Documents you need to sell a taxi in the UK (the actual checklist)

The V5C, the red and blue logbook issued by the DVLA, is the single most important piece of paper in any UK taxi sale. It proves you are the registered keeper, it carries the address we cross-check against your ID, and it contains the yellow new-keeper slip that transfers the cab into our name on the day. Without it, we cannot legally take the vehicle off your hands as a normal trade purchase.

If your V5C has wandered off, and they do wander, usually into a drawer with old MOT certificates and a forgotten birthday card, you can apply for a replacement by post or online using form V62. The fee is £25 and the DVLA quote four to six weeks for delivery in normal conditions, longer if there is a backlog. That is a long time to keep paying insurance and parking on a cab you have mentally already sold.

The good news: we can still buy a taxi without the V5C in hand, provided your name and address match the DVLA record we check on our side. The offer will be reduced to reflect the extra admin and the small risk we carry until the replacement lands, but the deal can complete the same day. If you are mid-application and the V62 is already in the post, tell us, we will note it on the file.

Plenty of drivers panic about the MOT certificate because they have lost the green slip from the test centre. Relax. The DVLA holds the full MOT history digitally, and we check it ourselves against the registration number before we firm up an offer. The paper certificate is a memento, not a legal requirement for sale.

What does matter is that the MOT is in date on the day we collect, or at least that the cab is being sold as a non-runner where the MOT status is not the deciding factor. A taxi with an MOT expiring tomorrow is fine; a taxi that failed last week with advisories you have not addressed is also fine, but the offer will reflect the work needed.

If your cab is on a TfL or local-authority inspection cycle as well as the standard MOT, have the most recent inspection sheet to hand. It tells us what was flagged, what was fixed, and saves us a chunk of inspection time at handover. Faster handover, in our experience, is the difference between paid by 3pm and paid by 6pm.

Service history is where taxi valuations quietly win or lose hundreds of pounds. A full main-dealer history on a Toyota Prius, an LEVC TX or a Mercedes Vito will out-value a partial independent history every single time, and the gap widens as the cab gets older. Hybrid drivetrains in particular are judged on stamped books, the trade prices battery health by proxy through service intervals, and a missed 20,000-mile service is a flag we cannot un-see.

Full beats partial, partial beats none. If you have a mix, main dealer for the first three years, a trusted local indie since, bring everything. We are not snobs about indies, especially the well-known taxi specialists, but the paperwork has to be there. Invoices count. Stamped books count more. A verbal "she has been well looked after" counts for very little once the cab is on a ramp.

Digital service records from Toyota and other manufacturers are now standard and we can pull them with your permission at the valuation stage. If your cab has a mix of digital and paper, mention it. We would rather spend two minutes confirming than knock the price on the assumption a service was skipped.

If the cab is licensed with TfL or another local authority, you will have a PCO licence document and a plate, usually fixed to the rear and sometimes the windscreen. Both need to come with the vehicle on the day of sale. We handle deplating in-house at our Bethnal Green HQ, which saves you a separate trip to a TfL test centre and means the cab is off your licence the moment we wire the funds.

Bring the original plate, the licence paperwork, and any badge or signage that ties the vehicle to your operator or fleet. If you are leaving the trade, we will also walk you through notifying TfL or your local council that the vehicle has been sold, a five-minute job that drivers sometimes forget and then get chased about three months later.

For PHV drivers selling on a different licensing authority, Wolverhampton, Sevenoaks, Transport for Greater Manchester and so on, the principle is the same. Plate off, paperwork in, vehicle out. We deal with most UK authorities every week and the process is well rehearsed at our end. See /how-it-works for the step-by-step.

A few smaller items, each capable of costing you real money if missed. Photo ID, a UK driving licence or passport, must match the name and address on the V5C. If you moved house and forgot to update the DVLA, sort that before you ring us, or expect a delay while we verify.

Both keys is a bigger deal than most drivers realise. A single key knocks roughly £100 to £200 off the offer because cutting and coding a new transponder for a modern taxi runs £120 to £180 at a specialist locksmith, and we have to either eat that cost or pass it to the next buyer. Dig the spare out of the drawer.

If the cab is on finance, you need a settlement letter from your lender, see our dedicated guide at /finance-settlement and the deeper finance walkthrough linked in this post. Insurance documents matter mostly for your own cancellation refund admin, but bring them anyway in case the insurer wants proof of disposal. Accident history, including any Cat S, Cat N or older Cat C/D damage, must be disclosed up front. We will find it on the HPI check regardless; telling us early avoids the bait-and-switch feeling of an offer being revised on the forecourt.

• Photo ID matching the V5C address (driving licence or passport)
• Both keys, single key reduces offer by roughly £100 to £200
• Finance settlement letter if any HP, PCP or conditional sale is outstanding
• Insurance documents for your own cancellation refund
• Honest accident and category-damage disclosure up front

If you cannot bring the cab to Bethnal Green for a physical look, we value remotely from photos. Eight to twelve shots usually does it: front three-quarter, rear three-quarter, both sides flat-on, the dashboard with the ignition on showing mileage and warning lights, the boot floor, the driver and passenger seats, the rear bench, any panel damage in close-up, and the V5C reference number (not the full document, just the number we need to verify).

Daylight beats flash. A clean cab photographs better than a dirty one, but please do not spend £40 at a hand-wash to gain £20 on the offer, we are not valuing the paintwork polish. Honest photos of honest condition produce an honest price, and that price holds at collection. Doctored photos produce a fictional price that evaporates when the transporter arrives.

Once we have your photos and your paperwork, a firm offer usually lands within the hour during working hours. From there it is a short hop to collection, payment by bank transfer, and a deplated cab off your books. Start with our valuation form at /cab-valuation, or skim /how-it-works if you want to see the whole journey first.