 12 months of an introduction through the Platform, you agree that Plate Circle may charge, and you will pay, the fees (including any buyer's premium and seller commission) that would have been payable had the transaction completed on the Platform, together with reasonable costs of recovery.

10.4 We may suspend or terminate the accounts of Users who circumvent the Platform.

11. Cash offers by Plate Circle (where Plate Circle buys as principal)

11.1 From time to time Plate Circle may make a cash offer to buy a Registration directly. Where it does, Plate Circle acts as principal (Buyer), and the contract is between you (the Seller) and Plate Circle.

11.2 A cash offer is valid for the period stated in it and is subject to: (a) your warranties in clause 4; (b) verification of entitlement and documentation to our satisfaction; and (c) successful completion of the DVLA transfer.

11.3 We may withdraw or revise a cash offer before you accept it, and we may decline to proceed if our verification is not satisfied.

11.4 Payment terms for cash offers are as stated in the offer.

12. Valuations and price guidance

12.1 The Platform may provide valuations, estimates, price guides or indicative ranges for Registrations ("Valuations"). Valuations are provided for general information only.

12.2 Valuations are automated and/or opinion-based estimates, are not guarantees of sale price, market value, or that a Registration will sell, and do not constitute financial, investment, tax or professional advice. Actual prices depend on market conditions and what a Buyer is willing to pay.

12.3 To the fullest extent permitted by law, Plate Circle is not liable for any decision made, or loss suffered, in reliance on a Valuation. You should obtain independent advice before relying on any Valuation.

13. Sold prices and market data

13.1 The Platform may publish sold prices, transaction histories, indices and other market data ("Market Data").

13.2 Market Data is provided for general information only and may be incomplete, aggregated, estimated, delayed or anonymised. We do not warrant its accuracy or completeness, and we are not liable for reliance on it.

13.3 You may view Market Data for your own personal, non-commercial use. You must not scrape, harvest, republish, resell or commercially exploit Market Data without our prior written consent. All Market Data and associated rights remain ours or our licensors'.

14. "Spotted" , user-submitted photos and posts

This section governs the Spotted feature, where Users may post photographs and information about Registrations they have seen. It applies in addition to the rest of these Terms.

14.1 Your rights in what you post. You may only submit a photograph or other content to Spotted if you took it yourself or otherwise hold all rights necessary to submit it. You represent and warrant that your content does not infringe any third party's intellectual property, privacy or other rights.

14.2 No personal information about others. You must not post content that identifies, or could reasonably identify, an individual, or that reveals personal information about a third party. In particular you must not:

• (a) include or tag a person's name, address, home, workplace, or other personal details;
• (b) include images of identifiable people, faces, or property in a way that reveals where someone lives or works;
• (c) combine a Registration with other information so as to identify the keeper or owner of a vehicle;
• (d) post content for the purpose of harassing, shaming, tracking, "doxxing" or targeting any person; or
• (e) post location data that could expose where a person or vehicle is regularly kept.

14.3 Licence you grant to us. By submitting content to Spotted you grant Plate Circle a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable licence to host, store, reproduce, adapt, publish, display and otherwise use that content in connection with operating, promoting and improving the Platform. You waive any moral rights in the content to the extent permitted by law.

14.4 Responsibility and moderation. You are responsible for content you submit. We do not pre-screen content and are not responsible for User content, but we may remove, refuse or edit any content at our discretion, and we operate a takedown process: to report content, contact support@platecircle.com.

14.5 Prohibited content. You must not submit content that is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, threatening, discriminatory, infringing, misleading, or otherwise in breach of our Acceptable Use Policy.

14.6 We may suspend or remove the Spotted privileges, or the account, of any User who breaches this section.

15. Acceptable use

15.1 You must not use the Platform to: break any law; infringe others' rights; post false, misleading or fraudulent Listings or offers; manipulate prices or Valuations; circumvent fees (clause 10); transmit malware; scrape or harvest data except as expressly permitted; impersonate others; or interfere with the Platform's operation or security.

15.2 We may investigate and take action (including suspension, removal of content, reporting to authorities, and legal action) in respect of suspected breaches.

16. Intellectual property and protection of content

16.1 Ownership. The Platform and all content, materials and data made available through it , including text, design, graphics, logos, software, the look and feel, the structure and arrangement of the Platform, all images, and all Valuations and Market Data (including sold prices, indices and price histories) , are owned by or licensed to Plate Circle and protected by copyright, database right, trade mark and other intellectual property rights. User content (such as Listing images and Spotted posts) remains owned by the relevant User but is licensed to us under clauses 4.5 and 14.3, which (together with this clause) allow us to display it and to act against its misuse.

16.2 Database right. The compilation, selection and arrangement of content on the Platform , including the Listings database and the Market Data , is protected by the database right under the Copyright and Rights in Databases Regulations 1997. You must not extract or re-utilise all or a substantial part (or repeated insubstantial parts) of any such database without our prior written consent.

