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Ownership · 5 min read

How to Transfer Ownership of a Used Car in the UK

Transferring ownership of a used car in the UK is straightforward on paper, but it involves a specific sequence of steps for both the buyer and seller, and skipping any of them can leave one or both people liable for things that aren't really their responsibility anymore.

What the seller needs to do

The V5C logbook has a section for notifying a change of keeper. The seller fills in the new keeper's details and sends that section to the DVLA, either online or by post, keeping the rest of the document as proof of the sale for their own records. This should happen as soon as the sale completes, not left for later, since the seller remains the registered keeper, and therefore liable for the vehicle in DVLA's eyes, until the change is actually processed.

What the buyer needs to do

The buyer needs to tax the vehicle in their own name before driving it away, using the reference number from the green new keeper supplement (V5C/2) that the seller gives them, or the document reference from the full V5C if buying from a dealer. Since tax doesn't transfer between owners, the car is legally untaxed the moment ownership changes, regardless of what the previous owner had paid for.

Insurance has to be sorted first, not after

Valid insurance needs to be in place before the car is driven at all, including the drive away from the seller. This is easy to overlook in the moment, particularly if the sale happens somewhere that makes driving away immediately feel like the obvious next step.

What happens if the DVLA isn't notified

If a seller doesn't notify the DVLA of the change, they remain the registered keeper on record, which means any penalty notices, including for things the new owner does like speeding tickets caught on camera or later tax issues, can initially be directed at the previous owner. Failing to notify the DVLA of a sale can itself carry a fine as well, on top of that hassle. It's a genuinely simple step that's worth doing immediately rather than leaving for later.

A quick order of operations

1. Agree the sale and get payment sorted through a traceable method
2. Seller completes the new keeper section of the V5C and sends it to the DVLA
3. Buyer arranges insurance before the car moves
4. Buyer tax the vehicle using the reference from the V5C/2 or full V5C
5. Buyer checks the car's MOT is currently valid before relying on it day to day