Motor Salvage Operators

Motor Salvage is regulated by the Vehicle Crime Act 2001 and the Motor Salvage Operators Regulations 2002.

This legislation makes it difficult for criminals to dispose of stolen vehicles through the motor salvage industry and increases their chance of detection is they attempt to do so.

The Police enforce these requirements strictly.

All Motor Salvage Operators are required to register with the Local Authority and to keep comprehensive records of transactions.

• Application Form
• Fees & Charges

A Motor Salvage Operator is a person who carries on a business which is concerned:

• wholly or partly with the recovery for re-use or sale of salvageable parts from motor vehicles and the subsequent sale or other disposal for scrap of the remainder of the vehicles concerned;
• wholly or mainly with the purchase of written-off vehicles and their subsequent repair and re-sale;
• wholly or mainly with the sale or purchase of motor vehicles which are to be the subject (whether immediately or on a subsequent re-sale) of any of the activities previously mentioned.

A business shall be treated as carrying on business as a motor salvage operator in the area of the council if:

• premises in that area are occupied by it as a motor salvage yard (i.e. premises where a motor salvage operator receives or keeps vehicles - this excludes any premises where only salvageable parts of motor vehicles are received or kept);
• no premises are occupied by it as a motor salvage yard (whether in that area or elsewhere) but the operator has his or her usual place of residence in that area or no premises are occupied by it as a motor salvage yard (whether in that area or elsewhere) but premises in that area are occupied by it wholly or partly for the purposes of that business, so far as it consists of any of the activities which fall within the definition of a motor salvage operator.