What to do if your vehicle has been stolen

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If you had a private (personalised) registration number

Apply to keep your private (personalised) registration number as soon as your vehicle is stolen.

This means the number will stay in your name so you can assign it to another vehicle later.

You must apply within 2 years and 6 months of telling DVLA your vehicle has been stolen.

You can only get your private registration number back if:

  • you told the police about the theft
  • the vehicle had a valid MOT certificate when it was stolen
  • the vehicle had up-to-date vehicle tax when it was stolen

Apply to keep your registration number

You can only apply by post. It costs £80.

You need to send all of the following to DVLA:

If you get your stolen vehicle back

If you’ve already applied to keep your private registration number, you can apply to put it on another vehicle straight away.

You must apply before your vehicle is sold or scrapped.

If you do not get your stolen vehicle back

You must wait 6 months before you can transfer your private registration number to another vehicle. You can only do this by post.

Tell DVLA you no longer own your vehicle

After you get your private registration number back, you can tell DVLA that you no longer own your vehicle.

Tell DVLA online or fill in the yellow ‘sell, transfer or part-exchange your vehicle to the motor trade’ section of your vehicle log book and send the perforated section to DVLA.

DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1BA

Apply for a vehicle tax refund

You will not automatically get a vehicle tax refund - you’ll need to apply for one.

Contact DVLA to get form V33. Complete your form and send it to DVLA. You must include your crime reference number.

Check that your name and address is correct on your log book - otherwise you will not receive the refund.

Refund Section
DVLA
Swansea
SA99 1AL

You’ll usually get your refund in 4 to 6 weeks.

View a printable version of the whole guide

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