What do I do with the V5C after an insurance write-off?

Follow the insurer and DVLA instructions for the write-off category. In some cases the V5C goes to the insurer; if you retain certain salvage, a replacement document may be required.

In relation to “What do I do with the V5C after an insurance write-off?”, selling or taking a vehicle off the road involves several separate records — keeper, tax, insurance and sometimes finance — and one update does not always change the others.

For “What do I do with the V5C after an insurance write-off?”, treat the V5C as one identity check, not the whole purchase check. Match the registration, VIN and vehicle details to the physical car and the latest official record.

For “What do I do with the V5C after an insurance write-off?”, ask what was damaged, who repaired it and whether photographs or invoices exist. The insurance category records the type of loss; it does not grade the quality of the repair.

For “What do I do with the V5C after an insurance write-off?”, this answer is written for a Northern Ireland user, but some vehicle-registration, consumer-credit and insurance functions operate on a UK-wide basis. The attached sources — GOV.UK - Selling a vehicle, GOV.UK - Tell DVLA you sold, transferred or bought a vehicle, and GOV.UK - SORN — are therefore deliberately mixed where the responsible authority is UK-wide. That is more accurate than forcing every point into an NI-only source.

Practical next step for “What do I do with the V5C after an insurance write-off?”: complete the relevant official keeper, tax or SORN action and save the confirmation with a dated receipt. If another person now has the vehicle, record the handover date and time as well.