Ready to ditch your old car and move on to bigger and better things? Picking out your new ride might be easy, but it can be a little more difficult to figure out what to do with the old one. Luckily, Catherine Loftus at Motorwise has the answers.
Here Catherine offers expert tips on how to safely scrap your car – and maybe even save some money along the way. Have a read – and when you’re ready to commit to your new car, check out our loan calculator to see what sort of rate you’ll be looking at.
If you’ve been quoted a hefty repair bill or have an old banger causing you a headache, it might be time to think about scrapping your car. Selling your old or unwanted car for scrap can be good for your wallet and the environment, but there are some important steps to follow.
We take you through the 3Ps of scrapping your car!
1. Proper Channels
Your car must go to an Authorised Treatment Facility (ATF, also known as a recycling centre) who will ensure up to 85% of the car is safely recycled. ATFs are fully licensed by the Environment Agency, Scottish Environment Protection Agency or Natural Resources Wales to collect and dismantle cars in line with strict legislative requirements. ATFs have the facilities to collect and dismantle cars in all conditions, from the old and rusty to accident damaged. As long as it will roll, even non-runners can be collected!
Not only will the ATF pay you a great price and safely recycle your car, they will come and collect it free of charge from any accessible location. In fact, you won’t have to pay anything to have your car scrapped, from the initial quote through to receiving your Certificate of Destruction.
2. Payment
New legislation has clearly defined the payment methods permitted for scrap cars. Under the Scrap Metal Dealer’s Act 2013, it is illegal to pay cash for any form of scrap metal, meaning you should only accept a cheque or bank transfer when it comes to getting paid.
It is important to remember that if you do accept a cash payment for your scrap car, you will also be committing an offence by completing the transaction.
3. Paperwork
An ATF will ensure the DVLA is notified when the vehicle is scrapped and issue you with a Certificate of Destruction (CoD). If you have the Registration Certificate (known as a V5C or logbook) for your vehicle, the recycling centre will sign Section 9 of this for you upon collection, to be torn off and sent to the DVLA. This transfers the ownership of the vehicle to the ATF, taking it off your hands.
Using an unlicensed operator could mean that you will still be held responsible for the vehicle if it was to end up back on the road – another reason to go through the proper channels!
Following these simple steps will ensure that your car is safely and legally scrapped and won’t come back to haunt you.
Motorwise is an online service linking sellers of old or unwanted cars with a fully licensed recycling centre in their area. The ATFs in our network are some of the largest in the UK and are able to pay top prices for scrap cars. Get your free and instant quote at www.motorwise.com.
