How to Get Rid of Your Car?

Scrap the Vehicle and Keep Nothing

1. The first step is deciding whether to keep any parts before it gets demolished. You can also apply to take a private number off a vehicle (e.g. if you want to keep it).
2. Following that, the process for scrapping a vehicle at one of the authorised treatment facilities (ATF) is usually free of charge.
3. You will need to hand over the vehicle log book (V5C) to the ATF. But, you should retain the yellow section titled 'sell, transfer or part-exchange your vehicle to the motor trade'.
4. The final step is telling the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) that your vehicle has been scrapped at an authorised facility (see below).

Important: There is a penalty of £1,000 for failing to inform the DVLA. But, you need to follow a different process if the insurance company is writing-off the vehicle.

Scrap a Vehicle and Keep Some Parts

Often, car owners want to remove some parts from their vehicle before getting rid of it. For example, you might want to use them while carrying out general repairs to one of your other vehicles.

If this is the case, you need to remove the car parts and accessories using methods that are not going to pollute the environment, such as:

• Ensuring engine oil doesn't soak into the ground.
• Making sure fluids do not enter the drainage system.

An authorised treatment facility must remove car parts from any vehicle that you buy if the sole purpose of removing them is for selling them or for restoring another vehicle.

1. If you are taking parts off your own vehicle, you must register your vehicle as off the road (SORN) and keep it off public roads and highways (e.g. on a driveway, in a garage).
2. You can also apply to take the registration number off the car if you want to keep it.
3. Once you have removed the parts that you want to keep, you can go ahead and scrap your vehicle at an ATF. They may charge a fee if you removed some of the essentials (e.g. bodywork, engine, wheels, gearbox).
4. You will need to hand over the vehicle log book (V5C) to the ATF. But, you should retain the yellow section titled 'sell, transfer or part-exchange your vehicle to the motor trade'.
5. The final step is telling the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) that your vehicle has been scrapped at an authorised facility (see below).

How to Scrap a Vehicle Registered Outside the UK?

You can't register or tax a 'severely damaged' vehicle in the United Kingdom if it's already been registered abroad.

The definition of severe damage means it cannot be repaired. So, the registration certificate might describe it as being:

• 'scrapped'
• 'statutory write-off'
• 'non-repairable'

Nonetheless, even if the vehicle has been damaged, you should check if the registration authority for the relevant country classifies it as 'severely damaged'. If not, ask them for evidence.

You will need to scrap it at an ATF in the United Kingdom. After completely destroying the vehicle, they will give you a 'Certificate of Destruction'.

Important: The vehicle owner has the responsibility of telling the driving authority in the relevant country that it's been dismantled and demolished in the United Kingdom.

Where Can You Scrap a Vehicle?

ATF written on official documentation means the business can conduct car recycling procedures. Thus, the Environment Agency grants permits to these businesses so they can depollute scrap vehicles.

In fact, it is illegal to scrap a vehicle anywhere other than an authorised treatment facility. Even so, once the ATF has your vehicle, they can choose to (either):

• Crush it completely.
• Carry out repairs and sell it.

If the ATF Completely Scraps the Vehicle

In most cases, vehicles are completely scrapped by ATFs. If they scrap it, they will give you a 'certificate of destruction' within seven (7) days, if your vehicle was any of the following:

• Car
• 3-wheeled motor vehicle (excludes motor tricycles)
• Light van

The certificate provides evidence that you handed over the vehicle for the purpose of scrapping it. Without this document, you may be liable for:

• Traffic offence penalties
• Vehicle excise tax

Important: ATFs only pay the scrap value of a vehicle. Being paid in cash for having a vehicle scrapped in England or Wales is illegal. The payment must be by cheque or bank transfer.

What if an ATF Repairs and Sells the Vehicle?

The ATF will not produce a certificate of destruction if they are going to repair it (for the purpose of selling it). In this case, they will be able to pay you in cash.

Where to Find a Vehicle Scrapyard?

In England, you can use the Royal Mail postcode lookup facility to find a breaker's yard or a dismantler. But, the service is different for:

• End-of-life vehicles in Scotland
• Scrap metal dealers in Wales
• End of life vehicles in Northern Ireland

Note: The main section contains information about car repair jobs and general maintenance procedures in simple formats for beginners.

Tell DVLA You Scrapped a Vehicle at an ATF

You need to get the eleven (11) digit reference number found on the most current vehicle log book (V5C) to inform the DVLA that your vehicle has been scrapped (or written off).

Use the name of the ATF or insurance company as the trader. Plus, you should also destroy the V5C unless the ATF or your insurance company has it. Next, the DVLA will send you:

• Confirmation by email (if you submitted it).
• A letter that confirms you are no longer the registered keeper of the vehicle.
• Vehicle tax refund by cheque (for any full months that are valid).

What if you don't have the vehicle log book (V5C)? If not, you need to write a letter to DVLA telling them (all):

• Your full name and address.
• The registration number, make, and model of the vehicle.
• When you got rid of it (exact date of sale).
• The scrapyard's or insurance company's name and address.
  
  DVLA
  Swansea
  SA99 1BD

Note: The DVLA can reject your notification if you don't give them all this information. It will also affect the refund of any vehicle tax owed to you.

How to Claim for an Insurance Write-off?

It is normal for the vehicle owner to make an insurance claim if their car got wrecked. If this happens, the insurance company will decide whether to write it off, and then confirm (both):

• That they are going to 'write off' your vehicle.
• How much compensation they are going to pay you for writing it off (e.g. the current value of the vehicle).

Vehicle Write-off Categories

The write-off category determines what you 'can' and 'can't' do. In most cases, the insurance company will get the vehicle scrapped on your behalf. But, the vehicle owner needs to.

