Getting your road tax back when you scrap a car

Yes, automatically. Once the scrap is registered with the DVLA, they refund any full remaining months of road tax to the bank account or address on file. There's no form to fill in and nothing to claim, it just happens once the car is recorded as scrapped through the proper route.

It's calculated on full remaining months only, not part-months. So if you scrap with three weeks left on the current month plus four clear months ahead, you're refunded four months, not four-and-a-bit. If you pay by monthly direct debit, the DVLA simply cancels the remaining payments instead of refunding.

Usually four to six weeks after the scrap is registered, which itself happens within about four weeks of collection. So from collection day, expect the cheque or bank credit within roughly six to ten weeks. It comes from the DVLA, not from us, so we can't speed it up, but we can make sure the scrap is registered promptly so the clock starts.

No. As long as the car is scrapped through an Authorised Treatment Facility route and the DVLA is notified (which we handle), the refund is triggered automatically. The one thing worth doing is making sure the DVLA has your current address, refunds get sent to the registered keeper's address on file.

That's separate and you do need to act. Ring your insurer with the scrap date and they'll either refund the unused premium or carry the cover over to a replacement car, whichever you prefer. Keep our collection paperwork as proof of the date. Don't just cancel the direct debit, tell them, or you may be charged a cancellation fee.

If the car is already declared SORN then there's no active road tax to refund, you stopped paying when you laid it up. The refund only applies to cars that were taxed at the point of scrapping. Either way the scrap process and the Certificate of Destruction work exactly the same.