For a plate you cannot hand back because you no longer have it. North Carolina expects the physical plate to come off the car and go back to the Division, and this affidavit is the substitute when it has been lost, stolen or taken by law enforcement — the only three reasons the form offers.
Written against MVR-18A (Rev 4/26), issued under N.C. General Statute 20-72.
Read the three reasons before you start. If the plate is in your hand, this is not the form — take it to a licence plate agency, get the receipt, and only then ring the insurer.
Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MVR-18A from the ncdot.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today, then print our MVR-18A guide and keep it beside you while you fill theirs in.
This is the actual MVR-18A, rendered from the PDF the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles publishes and completed end to end: letterhead, every field, and the blocks at the foot.
Amber — you write it
Grey — not yours to fill
Numbered — explained below
The actual MVR-18A at revision 4/26. Note what is not on this form: there is no box for a plate that was simply handed to the buyer with the car, because North Carolina does not contemplate that happening.
Field by field
Every line, in the order you meet it
1
You fill this in
Vehicle section
Year, make, body style, series model and VIN.
Watch out: The plate is being detached from a vehicle record, so the Division needs to know which one — even though the plate is what is missing.
2
You fill this in
Owner identification and name
Owner 1's identification number and full legal name, with the residence address underneath.
Watch out: The name has to be the one the registration shows. A plate registered jointly needs both names on the form.
3
You fill this in
Plate number
One box, on its own, under the owner block.
Watch out: If the plate has already gone and you never wrote the number down, it is on any registration card, renewal notice or insurance document for the vehicle.
4
You fill this in
Reason for turn in
Lost, Stolen or Taken by Law Enforcement — one tick.
Watch out: Stolen is worth reporting to the police as well as to NCDMV. A stolen plate on somebody else's car generates tolls and citations against your record until the Division is told.
5
You fill this in
Signature, printed name, relationship and address
Four lines at the foot: sign, print the same name, state the relationship if you are a designee, and give the address.
Watch out: Relationship is only for a designee. If you are the registered owner signing for yourself, the line says so — and then the plate is closed and the policy can go.
At a glance
What goes where
On the form
What to put in it
Vehicle section
Year and make, then body style and series model, then the vehicle identification number — five boxes describing a car whose plate has gone missing.
Owner section
Owner 1 and owner 2 identification numbers and full legal names, then residence or business address, city and state, and a mailing address if different.
Plate number
One box on its own, under the owner block.
Reason for turn in
Three tick boxes and no others: Lost, Stolen, or Taken by Law Enforcement.
The certification
I, the owner or designee of the vehicle described on this application, do hereby certify that the registration plate as identified on this application, along with the year sticker and the month sticker, are being reported lost, stolen or taken by Law Enforcement — with the note that proof must be submitted where law enforcement took it.
Signature block
Signature of the owner or designee, then printed name, relationship and address on the three lines beneath it.
What gets this one rejected
•Using it because you sold the car. Sold is not one of the three reasons, and a plate you still hold is surrendered over the counter rather than reported on this form.
•Taken by law enforcement ticked with nothing attached. The form says proof must be submitted.
•A missing plate number. It is the only thing on the sheet the Division is being asked to act on.
•No relationship stated where a designee signs. The line is there because somebody other than the registered owner may be completing it.
•Leaving the stickers out of the picture. The certification covers the year sticker and the month sticker as well as the plate itself.
•Sending it instead of cancelling the insurance in the right order. This form ends the plate; the policy comes after.
Rules that decide whether it is accepted
•The plate belongs to you, which is why this exists. G.S. 20-64 keeps registration plates with the owner when a vehicle is disposed of. A plate that cannot be produced is still your plate, and this is how the Division is told it is gone.
•Do it before the insurance is cancelled. NCDMV's Title Manual states that a licence plate must be surrendered before liability insurance is cancelled on the vehicle. A reported plate is a surrendered plate for that purpose; an unreported one is a live registration with no policy behind it.
Every line here was read off MVR-18A (Rev 4/26) itself —
the PDF is here — and off the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles pages.
This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ,
theirs governs.