1. Apply to take the registration number off the car if you want to keep it.
2. Hand over the vehicle log book (V5C) to the insurance company. You should keep the yellow section titled 'sell, transfer or part-exchange your vehicle to the motor trade'.
3. Notify the DVLA that your vehicle has been written off (see below).

Keeping a Vehicle in Category C, D, N or S

The insurance company should give you an insurance payout and then sell the vehicle back to you (e.g. if you want to keep it).

To keep a vehicle in category C or S, the owner also needs to send the whole V5C to the insurance company and apply for a free duplicate log book (using form V62).

Tell DVLA your vehicle has been written off

The vehicle owner needs to notify DVLA if the vehicle has been written off and scrapped by the insurance company. In fact, writing off and scrapping a vehicle is the same as selling it to the insurance company.

Give the following information to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA):

1. Name and postcode of the insurance company (enter in the section titled 'provide trader details').
2. Vehicle registration number.
3. The 11 digit reference number from the yellow section of the log book (V5C).

Following that, the DVLA will send you:

• Confirmation by email (if you submitted it).
• A letter that confirms you are no longer the registered keeper of the vehicle.
• Vehicle tax refund by cheque (for any full months that are valid).

How to Apply for a Vehicle Registration Certificate (Form V62)?

The application for a vehicle registration certificate issued by the DVLA is the process of getting a log book (V5C).

Thus, you need to use form V62 when you apply for a new vehicle registration certificate.

You can also get a duplicate log book (V5C) online if there are no changes needed for the document.

What if you need to make some changes or you are not yet registered as the keeper of the vehicle? In this case, you need to apply by post using form V62.

Sut I Sgrapio Eich Cerbyd? (Cymraeg)

Pan fydd eich cerbyd wedi cyrraedd diwedd ei ddefnyddioldeb, rhaid ichi ei sgrapio mewn cyfleuster trin awdurdodedig (ATF). Gelwir y rhain weithiau yn iard sgrap neu iard dorri.

Mae yna broses wahanol os yw eich cwmni yswiriant wedi datgan bod eich cerbyd yn anadferadwy (wedi’i ddiddymu).

Sgrapio Eich Cerbyd Heb Gadw Unrhyw Rannau

1. Gwneud cais i dynnu’r rhif cofrestru oddi ar y cerbyd os ydych am ei gadw.
2. Sgrapio eich cerbyd mewn ATF. Mae hyn fel arfer am ddim.
3. Rhoi llyfr log y cerbyd (V5C) i’r ATF, ond cadwch yr adran felen ‘gwerthu, trosglwyddo neu gyfnewid eich cerbyd yn rhannol i’r fasnach foduro’ ohono.
4. Dweud wrth DVLA eich bod wedi mynd â’ch cerbyd i ATF.

Important: Gallwch gael dirwy o £1,000 os na fyddwch yn dweud wrth DVLA.

Sgrapio Eich Cerbyd a Chadw Rhannau Ohono

Gallwch gymryd rhannau o’ch cerbyd cyn ichi ei sgrapio fel y gallwch eu defnyddio i atgyweirio cerbyd arall.

1. Dweud wrth DVLA bod y cerbyd oddi ar y ffordd tra’ch bod yn cymryd rhannau ohono. Rhaid ei gadw oddi ar y ffordd, er enghraifft mewn garej, ar lôn y tŷ neu ar dir preifat.
2. Gwneud cais i dynnu’r rhif cofrestru oddi ar y cerbyd os ydych am ei gadw.
3. Sgrapio eich cerbyd mewn ATF pan fyddwch wedi gorffen cymryd rhannau ohono. Gall yr ATF godi ffi os ydych chi wedi tynnu rhannau hanfodol, fel yr injan, blwch gêr, corff neu olwynion.
4. Rhoi llyfr log y cerbyd (V5CW) i’r ATF, ond cadwch yr adran felen ‘gwerthu, trosglwyddo neu ran-gyfnewid’ ohono.
5. Dweud wrth DVLA eich bod wedi mynd â’ch cerbyd i ATF.

Sgrapio Cerbyd Sydd Wedi’i Gofrestru Dramor

Os oes gennych gerbyd sydd wedi’i gofrestru y tu allan i’r DU sydd wedi’i ddosbarthu fel ‘wedi’i ddifrodi’n ddifrifol’, ni fyddwch yn gallu ei gofrestru na’i drethu yn y DU. Mae difrod difrifol yn golygu nad oes modd atgyweirio’r cerbyd - gallai ddweud rhywbeth fel ‘cerbyd wedi’i ddiddymu’n statudol’ (‘statutory write-off’), ‘wedi’i sgrapio’ neu ‘anadferadwy’ ar y dystysgrif gofrestru.

Os yw’r cerbyd wedi’i ddifrodi, gwiriwch a yw ‘wedi’i ddifrodi’n ddifrifol’ gyda’r awdurdod cofrestru ar gyfer y wlad y mae’r cerbyd yn dod ohoni.

Os nad yw ‘wedi’i ddifrodi’n ddifrifol’, gofynnwch iddynt ddarparu tystiolaeth o hyn.

I’w sgrapio unwaith y bydd yn y DU, rhaid ichi ddefnyddio ATF.

Byddwch yn derbyn ‘Tystysgrif Dinistrio’ i brofi bod y cerbyd wedi cael ei ddinistrio.

Eich cyfrifoldeb chi yw dweud wrth yr awdurdod gyrru yn y wlad lle mae’r cerbyd wedi’i gofrestru ei fod wedi cael ei sgrapio.

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