What Is A Certificate Of Destruction?

Authorised Treatment Facilities (ATF) are the only organisations who are licensed and approved to process the dismantling and disposal of scrap cars. Every ATF in the Motorwise network is licensed either by the Environment Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency or Natural Resources Wales

It is a legal requirement that the ATF produces a Certificate of Destruction (CoD) as soon as they have processed the destruction (scrappage) of a vehicle.

The CoD is electronically submitted by the ATF to DVLA to notify DVLA of the destruction of the vehicle so that the DVLA database can be updated.

Should I receive a copy of the Certificate of Destruction when I scrap my car?

Some Authorised Treatment Facilities will routinely supply the vehicle seller with a copy of the Certificate of Destruction. Others will do so only upon request. It is not a legal requirement for the vehicle seller to obtain a copy of the CoD.

If I sell my car for scrap, do I have to inform the DVLA?

YES! It is a legal requirement that the registered keeper of a vehicle MUST notify DVLA immediately when ownership of the vehicle is transferred. This includes when the car is released to an Authorised Treatment Facility for scrapping.

When transferring ownership of your vehicle to an Authorised Treatment Facility, both the ATF and the Registered Keeper (seller) must complete their details on Section 9 of the V5C document (also known as the log book or registration document) and the previous registered keeper must send this to DVLA immediately to notify them of the transfer of ownership. Alternatively, this notification can be done instantly online by visiting the DVLA website

For more information on Certificate of Destruction (CoD) visit the DVLA website

How can I find an ATF to scrap my car?

Motorwise is one of the U.K.'s largest online car scrap services. We are licenced and approved by the Environment Agency as a Waste Broker. Click here to view our licence

Motorwise transacts the safe and legal sale of tens of thousands of scrap cars every year. We only work with fully licensed and compliant Authorised Treatment Facilities and therefore our customers can rest assured that if they use Motorwise when the time comes to scrap a car, they can be certain that the whole process will be stress free. Need more reassurance? Click here to read our independent Trustpilot reviews