Join the thousands saying scrap my car with Scrap Car Network

When you use our website to get an instant online quote, we’ll compare your nearest local scrapyards, looking for the closest one to you that has the very best price. Once we’ve found the one that best fits both those criteria, then voilà - that’s your instant online quote. The entire process takes just seconds, and allows you to benefit from great baseline prices right from the off. It also keeps travel costs and other logistics down for our Authorised Treatment Facilities, maximising your savings by ensuring those costs don’t get passed to you.

We’re very firm about the price we give you, so as long as you’ve given clear and accurate information about the condition of your van, you can expect us to honour that price. (A quick note here; don’t be tempted to remove parts from your van to sell off separately, as you’ll probably find that the price of those parts will generally get knocked off the total you’ll get for your van.)

We’ve refined our processes down to the bare essentials, so there’s a minimum of forms to complete. You can bid goodbye to filling out endless cookie-cutter forms on endless comparison websites - all we need initially is your van reg and postcode, and we’ll be able to give you that instant scrap van quote. From that point onwards, we’ll take care of as much of the dull stuff as we can for you, and focus on getting you that all-important Certificate of Destruction as quickly and efficiently as possible. We’re committed to making it as easy as possible to recycle your van!

The sheer size of our network means that our coverage extends across the entire country, so wherever you are, we’ll be able to connect you with a scrap yard that’s never too far away. That saves you the headache of working out how to get your van to the scrapyard yourself, especially if it’s not in a drivable condition.

All you have to do to get the ball rolling is let us know where and when you’d like us to collect it. In case you’re wondering, it doesn’t matter what condition it’s in; we’re happy to collect it whether it’s suffered severe damage in a collision, or puttered to a stop on the motorway, or you’ve just decided it would be too expensive or uneconomical to have another go at renewing its MOT certificate.

According to UK law, ATFs are the only ones qualified to scrap your van, so you can have peace of mind in their standards of trustworthiness, transparency, and customer service. By only partnering with ATFs, we can guarantee that we’re able to recycle your van in a legal and environmentally-friendly way, with all parts, fluids, and bodywork processed accordingly.

Steel is one of the most valuable and plentiful resources salvaged from scrapped vehicles every year - about 98% of the steel in your van can be recycled. In fact, almost every one of your van’s components and materials can be re-sold, recycled or repurposed, including everything from its oil and coolant to its glass, fabrics, electronics, and metals (precious and otherwise).

What’s more, we’ve got the skills, facilities and expertise we need to recycle these effectively and efficiently, right here at Scrap Car Network. When you choose us to recycle your van, we’ll subject it to a detailed examination to identify and remove anything that might still have any sort of practical or financial value. We’ll carefully remove these and ensure that everything is repurposed through the proper channels, minimising the amount of unnecessary waste.

Our current van recycling rate stands at about 95%, but our ultimate goal is to get that figure up to 100%, eliminating vehicle waste entirely. When you choose us to recycle your van, you’re helping us edge a little closer to achieving that goal. Every little helps!

A single MOT failure often isn’t much cause for concern, but once the same van has failed its MOT two or three times in a single year, you might understandably decide that it’s become more money and hassle than it’s worth, especially if it’s a business expense. We scrap 10,000 vans and cars every month here at Scrap Car Network, and MOT failures make up a sizeable number of these salvage vehicles.

Essentially, your Certificate of Destruction (or COD, as it’s sometimes known) serves as legal proof that you’ve scrapped your van, so in the eyes of the law, you’re no longer responsible for what happens to it. We’re keenly aware of how crucial that makes it here at Scrap Car Network, so we make sure to get yours to you in a matter of weeks. As well as this though, we’d also generally advise that you contact the DVLA yourself to tell them that you’ve scrapped your van, just for maximum peace of mind.

Lots of drivers still make the mistake of neglecting their Certificate of Destruction once they think their car or van has been scrapped, but that can often end up being an expensive mistake. Don’t ever take someone’s word for it that your van has been properly scrapped if you’ve not actually got the document in your hand - without that formal acknowledgement, it’s possible that the DVLA still holds you legally responsible for your van.

That means at the very least, they’ll be expecting you to pay Vehicle Excise Duty, or van tax. It doesn’t matter whether or not you actually have the van anymore - if the paperwork says you do, then as far as they’re concerned, they’re due the money. Being on the receiving end of that £80 fine is a frustrating but avoidable mistake.

