When a loved one passes away there’s a lot of administrative tasks that need to be taken care of and people to contact . To help make things a little easier we’ve put this article together, so you know what to do with someone’s car when they pass away, and what your options are.
What happens if the registered keeper of a car dies?
If the registered keeper of a car passes away there are a few different things, you can do depending on the circumstances. You might want to keep the car, sell it, or it might need to be taken off the road and scrapped. Whatever option you decide on, you’ll need to inform the DVLA and take care of the car’s tax and insurance. We’ll take you through each of these options in turn. But you can skip to the section that applies to you to get the info you need.
Changing car ownership after death
Planning on using the car after a loved one passes away? Here’s what you need to know.
Can you transfer ownership of a car before probate?
Yes, you can. You don’t have to wait for probate or letters of administration to transfer ownership of the person’s car.
But you’ll need to let the DVLA know that you’re entitled to take on ownership of the car. You’ll need:
- A letter explaining your relationship to the person who passed away – this should clearly state the date the person passed away, and details of who should be paid any tax refund amount that might be remaining.
Contacting the DVLA to change ownership
Once you have written the letter mentioned above, you’ll need to check if you can find the log book for the car, also known as the V5C.
If you have the log book (V5C):
- Fill in section 2 if you have a new style log book or section 6 if you have an old style log book.
- The new style log books have different coloured, numbered blocks on the cover which make it easier to recognise.
- Then tear off the green ‘new keeper’ slip and keep this for your records.
- Send the log book to the DVLA Sensitive Casework Team along with your letter and the other documents.
- If you don’t intend on using the car you can register it as off the road (SORN). While it’s not in use you won’t have to pay tax on it. To do this you’ll also need to send a V890 form along with the rest of your documents.
- Once the DVLA receives all this info, they’ll cancel any existing direct debits for car tax and, if needed, send you a cheque for a tax refund. They’ll also send you a new log book for the car.
- You can tax the car under your name using the ‘new keeper’ slip you removed from the old log book. You don’t have to wait for the new log book to tax the vehicle.
Remember that you must make sure the insurance is updated and in your name before driving the car.
If you can’t find the original log book:
Apply for a new one using the V62 form. This costs £25.
- Send the V62 form, the letter you wrote explaining your relationship to the person who died, and the fee to the DVLA Sensitive Casework Team.
- If you don’t intend on using the car you can register it as off the road (SORN). While it’s not in use you won’t have to pay tax on it. To do this you’ll also need to send a V890 form along with the rest of your documents.
- Once the DVLA receives all this info, they’ll cancel any existing direct debits for car tax and, if needed, send you a cheque for a tax refund. They’ll also send you a new log book for the car.
- You can then use the new log book to tax the vehicle in your name.
Remember that you not only need to tax the car under your name before driving it. You must make sure the insurance is updated and in your name before driving the car.
Selling a car after the owner dies
If you want to sell their car after a loved one passes away here’s what you need to know.
Can you sell the car before probate?
Yes, you can. You don’t have to wait for probate or letters of administration to sell the person’s car.
But what you need to do depends on whether you can find the log book for the car, and whether you sell it to someone privately or to a motor trader. We’ll explain in more detail below.
Before checking for the log book, you’ll need to let the DVLA know that you’re entitled to sell the car. You’ll need:
- A letter explaining your relationship to the person who passed away – this should clearly state the date the person passed away, and details of who should be paid any tax refund amount that might be remaining.
Contacting the DVLA to sell the car
Once you have written the letter mentioned above, you’ll need to check if you can find the log book for the car, also known as the V5C.
If you have the log book (V5C) and you want to sell to a private buyer:
- Fill in section 2 if you have a new style log book or section 6 if you have an old-style log book. The new style log books have different coloured, numbered blocks on the cover which make it easier to recognise.
- Then tear off the green ‘new keeper’ slip and give this to the buyer.
- Send the log book to the DVLA Sensitive Casework Team along with your letter and any other relevant documents.
- Once the DVLA receives all this info, they’ll cancel any existing direct debits for car tax and, if needed, send you a cheque for a tax refund.
If you have the log book (V5C) and you want to sell to a motor trader:
- Ask the motor trader to fill in the yellow section of the log book. This is called the ‘sell, transfer or part-exchange your vehicle to the motor trade’ section of the log book.
- Then tear off the perforated section and send that to the DVLA Sensitive Casework Team along with your letter and any other relevant documents.
- You can then give the motor trader the rest of the log book.
- Once the DVLA receives all this info, they’ll cancel any existing direct debits for car tax and, if needed, send you a cheque for a tax refund.
If you can’t find the original log book:
- Tell the buyer that you don’t have the log book. They will then need to apply for a new one with a V62 form. This costs £25.
- Give the DVLA more details in your letter including, the date you sold the car, and the buyer’s name and address.
- Once the DVLA receives all this info, they’ll cancel any existing direct debits for car tax and, if needed, send you a cheque for a tax refund.
- If you need any support when gathering all this info to transfer ownership of a vehicle get in touch with the DVLA .
What if there is outstanding finance left on the car?
If you’ve taken ownership of the car after the death of a family member and there’s outstanding finance to pay on the car you can contact the finance company. Let them know that you’ve taken ownership of the vehicle and would like to continue to pay it off. They should be able to help you change the details on the account so that you can take on the financial responsibility of the car and continue to make payments.
If you’d prefer to get rid of the car, then you won’t have to sell it as it technically still belongs to the finance company. In this case, you can notify the finance company who can take the car from you. Usually, they’ll then sell the car to cover the cost of the rest of the loan. But if this does not cover the entire amount left to pay on the car then the rest may need to come out of the estate of the person who died.
It’s important to always check the contract in these cases to make sure you know what your rights are. Sometimes, if the majority of the car has been paid off and there’s just a small amount outstanding, you may be able to give the car back to the finance company without paying anything at all.
Scrapping a car after the owner dies
If the car is old and doesn’t have much value, then it might be easier to scrap it instead of selling it. You can contact firms online and agree a scrap value. They’ll then pick up the car for you so it can be scrapped. Just make sure you keep the yellow part of the log book before you hand it over. This is the notification of sale. You’ll then need to inform the DVLA that you’ve taken the car to an authorised treatment facility or ATF. If you don’t tell the DVLA then you could get a fine of up to £1,000.
If you want to scrap the car you could also consider using specialised companies such as Give A Car. They’ll take the car from you and make sure that the money made from scrapping it is passed onto a charity of your choice. This can be a good way of honouring your loved one, especially if you can donate to a charity that was close to them too. If the charity you had in mind is not registered with Give A Car, then you can simply ask them to register so that they receive the donation.
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