If you are hoping to find out how to notify DVLA of care sale, then you are in the right place. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) administers the records of all the drivers and vehicles in the UK. They need to know who owns which vehicle. This makes knowing how to tell the DVLA you’ve sold your car very important. In this article we see how to notify the DVLA you sold your car.
Because if you don’t notify the DVLA of a sale, you might be in trouble if the next owner ends up doing anything outside of the law. Because as far as the DVLA is concerned, it’s still your name on the record.
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Here’s everything you need to know about telling the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency about a car you’ve sold:
What If I Don’t Notify The DVLA I’ve Sold My Car?
It’s worth reinforcing how much of a bad idea not telling the DVLA that you have sold your car is. If you let the DVLA go on thinking that you own the car, you leave yourself open to being charged for all kinds of things the person who now owns the car might do. This might include:
- Speeding fines
- Parking tickets
- Road tax lack of payment penalties
Of course, you can always get in touch with the DVLA after you receive a fine or notification like this. But there is normally a deadline for the payment of the fine and a turnaround time for the DVLA to sort it out.
How To Notify The DVLA You’ve Sold Your Car
To notify the DLVA of the sale of your care, there are a few options that are available to you:
1) Online
This is the fastest and easiest way to notify the DVLA that you have sold your car.
Simply use the online notification service and fill out all of the details:
- Inform the DVLA who you sold your car to – this is normally a “motor trader” or a private individual. There are clear entry options in the online system.
- Enter the buyer information– this will include their name and postcode, so make sure you know this.
- Enter V5C details – and the car’s registration number into the system. If you’re not sure where to find either of these, you’ll receive suggestions.
- Hand over or destroy the V5C – the DVLA system will tell you to hand over the vehicle registration documents (if you’re selling to a trader) or just the “new keeper supplement” (if you’re selling to a private individual). If you’re just the new keeper section, you’re usually told to destroy the rest of the book.
- Wait for any road tax refund – that should be all you need to do to notify the DVLA of a sold car. Then it’s just a case of waiting for the cheque if you’ve ended up overpaying your road tax. The timeframe for this is a maximum of six weeks.
2) By post
Some people prefer to notify the DVLA of a transfer of ownership by post. It’s certainly possible to do this, but doing everything online is much quicker and simpler.
If you do want to go down this route, locate the relevant section in your V5C vehicle registration documents – “Selling or transferring your vehicle to a motor trader, insurer or dismantler” – and fill it in.
You then remove this section from the book and post it to:
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1BA
What is the V5C vehicle registration document?
The V5C is the official designation of the vehicle registration document, sometimes called the “logbook”. This should have come with your vehicle when you purchased it. It is the document the DVLA uses to track vehicles in the UK and who owns them.
You can buy or sell a vehicle without a V5C. However, it’s rare to find someone who will buy a vehicle without seeing the logbook first. If it’s you that’s considering buying a vehicle without seeing the registration document, it’s probably worth thinking twice!
If you have sold a car without its registration documents though, you can still notify the DVLA of the sale. All you need to do is send them a few details:
- The car’s registration number
- Its make and model
- The date you sold the vehicle
- The name and address of the buyer
- The name and address of you, the seller
You’ve Sold A Car, Notified The DVLA – Now What?
Congratulations! Another job done, you can check notify DVLA of sale off your to do list and not worry about it.
However, do be sure that you clear up any other subscriptions or payments you’re making on your vehicle.
This might mean checking that you’re not still paying your car insurance, for any vehicle trackers, and that your road tax repayment (if you’re due one) is in the post. After that and telling the DVLA you’ve sold your car, you’re ready to move on.
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