It’s also worth noting that unfortunately, some unscrupulous dealer shave been known to sell on End-of-Life vehicles to new buyers instead of scrapping them as they said they would. If your van is caught out on the roads after it’s supposed to have been scrapped, that will result in some pretty serious legal repercussions - again, all of which can be avoided if you ensure that you get that Certificate of Destruction.

A final note on your Certificate of Destruction - don’t forget that it has to have exactly that wording to be legally recognised. Don’t be fooled by anyone offering a similarly worded document, such as a Certificate of Collection or Record of Destruction. A COD by any other name isn’t legally recognised by the DVLA or anyone else, so it won’t offer you any legal protection. Don’t get caught out!

You might decide to get a SORN if you know for a fact that you won’t be using your van for a significant period of time, normally for at least a month or so. You might be preparing to sell it, you might be undertaking some repairs, or you might have simply decided to give driving a break for a bit. Whatever the case, obtaining a SORN is free, and as soon as it’s active, you’re then legally permitted to pause your payments on road tax and insurance.

Now, obviously the operative phrase here is “as soon as it’s active”. In other words, you have to have been granted the SORN by the DVLA, and been provided with a written acknowledgement that they regard it as active. You can’t just put your van in a garage and then stop making payments on it immediately. That’s a surefire way to get yourself a hefty fine. If the SORN isn’t yet active, or if you’ve not got one at all, then as far as the DVLA and your insurer are concerned, they’re still due the money!

The SORN is very literal in its meaning; when it says your van must be off-road, it means it. The van can’t be parked in the street - for the SORN to be valid, it must be parked in as garage, or in a bay on private land. And once it’s active, the van cannot be driven anywhere at all. (The only exception is if you’re taking it to a pre-booked MOT test.)

You can’t even drive it to a scrapyard to be recycled, so don’t be the one to make that mistake - that’s why we have our hassle-free collection service when we scrap your van. If you’re caught driving it out on the roads and you can’t prove you’re taking it to an MOT, you’re looking at the business end of a £2500 fine.

V5C, vehicle registration document, vehicle log book - they’re all different names for the same thing. Referring to it as a log book can be a bit confusing though, since it’s not actually a book but a slip of paper.

Your V5C is legal proof that your van has been officially registered with the DVLA, and it shows who is the registered keeper of the vehicle. (Bear in mind, though, that the registered keeper is not necessarily the same as the owner.) If it was issued in 2012 or any time afterwards, then it’ll be red. If it was issued before 2012 on the other hand, it will be blue. The layout was changed again in 2019.

So, you might be asking, what is a V5C actually for? Well, basically it tells you what the DVLA understands to be true about your vehicle, and yourself. That means it needs to be kept up to date with every change to your van, however minor. If its engine type, its chassis, or even its paintwork undergoes any sort of change, you’ll need to ensure those alterations are reflected in the V5C. The same goes for any personal details about yourself, including your legal name or address.

In the context of scrapping your van, the V5C is there to provide a quick and useful way to let the DVLA know that you’ve scrapped your van. All you have to do is fill in Section 9, and send it off to them in the post. However, if for whatever reason you’re not able to locate your vehicle logbook, there’s no need to panic. Believe it or not, it’s a very common situation! The good news is that you can still scrap your van without the V5C, but you’ll need to let the DVLA know in writing.

You’ll need to provide them with:

• Your details
• The details of your van (registration number, make, model)
• Our details, if we’re the ones scrapping your van
• The date of sale (from you to us)

That should tell them everything they need to know, and send your Certificate of Destruction winging its way to you by post, officially freeing you of any further legal responsibility for your van.

While cash for vans is an undeniably catchy term, and so still widely used within the industry, it’s been technically illegal for a number of years now. That’s because fraud and other types of automotive crime are a lot easier when there’s no paper trail, and that’s exactly what the Scrap Metal Dealers Act was designed to crack down on when it was implemented in 2013.

Under the terms of the Act, scrap van dealers and organisations like ours are required to pay customers through traceable methods like cheque or BACS (bank transfer), so that everyone can be sure it’s all above board, and no crime of any sort is being committed. That’s the key reason why we’re always so careful to make sure we pay you using exclusively those methods here at Scrap Car Network!