Scrapped vehicle- tell DVLA?

[Deleted User]

tenchy said:

Nobbie1967 said:

I scrapped an old Spitfire 10 years ago by cutting it up and leaving it for the scrap van to collect the bits, but didn’t notify DVLA at the time. A couple of years back I found the V5 and sent it in with a letter explaining what I had done. They just returned the V5 to me as they were unable to process the scrappage without proof of disposal which I didn’t have. I just chucked the V5 and have heard nothing since, but according to the DVLA my old car still exists. How ridiculous.

I suspect this will happen in my case. Having reviewed the websites posted above, I think we'll just let sleeping dogs lie. As you say, how ridiculous. It's a classic case of "computer says no", coupled with the DVLA jobsworth mentality.

There could well be legitimate reasons not to just accept someone's word on this. If someone claims they scrapped a vehicle and the DVLA just said sure, we'll delete it, there could well be the opportunity for a criminal to misuse the car given it no longer exists in the system e.g. avoiding speeding tickets, used for a robbery etc. By keeping it on the system if you cannot prove it wasn't scrapped, if the plate starts appearing again they'll know who to trace.