Scrap Vehicles

Sometimes, no matter how much you spend on it, your beloved car is only fit for one final journey - to the scrapheap.

It can be heartbreaking to part with your motor, but if you have taken the decision to scrap it, you should be aware of the procedure.

Until recent years, scrap dealers would pay motorists for their old cars. But now it is not uncommon for them to charge you a fee for taking the vehicle. This is because environmental rules mean the dealers are charged when they dispose of the rubber tyres, so they pass on the costs to you.

Scrap dealers and vehicle dismantlers are now known as authorised treatment facilities (ATFs).

They have to treat end of life vehicles in an environmentally friendly manner.

If you pass your vehicle to an authorised facility and it is destroyed immediately, you will have to hand in your registration certificate.

If it is a certain type of vehicle, including cars and vans up to 3,500kgs, you will be issued with a certificate of destruction (CoD).

If the vehicle is not to be destroyed, you should fill in the relevant section of the registration certificate to transfer keepership to the vehicle dismanter and then send the form to the DVLA.

You are liable for the vehicle until you have notified DVLA of the scrapping or sale of your vehicle. They will send you an acknowledgement letter to confirm you are no longer liable.

If your insurer decides to write off your vehicle, you must hand over the vehicle to them in return for a total loss payment, then complete the relevant part of the registration document and send it to the DVLA.

If you have a cherished personalised number plate you want to keep, you must transfer or retain it before you dispose of the vehicle. If you do not do this you will lose your entitlement to that number. Contact the DVLA for more information.