Trade Plate Glossary

A release code is the instruction the auction issues once the buyer has paid and the lot is cleared to leave. Without it the gate will not let the vehicle out. A driver in the queue cannot finish the job. OVM does not dispatch to BCA, Manheim, Wilsons or an independent compound until that release is confirmed. The code, the account name and the named collector have to match what the gate expects. If finance, a hold or a missing payment is still on the lot, the office stops the job before anyone travels. Storage charges keep running until a released, roadworthy vehicle actually leaves. See auction collection after release.

A compound is the secure yard where auction stock sits until it is released and collected: BCA, Manheim and Wilsons or an independent site. It is not a public car park and it is not your forecourt. The gate has hours, a process and a list of who may collect. OVM treats a compound collection as a gate job, not a kerbside pickup. The driver arrives with the release details the office has already checked, photographs the vehicle before it moves and only then drives it on trade plates. If the lot is not released, or is not roadworthy, the compound is the wrong place to send a trade plate driver. Use trade plate auction collection when the vehicle is still inside.

Road risk is the motor trade cover for driving the vehicle on the public road under trade plates. It is not the same as the owner's private motor policy. Private motor insurance usually ends when the car is trade stock; trade plate work needs motor trade road risk that follows the driver. OVM moves only roadworthy cars and vans with a valid MOT, so the road risk is attached to a legal drive, not to a recovery. We will not put plates on a vehicle that cannot legally be driven and then call it road risk. For the product that uses this cover, see when trade plate delivery is the right move.

A driven movement is one roadworthy car or van taken from collection to delivery by a driver, on trade plates, on its own wheels. It is not a space on a loaded transporter. It does not wait for a truck to fill. OVM's whole product is this: one unit, valid MOT, digital proof at both ends. A driven movement fails when the vehicle cannot legally be driven, when there are no keys, or when several units need to travel as a load. Those jobs need a different tool. If you are choosing between a driver and a truck, use trade plate delivery versus a transporter. If you already know you need the driver, send the registration and both postcodes for an instant quote.

POC means proof of collection. It is the record that the vehicle left the collection address or compound in a stated condition, with mileage, photographs and a signature, before the journey starts. OVM captures POC on the device at pickup. It is not a paper docket left in the door pocket. It is not a text saying the driver has arrived. POC is issued with the proof of delivery when the job closes when the vehicle is handed over, so the office and the customer close the same job. If collection is at auction, POC still happens at the compound, after release, before the drive. The money page for door to door work with that proof trail is vehicle collection and delivery with POC and POD.

POD means proof of delivery. It is the record that the named person received the vehicle at the delivery address: condition, mileage, photographs and a signature on the device. OVM issues POD together with proof of collection when the job closes, not as a second chase days later. On a retail handover the POD is how the dealer sees that the customer walkaround actually happened. On a site transfer it is how two locations agree the stock arrived as described. POD does not transfer legal title by itself; it closes the movement. If the named person is not there, the driver calls the office rather than leaving the vehicle unsigned. See dealer to dealer vehicle movements.

An MOT is the test that says a vehicle met the legal standard on the day it was tested. For OVM it is a hard gate: no valid MOT, no driven job. Trade plates do not replace an MOT. A car that will be tested at the other end is still not legal to drive today. If the MOT is expired, missing, or you know the vehicle would fail, the right tool is a transporter. We will say so. We do not quote a workshop run on plates for an untested vehicle. Check the MOT status before you ask for a driver, especially on auction stock. The service this rule belongs to is trade plate vehicle movements.

A trade seller is a motor trader selling to another trader, not to a retail customer on the drive. The movement is still a driven car or van on trade plates, but the handover is site to site, invoice to invoice, not a consumer demonstration. OVM's job is the physical move and the condition record, not the sale contract. Name the sites, the registration and who can release and receive the vehicle. A trade seller still needs the vehicle to be roadworthy with a valid MOT if we are the ones driving it. For how we move stock between traders, use dealer delivery.

A dealer transfer, also called a site transfer, is stock moving between two of your locations on trade plates. It is not a retail handover and it is not an auction collection. Condition is recorded at both ends so an internal move cannot become an internal dispute. Each vehicle is its own driven job; we do not load a truck with a block of registrations. The vehicle must be roadworthy, with a valid MOT. Someone at each site has to be able to release and receive it. If you are sending the car to a retail customer instead, that is a different handover. Read site transfers and retail handovers on trade plates.

Storage charges are what the auction or compound bills for a lot that has not left the yard after the free period. They are not OVM's fee. They often cost more than the driven movement if collection is late. The clock usually starts after the hammer or after release, depending on the auction's own rules; we do not rewrite those rules here. The practical point: confirm the release, then get a driver to the gate while the vehicle is still cheap to park. OVM will not send that driver before the lot is released, because a failed gate visit does not stop storage. Use auction collection after release and the auction collection checklist before the charges build.