16.3 Your licence to use the Platform. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, transferable, revocable licence to access and use the Platform, and to view Market Data, for your own personal, non-commercial use only, subject to these Terms.

16.4 Prohibited uses of content. Except as clause 16.3 permits, as the law requires, or with our prior written consent, you must not (and must not permit or enable anyone else to):

• (a) copy, reproduce, replicate, download, store, republish, redistribute, transmit, broadcast, sell, licence, or otherwise make available any content from the Platform, including images, Listings, Valuations and Market Data;
• (b) frame, mirror, cache, or embed any part of the Platform on another site or service;
• (c) scrape, crawl, spider, harvest, or use any automated means to access, monitor, copy or extract content or data from the Platform; or
• (d) create any database, product, dataset or service that reproduces, incorporates or competes with the Platform or its content.

16.5 No text and data mining or AI training. You must not carry out text or data mining of, or use any content or data from, the Platform to develop, train, fine-tune or improve any machine-learning or artificial-intelligence model or system, without our prior written consent. We expressly reserve our rights in this respect, including under section 29A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and this reservation overrides any general permission you might otherwise rely on.

16.6 Trade marks. "Plate Circle" and our logos are our trade marks. You may not use them without our consent.

16.7 Reservation and remedies. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. Unauthorised use of our content or breach of this clause may infringe our rights and those of our Users, and we (and, where relevant, affected Users) may take action, including removing access, suspending or closing accounts, and pursuing legal remedies and recovery of costs.

17. Disclaimers

17.1 The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude all warranties, conditions and representations not expressly set out in these Terms, including as to the accuracy of Listings, Valuations, Market Data, or the conduct, identity, entitlement or solvency of any User.

17.2 We do not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free or secure, or that defects will be corrected.

17.3 Nothing in this clause limits the rights of consumers that cannot be excluded by law.

18. Limitation of liability

18.1 Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes our liability for: death or personal injury caused by our negligence; fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; any liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded, including consumers' statutory rights.

18.2 Subject to clause 18.1, and to the fullest extent permitted by law:

• (a) we are not liable for any loss arising from a transaction between Users, including a Seller's lack of entitlement or defective title, non-completion of a transfer, non-payment, or the condition, value or legality of any Registration;
• (b) we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, loss of opportunity, loss of goodwill, or loss of anticipated savings; and
• (c) our total aggregate liability to you arising out of or in connection with these Terms and your use of the Platform is limited to the lower of: (i) the total fees you paid to us in the 12 months before the claim; and (ii) £1,000. In no event will our total aggregate liability exceed £1,000.

18.3 You acknowledge that we are an intermediary and that, except where we contract as principal under clauses 11 to 12, your remedies in respect of a transaction lie against the other party to that transaction.

19. Indemnity

19.1 You agree to indemnify Plate Circle against all losses, liabilities, costs and expenses (including reasonable legal costs) arising from: your breach of these Terms; your Listings, offers, content or transactions; your breach of a third party's rights (including intellectual property and privacy); and, in the case of Sellers, any claim relating to entitlement to or title in a Registration.

20. Suspension and termination

20.1 We may suspend, restrict or terminate your access to the Platform, remove your content, or close your account, with or without notice, if you breach these Terms, if we are required to by law, or to protect the Platform or other Users.

20.2 You may close your account at any time. Closure does not affect transactions already committed or fees already due.

20.3 Provisions that by their nature should survive termination (including clauses 4.2, 6, 10, 13, 16 to 19, 21 and 23) survive.

21. Data protection

21.1 We process personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy and applicable data protection law (UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018). The Privacy Policy explains what we collect, why, the lawful bases, and your rights.

21.2 Where you submit content about others (including via Spotted), you must comply with clause 14 and with data protection law in respect of any personal data you submit.

22. Changes to these Terms

22.1 We may amend these Terms from time to time. We will publish the updated Terms with a new effective date and, for material changes, give reasonable notice by email or in-app notice.

22.2 Changes do not apply retrospectively to transactions already committed. Continued use after changes take effect constitutes acceptance.

23. General

23.1 Governing law and jurisdiction. These Terms and any dispute arising from them are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have non-exclusive jurisdiction. If you are a consumer in Scotland or Northern Ireland, your local-court rights are preserved.

23.2 Dispute resolution. Before bringing a claim, please contact us at support@platecircle.com so we can try to resolve the matter.

23.3 Entire agreement. These Terms, the Privacy Policy and any Acceptable Use Policy are the entire agreement between us regarding the Platform.

23.4 Severability. If any provision is found unenforceable, the rest remains in force.

23.5 No waiver. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it.

23.6 Assignment. We may assign or transfer these Terms; you may not without our consent.

23.7 Third parties. Except as stated, a person who is not a party has no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce these Terms.

23.8 Force majeure. We are not liable for failure or delay caused by events beyond our reasonable control.

23.9 Contact. support@platecircle.com · Plate Circle Ltd · Unit 82a James Carter Road, Mildenhall, Bury St. Edmunds, England, IP28 7DE · 16736844.