Guide: Change of Ownership

Now it's time, the auction has ended and you're about to meet the seller and see your new acquisition for real for the first time. It's easy to get a bit too euphoric to think clearly, after all it's been several years since you bought a vehicle. Maybe even the first time you bought at auction. So what do we do now?

Well, we're going to do a change of ownership. But first an important check.

There's one thing you as a buyer should check before a change of ownership is even relevant. Are there any debts on the car and how should these be resolved if so? You check this via Transportstyrelsen using the registration number here: https://www.transportstyrelsen.se/sv/vagtrafik/Fordon/Fordonsrelaterade-skulder/. It is the seller's responsibility to resolve any debts and loans, but you as the buyer should ensure that this has been done before a change of ownership is relevant. 

So, now everything is in order and it's time for the change of ownership. Try as far as possible to avoid sending in the form for change of ownership. It's an outdated system and a lot can happen along the way. The electronic route is so much simpler.

Easy! Download the app "Mina fordon" from Transportstyrelsen, where you simply scan a QR code on the registration certificate and then the seller and buyer enter three numbers found on their driving licences. In the next step, the app asks if you want to do a change of ownership and/or register or deregister the vehicle at the same time. With that we come to the next step, namely insurance.

Now let's forget all about "you can drive on the seller's insurance" or "my insurance company is closed right now so I can't insure it". We live in an age when you can take out insurance online around the clock, all year round. If it happens that your favourite company isn't working that rainy, already late Sunday evening, then take out insurance with another insurance company in the meantime. You always have a 14-day right of withdrawal on such a purchase.

You can also take out insurance in advance. This will also be no problem to cancel if you don't end up buying the vehicle in question.

Why do we go on about how important it is to insure then? Well, because as soon as you've received the keys and paid for the vehicle, you are the owner of it. Then whether and when the information is registered with Transportstyrelsen is a bit beside the point. So thinking "I'll do that tomorrow" can have really unpleasant consequences if, for example, you were to run into trouble on the way home.

Now you've sorted out the insurance and clicked "report change of ownership" on the app. Then you get a message about whether all the numbers and variables match and you are now also the owner in the road traffic register. Then it's almost done, one tip is not to let the new owner have your old registration papers as the seller, the new owner will receive their own within a few days. As a seller you will also receive a letter confirming that the vehicle has changed owner.

Should it happen that you mail the yellow slip instead? Then it's important that the seller mails it, perhaps you go together to the petrol station and mail it. It can also be an advantage if the buyer photographs the slip before you hand it over to the postal service. Here too we apply the insurance principle described above.

And one last word of advice, make sure that as soon as you start thinking about selling a vehicle, you check that you have the latest issued registration certificate from Transportstyrelsen, otherwise the change of ownership cannot be carried out.