With many people now turning to the internet to scrap their cars, it can be difficult to know which of the several scrap my car companies to trust and whether they will dispose of your vehicle properly and safely.
Most car scrapping websites will provide you with an instant quote and promise to collect the scrap car within days but they must also abide by certain legal requirements when disposing of your vehicle.
Legislation introduced by the Government nearly a decade ago means that any car sent to be scrapped must go to an Authorised Treatment Facility. All car scrapyards must also have a licence issued to them by the Environment Agency. This is to ensure that these vehicles are dismantled in an environmentally friendly way and are recycled in the appropriate manner.
You should then be sent an authentic Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency Certificate of Destruction. This will be genuine as only authorised ATFs are able to provide such a document. Without a CoD, you could still be liable for traffic offence penalties or vehicle tax and could receive an £80 fine.
When issuing you with the CoD the car scrapping company should also remove your scrap car’s details from the DVLA’s vehicle registration database. However, you can also tear off the relevant section from you V5 ownership document and send it to the DVLA informing them that you are no longer responsible for the vehicle for extra peace of mind.
If a dealer is happy to pay you in cash then this should send alarm bells ringing as this is against the law. Under the Scrap Metal Dealers Act, brought in around October 2013, it is illegal for anyone to pay cash for scrap cars. So if you are thinking ‘I want to sell my car’ and a scrapping car site is offering to make a payment directly into your bank account – or via cheque – then this is a good sign that they are a genuine business.
It is also worth remembering that you will have to give proof of ID – such as a driving licence or passport – when you scrap your car or sell your car in general. Any road tax you might have remaining on your car can be reclaimed by completing a V14 form and returning to the DVLA along with your tax disc.
