How to tell the DVLA when you sell or scrap your car
8th Nov, 2019
It’s really important to let the DVLA know when you’re parting ways with your car, whether that’s because you’re selling it privately or scrapping it with someone like us here at Scrap Car Network. If the DVLA doesn’t know you’re not the current owner, then as far as they’re concerned you’re still liable for paying tax on it. And if you’re late to let them know, contrary to what many people think, they never backdate it. In other words, they calculate your refund from the moment they actually receive your communication, not from the moment you decide you’re going to send it.
If you’ve already decided ‘I choose Scrap Car Network to scrap my car’, then you can count on us to let the DVLA know on your behalf. However, it’s still good to get in contact with them personally anyway – it’s the surest way to promptly get your Certificate of Destruction, which is the official document that frees you from legal responsibility for your vehicle once you’ve chosen to scrap it. So, how can you get in touch? We’ve covered the main ways below.
How to inform the DVLA online when you’ve sold or scrapped your car
With all the processing power we carry around in our pockets, it’s no surprise that informing the DVLA online is the fastest, easiest and most preferable means for most people.
Selling your car in a private sale
If you’re the one who’s selling your car, you’ll be pleased to hear it’s not actually you who has to fill in the forms. Most of the time it’s the buyer who has to fill in the new registration information, with the consent of the seller (that’s you, obviously). If you register the new owner online, you also need to make sure they have a copy the current V5C’s section 10, or the V5C/2. Once you’ve got that, the rest of it can be safely disposed of.
Scrapping your car
As we touched on above, if you’re recycling your car with Scrap Car Network, we’ll contact the DVLA on your behalf, but it’s never a bad idea to do so yourself too. When you inform the DVLA online, make sure you’ve got the 11 digit reference number from the latest V5C (or vehicle logbook) to hand. Once you’ve completed that, you’ll never be waiting more than a few weeks for your Certificate of Destruction. You’ll also get an email confirmation, at which point the DVLA will send you a refund cheque for any remaining money left on your vehicle tax. They calculate this from the moment they get your information.
How to inform the DVLA by post when you’ve sold or scrapped your car
Of course, you might have your own reasons for not wanting to do things online. Happily, you don’t have to – you can always choose to let the DVLA know by post instead.
Selling your car in a private sale
All you need to do is get together with the buyer to fill out section 6 of the existing V5C, sign section 8, and then send the entire document off to the DVLA. Here’s the address:
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1BD
From there, you should get a confirmation, and the buyer should receive the completed V5C/2 section.
Scrapping your car
Provided you’ve got the logbook, get the insurance company or scrapyard to fill in the ‘Sell, Transfer or Part-Exchange Your Vehicle’ section. It shouldn’t be too difficult to spot – it’s the yellow bit. Send off the perforated section to the DVLA at the address we’ve listed above.
Alternatively, if you’ve not got the V5C to hand, you’ll need to write to the DVLA with:
Your name and address
The vehicle reg plate
Its model and manufacturer
The exact date upon which you sold it
Our name and address (or that of the insurance company or scrapyard)
Within 4 weeks, you’ll get a letter and a Certificate of Destruction which says you’re not the vehicle’s keeper anymore, at which point you can breathe a sigh of relief. Once more, this is the point at which you get refunded any unused vehicle tax, too.
And that’s all there is to it! It’s less complex than it might look. In that sense, it shares a lot with our processes here at Scrap Car Network. We like to make things as simple and easy as possible for you, from quote to collection of your scrap car. All you need to get started is a free, no-obligation quote – and you can get yours just by filling in a few details on our homepage. It’s really that simple!
