How to scrap your car

Unless they are lucky enough to enter a pampered old age, most cars reach the age and value, where they are beyond economic repair. If the car has been involved in an incident, your insurance company tends to deal with the 'write off' situation for you. Should you have to scrap the car yourself, you need to be wary of the correct procedures, to avoid the risk of being fined.

Should you wish to retain a personalised number plate, you will need to contact the DVLA to have it either transferred to another vehicle, or put on retention. For more details, follow these steps: https://www.gov.uk/personalised-vehicle-registration-numbers/take-private-number-off

What is the easiest way to scrap a car?

The most convenient way to scrap your car is to drive it to a main dealership (presuming your brand of car still exists), which will dispose of it correctly and legally. Alternatively, you can seek out a scrap yard or, more accurately, an Authorised Treatment Facility (ATF). An ATF is required to depollute your car, before preparing it for recycling. If you drive your car to its final resting place, it must not only be roadworthy but also taxed and insured.

You can find your nearest ATF through the official government link: https://www.gov.uk/find-vehicle-scrapyard

How much will I receive for my scrap car?

You are more likely to receive a small payment, if you drive the car to its final destination. The amount will depend on the type of car, its age, condition, scrap metal prices and whether, or not, it requires collecting. Any remaining full months' tax will be refunded after you declare SORN, which you can do online: https://www.gov.uk/make-a-sorn

How to avoid breaking the law, when scrapping your car

If your car is on the public road, regardless of whether it is being driven, or not, it must be taxed, insured and possess a valid MOT Test. Should you store your car off the highway on private land, avoid declaring SORN before cancelling the insurance.

This may land you falling foul of the Continuous Insurance Enforcement, for which you could receive a fixed penalty notice. For more information, see the Motor Insurance Database advice: https://www.mib.org.uk/reducing-uninsured-driving/continuous-insurance-enforcement/

You will also be breaking the law if you entrust your car with any organisation that is not an official ATF. You also remain liable for your car, after you have handed over the keys and log book (V5C), until you have been authorised formally. You should keep the yellow section, entitled ‘sell, transfer or part-exchange your vehicle to the motor trade’.

If your car is to be scrapped, the ATF must give you a Certificate of Destruction within seven days. Yet, should the ATF decide to repair your car and sell it, you will not receive a CoD but a letter from the DVLA, confirming that you are no longer responsible for the vehicle.

However, you must inform the DVLA that you have scrapped the car, an exercise that can be performed online: https://www.gov.uk/sold-bought-vehicle/y/no/scrapped-it-or-it-s-been-written-off

If you choose to remove parts from your car, the DVLA says that you must dismantle the car in a way that does not pollute the environment. Yet, should you buy a parts car to repair your own, the parts must be removed at an ATF.

Presumably, this is to avoid pollution resulting in residential areas, from unqualified people dismantling cars at home and not using the correct equipment.

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