What to do if your vehicle has been stolen
Report your vehicle as stolen
Tell the police and your insurance company straight away if your vehicle has been stolen.
This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).
Call your local police station
Dial 101 and ask to be put through to your local police.
Make sure you have your vehicle’s:
- registration number
- make and model
- colour
You’ll get a crime reference number. You’ll need this when you call your insurance company.
The police will tell DVLA about the theft and if the vehicle is found.
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.
If your vehicle had a personalised registration number that you want to keep, you need to get it back before you tell DVLA that you no longer own your vehicle.
You can 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. Send the perforated section to DVLA, with a letter saying when the payment was accepted and details of your insurance company.
You’ll need to give the remaining part of your log book to your insurance company.
If your insurance company asks for the whole log book 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