Frequently asked questions

A licensed scrap yard — an Authorised Treatment Facility permitted by the Environment Agency, SEPA or NRW — whose coverage includes your postcode district. Each yard on the network sets its own rate for the districts it works, and the price you see is the best of them. We do not name the yard before you accept, because the price is the price whichever yard is behind it; as soon as you do, that yard has your booking and rings you.

Your collector rings within two hours of you accepting the price, during the working day, to agree a day. Most collections happen within one to three days of booking; in busy areas it is often the next day. If you need a particular day, say so when you book and the yard will do its best to fit it.

Yes, anywhere in the UK. The figure you see is the figure you are paid; the yard’s recovery costs are already inside its rate. Nothing is deducted on the day for distance, for a car that has to be winched, or for anything else that was on your booking.

By bank transfer from the collecting yard, to the registered keeper’s account, within 24 hours of collection. It cannot be cash: the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 makes cash payment for a scrap vehicle a criminal offence in England and Wales, and no yard on the network pays it anywhere.

Yes, provided the car matches what you told us. If the driver finds something significantly different — the engine gone, the catalytic converter cut out, fire damage you did not mention — they explain the revised figure before anything is loaded, and you can decline. If a yard ever tries to change the price for any other reason, tell us; a yard that does that does not stay on the network.

It helps, but no. Without it there are extra checks and a small deduction, and the driver needs to see photo ID plus proof of where you live now — an old address on the DVLA record is not a problem. The yard notifies the DVLA either way.

Completely normal. Say so on the quote form and the yard sends a truck that can winch it. A non-runner is priced slightly below a driver because loading takes longer, and the difference is shown on your quote rather than mentioned on the day.

Yes. Most of the cars collected through the network have neither. The car is loaded at your address, so it never needs to be driven on the road.

It goes to the collecting yard, which is a licensed Authorised Treatment Facility. There it is depolluted — fuel, oils, coolant, battery and airbags removed and dealt with properly — before reusable parts are taken off and the shell is crushed and recycled. The yard issues the Certificate of Destruction on the DVLA’s system.

The yard records the certificate number on your booking as soon as the DVLA issues it — usually within a few days of collection — and the certificate is emailed to you. If a week passes with nothing, tell us and we chase the yard.

The yard notifies the DVLA when it issues the Certificate of Destruction, and the DVLA writes to you to confirm. GOV.UK also asks you to tell them yourself that you have handed the vehicle to an ATF — two minutes online with the 11-digit reference from the V5C, or by posting the yellow V5C/3 section — and doing it the day the car goes starts your tax refund from that month. Until the DVLA has been told, you are still the registered keeper and still liable.

Once the car has actually been collected. Cancel the insurance yourself; the DVLA refunds any full remaining months of tax automatically once it has been notified.

Yes, but transfer or retain it before the car is collected. Once an ATF has destroyed the car the registration cannot be recovered. You can apply to keep a registration on GOV.UK.

Yes, as long as they have the keys, the paperwork and your ID, and payment still goes to the registered keeper. Mention the arrangement when you book so the yard knows who to expect.

Almost certainly — the network collects across the UK. Enter the registration and postcode and you will see a price if a licensed yard covers your district; if none does yet, we say so and take your details so the first yard to cover it can ring you.