What to do if your vehicle
has been stolen
Tell the
police and your insurance company straight away if your vehicle has been
stolen. You can also apply for a vehicle tax refund.
Call your local police station
Dial
‘101’ and ask to be put through to your local police.
Make sure
you have the following details:
- registration number
- make
- model
- colour
You’ll
get a crime reference number - you’ll need this when you tell your insurance
company or to claim back your vehicle tax.
The
police will tell DVLA about the theft and if the vehicle is found.
Report your vehicle as stolen on
our website
By
reporting your vehicle stolen on our website you will INCREASE the chances of
your vehicle being recovered. This will minimise any delay in the LOS (Lost
Report) from the Police National Computer being present in our records.
Call your insurance company
Your
insurance company will tell you how to make an insurance claim.
Tell DVLA if your insurance company pays out
If your
insurance company pays out a claim for your stolen vehicle, you must tell DVLA it’s been sold to the insurance company.
You can
also complete the ‘notification of sale or transfer’ V5C/3 section of your V5C
registration certificate and send it to DVLA. You should include a letter
saying when the payment was accepted and details of the insurance company.
You’ll
need to give the remaining part of the V5C to the insurance company.
If your
insurance company asks for the whole of the V5C registration certificate then
you’ll need to send a letter to DVLA including:
- the details of your
insurance company
- the date of the claim
- your registration number
- the make, model and colour
of your vehicle
- your signature
Send your
letter to:
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1BD
Apply for a vehicle tax refund
If your
vehicle is not found within a week, you can apply for a vehicle tax refund.
Contact DVLA to get form V33 for a vehicle
tax refund. Complete the form and send it to the DVLA Refund Section. You’ll
need to include your crime reference number.
Check
that your name and address are correct on your V5C - otherwise you won’t
receive the refund.
Refund
Section
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1AL
You’ll
usually get your refund in 4 to 6 weeks.
Personalised registration numbers
If you
had a personalised registration number, you can normally get it back, and then keep it or put it on another vehicle. You can do this if:
- you told the police about
the theft
- the theft has been on DVLA
records for at least 12 months (the police should tell DVLA for you) but
for no more than 3 years
- the vehicle had a valid MOT
certificate when it was stolen
- the vehicle had up to date
vehicle tax when it was stolen
If your
vehicle is recovered and you or your insurer decide to sell or destroy it,
you’ll need to apply to keep or transfer your registration number using form V317 before the vehicle is disposed
of.
To apply
to keep or transfer your registration number fill in form V317 and send your application to:
DVLA
Personalised Registrations
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1DS