Sorting car tax can sometimes be a bit of a hassle at the best of times, but it can be particularly challenging to deal with in the immediate aftermath of getting your car stolen \u2013 which goes some way to explaining why more than 17,000 people are still paying road tax on stolen vehicles, according to a recent Freedom of Information request.<\/p>\n
Now, obviously here at Scrap Car Network, we like to make everything as simple and straightforward for you as possible once you decide: I need to scrap my car<\/strong><\/a>. When it gets stolen though, it\u2019s a different situation entirely. Here\u2019s the latest on what\u2019s been going on.<\/p>\n According to DVLA data for September last year, there were 54,804 vehicles recorded as stolen. 17,086 of those cars are still taxed, which means the owners are still making payments on them. To put that into perspective, that\u2019s about a third of the total number of stolen cars, still costing their former owners money directly.<\/p>\n The crux of the issue is that the DVLA do not issue road tax refunds automatically when a car is lost, stolen or destroyed. They require someone to specifically notify them about the status of the car. When it\u2019s scrapped, most of the time the scrap car dealer will do that on the former driver\u2019s behalf. When the car is stolen though, the police or insurers won\u2019t necessarily take on that responsibility \u2013 so it’s down to the driver to notify the DVLA and cancel their direct debits.<\/p>\n So, why are so many people stopping short of seeking a car tax refund?<\/p>\n Well, there are a couple of crucial factors at play:<\/p>\n Essentially, all that means that victims of crime are losing money hand over fist. Admittedly, it\u2019s all going into the public purse, so there could be worse places for it \u2013 but the fact remains that it\u2019s not money that they\u2019re legally obliged to hand over.<\/p>\n If you think you may still be paying tax on a stolen car, thankfully the process is fairly straightforward. Just enter your old car\u2019s registration details into the government\u2019s online tax checker<\/strong><\/a>, and it\u2019ll tell you if the car is still taxed or not. If it\u2019s not, you have nothing further to worry about. If it is on the other hand, you can simply cancel the direct debit. (Ideally it\u2019s worth telling the DVLA this in writing as well \u2013 you can call them if you\u2019d like, but they can be notoriously tricky to get hold of over the phone.)<\/p>\n Ah, we\u2019re pleased to say that we\u2019ll be able to help you there! When you scrap your car with us here at Scrap Car Network, we always make sure to notify the DVLA on your behalf. Once they\u2019ve received that official update, they\u2019ll then send you that all-important Certificate of Destruction, which serves as legal proof that your car has been properly disposed of, and that you\u2019re freed from any further legal obligation in relation to it.<\/p>\n However, it\u2019s worth saying that we\u2019d also generally recommend that you still contact the DVLA yourself too. Technically, you\u2019re the one who bears final legal responsibility, so it\u2019s always better that the DVLA gets two notifications, rather than relying entirely on just one from us. And let\u2019s be honest, it gives you better peace of mind that way!<\/p>\n Hopefully when you do bid goodbye to your current car, it\u2019ll be not because of a theft, but simply because it\u2019s reached the end of its useful lifespan. And when that time comes, we\u2019ll be here to help!<\/p>\n With more than 40 years of experience behind us at Scrap Car Network, we\u2019ve refined our process to make sure it\u2019s never been easier to scrap your car. All you need to do is\u00a0enter your car reg<\/strong><\/a> and postcode\u00a0into the fields on our site, and we\u2019ll have your scrap car quote to you in seconds. So\u2026 curious to find out how much your car is worth?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sorting car tax can sometimes be a bit of a hassle at the best of times, but it can be particularly challenging to deal with in the immediate aftermath of getting your car stolen \u2013 which goes some way to explaining why more than 17,000 people are still paying road tax on stolen vehicles, according […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":7811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\nWhat\u2019s been happening?<\/h2>\n
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What do I need to do about tax when I scrap my car?<\/h2>\n