How to Tell DVLA You Have Scrapped Your Car

When your car goes for scrap, DVLA needs to know that you are no longer its keeper. This is your job as the keeper, not the scrapyard’s or ours. This guide covers the three ways to do it, what to have to hand, and what DVLA sends you afterwards.

Facts checked against GOV.UK and the law on 28 October 2026.

Why it is your job

DVLA's record shows a registered keeper for every vehicle. Until DVLA is told the car has gone, that keeper is still you. GOV.UK's scrapping steps end with: tell DVLA you've taken your vehicle to an authorised treatment facility (ATF), and it says you can be fined £1,000 if you do not (GOV.UK: how to scrap your vehicle).

Scrap A Car For Cash takes your enquiry and passes it to a collection company; we do not tell DVLA for you. Even if someone else offers to, the duty stays with you, so plan to do it yourself on the day the car is collected.

Before you tell DVLA

Two things need doing first, because they cannot be done afterwards:

Keep a private number: if the car has a personalised registration you want to keep, GOV.UK says you must take it off the vehicle before you tell DVLA. See keeping a private number plate.
Note who took the car: write down the name and address of the business that collected it. You need it for every method below.

Three ways to tell DVLA

1. Online (quickest)

Use GOV.UK's ‘sold, transferred or bought a vehicle’ service and choose ‘scrapped it or it's been written off’ (GOV.UK: scrapped your vehicle). You need the 11-digit reference number from the latest V5C. GOV.UK says to use the scrapyard's name as the trader, even if you did not get any money for the car.

2. By post with the yellow slip

If you have the log book, get the scrapyard to fill in the yellow ‘sell, transfer or part-exchange your vehicle to the motor trade’ section, then post that perforated section to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BD with the correct postage. The rest of the V5C goes to the scrapyard.

3. By letter if there is no log book

Write to DVLA, Swansea, SA99 1BD with:

your name and address;
the registration number;
the make and model;
the exact date of sale;
the name and address of the scrapyard.

GOV.UK warns that a notification missing any of this can be rejected, and that this also affects any tax refund. More on this route in scrapping without a V5C.

Which method to choose

Method	You need	Notes
Online	11-digit V5C reference, scrapyard name	Email confirmation if you give an address
Yellow slip	The V5C, filled in by the scrapyard	Post to SA99 1BD; keep proof of posting
Letter	The five details listed above	For when the V5C is lost

The online route has a practical advantage: your tax refund is calculated from the date DVLA gets your information, so a notification that arrives sooner can mean an extra month back.

What happens next

According to GOV.UK, once DVLA has your notification you are sent:

an email confirmation, if you gave an email address;
a letter confirming you are no longer the keeper of the vehicle;
a refund cheque for any full months left on your vehicle tax.

If you paid by Direct Debit, it is cancelled automatically. If the car was declared off the road, the SORN is cancelled automatically too (GOV.UK: when you need to make a SORN). Details on timing and what is not refunded are in vehicle tax refunds after scrapping.

If you used the online service and still hold the log book, GOV.UK says to destroy it unless you have already given it to the scrapyard.

Situations that change the route

Insurance write-off: send the V5C to the insurer, keeping the yellow section, and tell DVLA the vehicle has been written off rather than scrapped. GOV.UK gives the same £1,000 fine for not telling it. See insurance write-offs.
The keeper has died: see scrapping a deceased relative's car.
The car is not registered to you: see scrapping a car not in your name.

Common mistakes

Telling DVLA before a private number has been taken off, which loses the number.
Handing over the whole V5C, yellow section included, and then having nothing to notify DVLA with.
Posting a letter without every required detail, so it is rejected and the refund is delayed.
Assuming the Certificate of Destruction tells DVLA for you.
Leaving it for weeks, which can cost a month of tax refund.

What to keep

The DVLA letter confirming you are no longer the keeper.
Your copy of the written contract signed on collection day.
The Certificate of Destruction, if the car was completely scrapped at an ATF. It does not replace telling DVLA.
Proof of posting, if you used the slip or a letter.

Between them, these show when the car left your hands if a penalty notice or tax letter turns up later. The full sequence of a collection is on how it works.

Questions people ask

Does the scrapyard tell DVLA for me?

Do not rely on it. GOV.UK puts the duty on you as the keeper and says you can be fined £1,000 if you do not tell DVLA the vehicle has gone to an authorised treatment facility.

What do I put as the trader name online?

GOV.UK says to use the vehicle scrapyard’s name as the trader you sold the vehicle to, even if you were not paid anything. If you are not sure which business name to give, ask the collection company on the day.

Where is the 11-digit reference number?

It is printed on the latest V5C log book. Without that log book you cannot use the online service and need to write to DVLA instead.

Do I need to cancel my tax or SORN separately?

No. Telling DVLA cancels the tax and any Direct Debit, and GOV.UK says a SORN is cancelled automatically when a vehicle is scrapped.

What should I do with the rest of the log book?

If you used the online service and still have it, destroy it, unless you have already handed it to the scrapyard. Keep the yellow section until DVLA has confirmed the change.

Sources

Who does what

Scrap A Car For Cash (operated by Lead Stack Ltd, company number 15877625) takes your enquiry and passes it to an affiliated vehicle collection company that covers your area.
The collection company values the vehicle, collects it free of charge and pays you on collection, in line with the terms you agree with them.
If the vehicle is completely scrapped, that happens at an authorised treatment facility (ATF), which gives you a Certificate of Destruction. A vehicle that is repaired and resold instead does not get one.

More detail: how it works and our terms and conditions.

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