Scrap car collection
Scrap my car online
Type in the registration and postcode and you get one figure: the most that a licensed scrap yard covering your postcode district will pay for the car today. Accept it and that yard rings you within two hours in the working day to fix a day, collects for free — anywhere in the UK — and pays you by bank transfer within 24 hours of collection. The Certificate of Destruction comes from the yard that scraps it, and we email you a copy.
- One price from the yards that compete for your area
- Every licensed yard on the network sets its own rate for each postcode district. You see the highest of them — not an average, and not a middleman’s guess.
- A licensed collector rings within two hours
- During the working day, that is — accept in the evening and the call comes first thing next morning. Every collector is a licensed Authorised Treatment Facility; we check the permit and the waste carrier registration before a yard gets a single job.
- Free collection, paid within 24 hours
- The yard’s own driver comes to you and checks your ID, and you are paid by bank transfer within 24 hours of collection. Cash has been illegal since 2013 and nobody on the network pays it.
- Paperwork handled
- The yard issues the Certificate of Destruction and tells the DVLA. The number is recorded on your booking and the certificate emailed to you.
How scrapping your car online works
You enter the registration and postcode. We look the car up on the DVLA record — make, model, fuel, kerb weight — and price it against what the licensed yards covering your postcode district will pay today. A few questions about condition (does it start, is anything missing, do you have the V5C) move the price in front of you. Accept it, tell us where the car is and when suits, and the job goes to the yard behind that price.
That yard rings you, normally within two hours during the working day, to agree a day. Its driver arrives with a recovery truck, checks your ID and the car, sends the payment by bank transfer and loads it. Back at their site the car is depolluted and dismantled, the Certificate of Destruction is issued on the DVLA system, and the number is recorded on your booking and the certificate emailed to you.
Why a network pays more than one yard
A scrap price is what the nearest yard can make from the car minus the cost of fetching it. With one yard quoting, you get one figure and no way of knowing whether it is a good one. On the network every licensed yard that covers your district sets its own rate, and you are shown the best of them. Where several yards compete — most of Yorkshire, the North West, the Midlands, the central belt of Scotland — that competition is worth real money. Where a single yard covers a district you still get what that yard would pay direct, not less, because there is no middleman taking a cut of the price. Across the 27,900 cars collected through the network since February 2024, the middle price paid has been £236.
What the yards take
Anything with four wheels and a registration: MOT failures, non-runners, accident damaged and insurance write-offs, flood damage, tired high-mileage diesels, engine and gearbox failures, and cars that have sat on a drive for years. Vans, pickups and 4x4s up to 3.5 tonnes are priced the same way and usually fetch more, because they weigh more. Condition changes the price; it never decides whether the car will be collected.
Before the collector arrives
- Empty the car — glovebox, boot, door pockets, under the seats.
- Have your photo ID and something showing your address ready; the driver has to see both.
- Find the V5C if you have it. If not, you can still scrap the car.
- Leave the tax and insurance running until the car has actually gone.
- If the car is somewhere awkward — a garage, a steep drive, a car park — say so when you book, so the yard sends the right truck.
Common questions
How much will I get for my scrap car?
Across the network the middle price paid since February 2024 is £236, but the spread is wide: a small hatchback in a district with one yard might fetch £120, a heavy 4x4 or van where several yards compete can pass £400. The figure is built on the car’s weight and today’s metal rate, then on what the yards covering your district will pay. Enter the registration for the exact price — thirty seconds, no obligation.
Who actually collects the car?
A licensed scrap yard whose coverage includes your postcode district. We do not name it before you accept — the price is the price whichever yard is behind it — but as soon as you do, that yard has your booking and rings you, normally within two hours. If nobody has rung by the end of the working day, ring us.
Do I need to be there?
You, or someone with the keys and your ID acting for you. The driver has to see photo ID and proof of address — the Scrap Metal Dealers Act requires it — and confirms the bank details before loading. It takes about fifteen minutes.
Is the price guaranteed?
Provided the car is as you described. If the driver finds something different — no catalytic converter, the engine out, fire damage you did not mention — they explain the revised figure before anything is loaded, and you can say no. Anything beyond that, tell us and we take it up with the yard.
Can I keep my private plate?
Yes, but take it off the car with the DVLA (form V317 or online) before the collection. Once a Certificate of Destruction has been issued the registration is gone for good.
Will I get a tax refund?
Yes. Once the DVLA is told the car has been scrapped they refund any full months of tax left, automatically. Cancel the insurance yourself once the car has gone.