Cancelling vehicle registration

You can cancel your vehicle's ACT registration at any time unless you’ve already sold it.

If you plan to sell it without registration, you must cancel the registration first.

Access Canberra will not cancel vehicle registration if it’s possible the new owner could be driving an unregistered vehicle without knowing.

How to cancel registration

To cancel your registration you must submit an application to Access Canberra, providing:

• an Application to cancel vehicle registration [PDF 345KB] form, signed by you and any other registered operators
• your (and any other registered operators’) primary proof of identity documentation
• an Authority to act as an agent [PDF 185KB] form if you’re cancelling it for someone else, along with your proof of identity documentation
• the numberplates or a receipt for their surrender to an interstate authority
• a statutory declaration if the numberplates have been destroyed, lost or stolen
• the registration certificate, if available
• the registration label for vehicles over 4,500 kg. If it has been destroyed or can’t be surrendered, select the relevant reason in the declaration on the form
• completed Electronic funds transfer authorisation [PDF 192KB] form with the bank account you nominate for the refund.

You can provide these documents to Access Canberra:

• online request
• in person at one of our Access Canberra Service Centres
• by post to: Road Transport Authority, PO Box 582, Dickson ACT 2602.

In some cases you may need to provide more information. Check the reason you're cancelling to find out if you'll need to provide any other documents.

Numberplates

Before submitting an application, you need to surrender the numberplates. If you can’t you’ll need to provide proof you’ve already surrendered them, or the reason you can’t surrender them.

Surrendering numberplates

Remove the numberplate from both the front and back of your vehicle. Take them with you to an Access Canberra Service Centre.

You can also surrender ACT numberplates to an interstate authority. They will give you a surrender receipt which you can use to cancel your ACT registration.

Refunds

When you cancel registration, you’ll get a refund on your registration and Motor Accident Injuries (MAI) insurance fees:

• if the vehicle is registered when you cancel registration
• if the amount of remaining registration is more than the cancellation fee.

An administration fee is deducted from the registration fee.

The formula used to calculate the refund is:

• the days remaining (for example, 30 days) on the registration
• divided by the number of days paid for (for example, 365 days)
• multiplied by the fee you paid at the time of registration.

The administration fee is then deducted from that amount.

You can receive your refund as:

• a cheque
• to the bank account you nominate in the Electronic funds transfer authorisation [PDF 192KB]
• as a credit for registration transactions, held by Access Canberra for you to use in the future.

Refund times will vary depending on the transaction date and refund type.

Reasons to cancel vehicle registration

Depending on why you’re cancelling the registration, you may need to supply more information.

Consider the following scenarios to see what you’ll need.

Voluntary cancellation

A voluntary cancellation is when you want to cancel registration because:

• the vehicle doesn’t work
• you don’t need ACT registration on the vehicle anymore.

For this cancellation you’ll need to provide the standard documents listed above.

Vehicle is a write off

If an insurance company has written off your vehicle you should cancel the registration.

The vehicle's registration cancellation date is the day after the incident that caused the write off. This is noted on the letter from your insurance provider.

For this cancellation you need to provide the standard documents listed above, as well as:

• a letter from your insurance company stating the condition of the vehicle and the incident date.

Vehicle has been registered interstate

You need to register your ACT vehicle in another state or territory if you:

• sell an ACT registered vehicle to someone interstate without numberplates
• move the vehicle interstate
• purchase an ACT registered vehicle and register it interstate or surrender the numberplates interstate.

You must cancel the ACT registration as soon as you surrender the ACT numberplates to interstate authorities.

For this cancellation you'll need the standard documents listed above, as well as the:

• interstate registration certificate and
• numberplate surrender receipt from the interstate authority.

Vehicle has been stolen

When your vehicle is stolen you should cancel the registration immediately.

The vehicle's registration cancellation date is the day you cancel registration, not the day the vehicle was stolen.

For this cancellation you'll need the standard documents listed above, as well as either:

• an incident report letter from the Australian Federal Police stating when the vehicle was stolen, or
• a letter from your insurance company stating the vehicle is a total loss, and the date it was stolen.

You’ll also need to complete the numberplate declaration on the Application to Cancel Vehicle Registration [PDF 201KB] form.