If you’ve ever looked into car scrapping and recycling, you’ll no doubt have come across a document called a ‘Certificate of Destruction’. If not, allow us to introduce you to the concept!
A Certificate of Destruction is a legal document provided by the DVLA at the moment your scrap vehicle is disposed of. The document is issued electronically when vehicles are scrapped via Authorised Treatment Facilities – the facility itself receives a copy and so too does the customer. It serves as official proof that your car no longer exists and has been scrapped responsibly. A Certificate of Destruction must be issued, received and ideally retained, in order to comply with all applicable UK laws.
Why You Need a Certificate of Destruction
Unfortunately, far too many motorists fail to scrap their cars via ATFs and thus don’t receive a Certificate of Destruction. In such instances, those involved have no legal evidence that their car has been taken off the road, has been processed in a legal manner or is no longer officially their property.
The problem being that if you do not receive a Certificate of Destruction, anything that happens thereafter involving your vehicle technically remains your fault. Regardless of what the scrap dealer decides to do with it, it’s you and you alone who stands to face the consequences.
For example, given that your car is not considered to be officially off the road, you will still technically be liable for paying road tax. You’ll of course have the option of opposing the bill you’ll receive through the post, but in doing so will also admit that you failed to dispose of your car in accordance with UK law. Make no mistake about it – the DVLA is not afraid to take extremely strong legal action against those who flout the rules – irrespective of whether or not they realised they were doing so.
In addition, it’s also worth thinking about how you can be sure whether or not your car has in fact been taken off the road in the first place. You may have handed it over to a scrap dealer, but what exactly did they do with it? Did they scrap it and recycle it? Or did they give it a quick clean, sell it on to someone else and open the door to a whole world of trouble for you? It might sound unthinkable, but it happens – it also gets a lot of people into a lot of trouble.
The Common Sense Option
It all sounds rather scary, but the good news is that all of the above is easy to avoid. When the time comes to get rid of any scrap vehicle of any kind, the law is very clear on exactly how it should and should not be done. Every motorist is obliged to scrap their vehicle via an ATF and ensure they receive a Certificate of Destruction. So really, the only thing you need to do is make sure that the dealer you choose is fully licensed to be doing whatever it is they do.
For more information on sensible car scrapping and recycling, get in touch with the Take My Scrap Car customer service team today.
