Do I Need to Return License Plates in Delaware?

You need to return your license plates to the Delaware DMV whenever the vehicle leaves active, insured registration in your name: when you sell it, move out of state, cancel insurance, total the car, or have the registration suspended. The order matters. Surrender the plates first, then cancel insurance. Reversing that sequence is the single most expensive mistake Delaware vehicle owners make, and it starts at $100 in automatic penalties.

Situations That Require You to Turn Plates In

Delaware law ends the “lawful use” of a plate when the vehicle it belongs to is no longer registered and insured under your name.¹ In practice, you need to get the plates back to the DMV when:

You sell or transfer the vehicle without first retaining the plate or moving it to another car you own. Once the vehicle changes hands with the plate still attached, the plate is gone.²
You move out of Delaware and register the vehicle in your new state.³
You are canceling or losing insurance on a vehicle whose registration is still active.⁴
The vehicle is totaled or taken off the road for good.
The DMV has suspended or revoked your registration. You then have five days from the suspension notice to turn in both your registration certificate and your plate, or the DMV will suspend your driver’s license as well.⁵

Surrender Plates Before You Cancel Insurance

Delaware does not allow you to drop liability coverage first and send the plates back later. The sequence runs the other way. Return the plates to the DMV, get written confirmation that they are off your record, and then call your insurer to cancel.⁶

Insurers report cancellations directly to the state, so the DMV’s system catches a lapse as soon as it happens. There is no grace period. It does not matter that the car is sitting in your garage and never touches a public road. An active registration without matching insurance triggers daily penalties on its own.⁴

When You Can Keep Your Plates

Not every change in vehicle status sends you to the DMV with plates in hand. You keep them when:

You are transferring the plate to another vehicle you own. Delaware Code Section 2128 lets you move an existing plate to a different car by filing a written application and paying a $20 transfer fee on top of any other registration charges.¹
You are simply renewing a current registration.
You are placing the plate into retention at the DMV while you figure out what to do next.

How Tag Retention Works

Retention preserves your plate number for future use rather than surrendering it permanently. This matters more in Delaware than almost anywhere else, because low-digit Delaware plates carry real market value. Single-digit tags have been valued above $1 million, and five- and six-figure prices for low-number plates are routine. Letting one of these go with a sold vehicle is a costly error.

To place a plate into retention, visit a DMV office in person with:

Your Delaware title. If the title lists multiple owners joined by “and,” all must be present; if joined by “and/or,” one owner is enough.
Proof of Delaware insurance, if you are moving the plate to another vehicle or putting a different tag on the same vehicle.

If the vehicle is still financed, complete form MV-35 and arrange for the lienholder to mail the title to the DMV before retention can be processed.²

Retention is not indefinite. The plate stays on hold until the expiration date on its sticker, and then remains available for 365 days past that date.⁷ Miss that window and the plate is gone. If you sold the vehicle out of state, you can file a retention application online through the DMV’s website instead of visiting an office.²

How to Return the Plates

In Person

Any full-service Delaware DMV office will take your plates. The four locations are in Wilmington, Delaware City, Dover, and Georgetown.⁸ Walking in gets you same-day confirmation that the plate is off your record, which is what you need before calling your insurance company.

By Mail

If an office visit is not practical, mail the plates to Division of Motor Vehicles, P.O. Box 698, Dover, DE 19903.⁹ Include a note with your name, your contact information, and the reason for the return. Mailed plates do not count as surrendered until the DMV logs them. If you are up against an insurance cancellation date, go in person.

What It Costs to Hold Onto Plates You Should Have Returned

When the DMV sees that a registered vehicle has lost coverage, it assesses an uninsured vehicle fee of $100 for the first 30 days without insurance and $5 for each additional day after that. The meter runs until you obtain new coverage, surrender the plates, or let the registration expire on its own.¹⁰

On top of the daily fees, the DMV charges $50 to reinstate a suspended registration. The registration stays suspended until both the accumulated penalty and the reinstatement fee are paid in full.¹⁰ A vehicle with a suspended registration cannot legally be driven, and the unresolved balance will follow your DMV record into any future registration you try to open in the state.

These charges are separate from the criminal penalties for driving uninsured, which start at a $1,500 fine and a six-month license suspension for a first offense. The uninsured vehicle fee applies even when the car never leaves your driveway, triggered purely by the mismatch between an active registration and no insurance policy.

1
Delaware Code Online. Delaware Code Title 21 Chapter 21 – Registration of Vehicles
2
Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles. Tag Retention
3
Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles. Moved to Another State FAQs
4
Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles. Vehicle Liability Insurance FAQs
5
Delaware General Assembly. Delaware Code Title 21 – HB88
6
Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles. Vehicle Services Registration – Insurance Requirements
7
Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles. Retaining a Delaware License Plate
8
Division of Motor Vehicles. DMV Locations Map
9
Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles. Contact and Location Information
10
Division of Motor Vehicles. Uninsured Motorist