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Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is the UK government body responsible for vehicle registration, driving licences, and vehicle excise duty (road tax). After a death, the DVLA needs to be told so that the deceased's vehicles can be transferred to a new keeper or taken off the road, and so that any driving licence held by the deceased can be cancelled. [source: gov-uk/tell-dvla-about-bereavement-2026-09-26.html]

Tell Us Once notifies the DVLA of the death where the service is available in the area. If it is not, write to DVLA, Swansea SA99 1AB, giving your relationship to the person who died, the date they died, and their name, address and date of birth. Include their driving licence if you have it. A death certificate is not needed. [source: gov-uk/tell-dvla-about-bereavement-2026-09-26.html]

A vehicle always needs a separate step. Whoever is keeping or selling a vehicle the person owned, or keeping a personalised registration number (which has to be done before any sale), writes to the DVLA Sensitive Casework Team, Swansea SA99 1ZZ. The letter gives your relationship to the person who died, the date they died, and who should be paid any vehicle tax refund. [source: gov-uk/tell-dvla-about-bereavement-2026-09-26.html]

  • Keeping the vehicle: fill in the new keeper details on the log book (V5C), keep the green new keeper slip, and send the V5C with the letter. Add form V890 to declare the vehicle off the road (SORN) instead of taxing it. Without the log book, apply for a new one on form V62, which costs £25. [source: gov-uk/tell-dvla-about-bereavement-2026-09-26.html]
  • Selling the vehicle: send the V5C with the letter after filling in the new keeper details and handing the green slip to a private buyer, or send the perforated motor trade section if selling to a trader. Without the log book, the letter also gives the sale date and the buyer's name and address, and the buyer applies for a new log book on form V62. [source: gov-uk/tell-dvla-about-bereavement-2026-09-26.html]

The DVLA then cancels any vehicle tax and direct debits and sends a cheque for any refund. Vehicle tax cannot be transferred: a family member keeping the car must tax it in their own name before driving it on a public road, using the new keeper slip rather than waiting for the new V5C. [source: gov-uk/tell-dvla-about-bereavement-2026-09-26.html]

For anything else, contact the DVLA through gov.uk/contact-the-dvla.

Northern Ireland uses the DVLA for vehicle registration but a separate Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA NI) for driving licences. The vehicle bereavement process is the same; the licence side is handled by DVA NI on 0300 200 7861.

→ Cars when someone dies

Last verified: 2 November 2026 against gov.uk/tell-dvla-about-bereavement.

AfterLoss

Our what to do with a car when someone dies guide covers DVLA notification, V5C transfer, and the road tax refund. The Communications Kit provides the DVLA letter template and the form numbers, so the notification goes off cleanly and the response paperwork comes back to one address.