Vrijwaringsbewijs: your proof the car is no longer yours

What the proof of transfer shows

Selling a car in the Netherlands is finished in the register, not at the handover. As long as the car is in your name, the road tax, the duty to insure it and any fines stay with you. The proof of transfer (vrijwaringsbewijs) is the document that shows the moment this ended.

The RDW does not prescribe one layout. Each counter or company issues its own version, which can be a receipt, an A4 printout or an email. What it should contain is the number plate, a transaction code, and the date and time of the change. Keep it with your papers: it is the item you show an insurer, the road tax office or anyone who sends you a bill for a date after the sale.

When you receive one

You get a proof of transfer when you sell, scrap or export a vehicle. In a private sale it comes through the buyer: after an online transfer the buyer receives a link to it, and after a transfer at a counter the buyer receives a printed copy. The buyer then passes it to you. Our guide to the RDW transfer shows the full sequence for both routes.

If you sell to a business that is recognised by the RDW, the business gives it to you after you hand over the complete registration documents. When the car is exported, you receive a proof together with the other export papers, as explained in the guide to selling before you leave and the export steps of the RDW.

Why the car leaves only after you hold the proof

The RDW gives sellers a clear instruction: hand over the vehicle only after you have received the proof of transfer. A buyer who says they will transfer it tomorrow is asking you to carry the risk until then.

The RDW does not tell sellers how to arrange the payment, so that is a matter between you and the buyer. What you can do is make sure that the order of events protects you. Either meet at a counter, or watch the buyer carry out the online transfer, and keep the car and keys until the proof is in your hands. You can confirm the result yourself in Mijn RDW with DigiD, or in the Kentekencheck, where the car should no longer appear in your name.

Cars with a paper registration

Cars registered before the card was introduced in 2014 may still have the paper documents. For those, a seller gives the buyer the registration certificate and the transfer certificate (overschrijvingsbewijs, what this meansoverschrijvingsbewijsThe paper that sellers of older cars with a paper registration give to the buyer. It is the part of the old documents that is used for the transfer.), and the transfer can only be done at a counter. The buyer then hands you the proof of transfer in the same way as for a modern car.

The paper set depends on the year of registration. Between 1 June 2004 and 1 January 2014 it had a part IA, a part IB and a part II. Before 1 June 2004 it had a part I, a part II and a transfer certificate, and for numbers issued before 1995 that certificate is a copy of part 3. If any part is missing, contact the RDW before you promise the buyer a date. Our guide to the documents you need describes the sets in more detail.

If the proof is lost or never arrived

The RDW page on a lost proof points to two things. The first is a free overview of the vehicles that were registered in your name up to nine years back. You request it with DigiD on the RDW site and receive an email with a link to the file. The RDW says many insurers accept this overview, for example when you cancel a policy, so check with your own insurer before you rely on it.

The second applies when you never received a proof after a sale, scrapping or export. Report it to the RDW within three months, and the RDW sends a replacement. The RDW's page on a document that did not arrive has the form for this.

What to do with the proof once you have it

Send a copy to your insurer to end the policy, because the RDW leaves that to you. Our guide on what to do after you sell lists the follow-up steps in order. Keep the original for as long as you can reasonably expect a bill about the car to arrive.

What you need

• The proof of transfer from the buyer or the business, with the date and time of the transfer
• A check in Mijn RDW or the Kentekencheck that the car is no longer in your name
• Your DigiD, in case you need the overview of vehicles that were in your name
• The details of your insurer, to end the policy with the proof
• For an older car: the paper registration documents, so you can hand them to the buyer