A Certificate of Destruction (sometimes referred to as a CoD), is an official DVLA document which every scrap car should be issued with when they reach their end of life.
A Certificate of Destruction proves that a car has been disposed of correctly (having been handled by a registered ATF) and that it’s no longer on the road. Most importantly to the owner, it provides proof that they are no longer responsible for the car.
If DVLA records are not updated correctly when you sell or dispose of your car, you could get an £80 fine, be liable for any traffic offense penalties carried out in it, as well as for paying tax in arrears, County Court Judgements, a fine of £1,000 and even prosecution.
The Certificate of Destruction, or written confirmation from DVLA (which you should receive if you’ve notified DVLA yourself) are both proof that DVLA have been notified correctly and will relieve you of any liability.
CarTakeBack has a direct electronic link to the DVLA’s vehicle registration database, so if you have scrapped your car with us you’ll receive your DVLA Certificate of Destruction by email, usually within 24 hours of the car being recycled. (That means you need to check that emails from info@CarTakeBack.com don’t get caught in your spam or junk folder.) If you don’t have an email address it will be posted to you.
In the rare circumstance you don’t receive your Certificate of Destruction, customer services can guide you through how to post the completed section 9 (V5C/3) of your registration certificate to DVLA. If you need to notify DVLA but haven’t got the registration certificate, you will be advised to write to DVLA telling them that you no longer own the car. We have a template letter to DVLA that you can use and add the name and address of the CarTakeBack branch, make and model of your car, the registration and the date of sale.
An official DVLA Certificate of Destruction has:
You should sign the certificate within the ‘Holder/Owner’ section as soon as you receive it and then keep it safe indefinitely.
