Can someone else scrap my car for me?

Short answer: usually, yes. If you are the registered keeper and you agree, someone else can be there when the car is collected: a partner, a son or daughter, a neighbour, or the garage where the car is sitting. Tell the yard who it will be when you book. It will want to know that you have agreed, and to check the identity of the person it meets.

When this comes up

• You are at work, away, or abroad on the day the lorry can come.
• The car belongs to a parent who is not well enough to deal with it.
• The keeper is in hospital or a care home.
• The car has died at a garage, a friend's house or a car park miles from where you live.

What to arrange

From you, the keeper:

• A short signed note saying you agree to the car being scrapped and naming the person who will hand it over. Something like: "I am the registered keeper of [registration] and I agree to [name] handing it over to be scrapped on my behalf."
• A copy of your photo ID.
• The V5C logbook, passed to the person handing the car over, or the 11-digit reference from it if the logbook stays with you.

From the person at the car:

• Their own photo ID.
• The keys, if there are any, and the note.

Every yard has to identify who it buys from, so these checks are not optional, and the collecting yard tells you at booking exactly what it will ask for. Mention anything unusual, such as a keeper who cannot sign, so it can say what it will accept instead.

Who gets paid

Payment goes by bank transfer, never cash, to the account agreed when the car is booked. Normally that is the keeper's own account. If the money is to go to someone else, say so at booking and make sure the keeper's note says so too, so nobody is surprised afterwards.

Can the car go with nobody there?

Sometimes. Where the car is somewhere the driver can reach it, such as a driveway or a garage forecourt, a collection can often be arranged with the keys left safely and the documents sent ahead. It is the collecting yard's decision, so ask when you book rather than assume.

When someone else cannot do it

• The keeper does not agree, or there is a dispute about who owns the car.
• The car is on finance that has not been settled. Finance first.
• It is a company or lease car and the company has not authorised it.
• The keeper has died: then the executor of the estate decides, and different paperwork is needed. What documents do I need to scrap my car? covers that case, and scrapping a car that is not in your name covers owning a car registered to someone else.

Afterwards

The Certificate of Destruction is emailed to the address on the booking, and any road tax refund goes to the keeper named on the V5C. If you booked for someone else, pass a copy of the certificate on to them.

To start, put the registration and postcode into the scrap my car page for the price.