Sold a NSW registered vehicle? Lodge a notice of disposal with Transport for NSW straight away. It records that you are no longer the registered operator and who bought the car, so the buyer’s parking fines and toll notices stay with them. Your CTP green slip needs nothing from you. It transfers to the new owner with the registration.
Bought a car instead? You have 14 days to transfer the registration into your name, and you do not need to buy a green slip until the one that came with the car runs out.
Compare all six NSW CTP insurers in the Greenslips 4 Earth calculator before your next green slip falls due.
What is a notice of disposal in NSW?
A notice of disposal is the official notice you give Transport for NSW when you sell or dispose of a NSW registered vehicle. It covers cars, motorcycles and trailers.
Lodging it does two things. It records that you are no longer the registered owner of that vehicle’s registration, and it records the buyer’s details against the car. Until you lodge it, NSW records still point to you.
The notice of disposal is not the same as a registration transfer. You lodge the disposal notice. The buyer transfers the registration. Two separate jobs, done by two different people.
When do you have to lodge it?
Straight away. Service NSW says to submit the notice of disposal as soon as you sell, so you are not held responsible for parking or driving offences the new owner commits.
Plenty of people think sellers get 14 days. They do not. That window belongs to the buyer, who has 14 days from the sale to transfer the vehicle’s registration or pay a late transfer fee.
Buyer delays are the reason this matters. If the new owner takes their time with the registration transfer, your notice of disposal is the only thing keeping their speeding fines away from you. Same day lodgement is the habit worth building.
What details do you need before you start?
Have these ready and the disposal process takes a few minutes.
About you:
- Your NSW driver licence or NSW photo card number
- A MyServiceNSW account, if you are lodging online
About the vehicle:
- The registration number and NSW vehicle registration details
About the sale:
- The exact date of sale
- The selling price, or the market value if that figure is higher. The form asks for whichever of the two is greater
About the buyer:
- The buyer’s name, address and NSW driver licence details
- Or the business details, if you sold to a dealer
Getting the buyer’s details at handover is the step people skip. Chasing them afterwards is no fun, and you cannot lodge without them.
How do you lodge a notice of disposal online?
Most sellers can submit the online notice through the Service NSW website. You can lodge online when all of these are true:
- You have a MyServiceNSW account
- You hold a NSW driver licence or NSW photo card
- The vehicle is not conditionally registered
- The buyer is a person, or a NSW licensed motor dealer
The online submission ends with a confirmation receipt. Save it, and email a copy to yourself so the disposal record sits in your own records as well as in NSW records. If you ever need to prove the sale date, that receipt is the quickest way to do it.
Lodged one in the past and cannot find it? You can submit a request for access to your records and get a copy.
What if you sell to a motor dealer?
Selling to a NSW motor dealer changes what you enter. Instead of a driver licence number, you supply the dealer’s business details: their NSW motor dealer licence number and their registered business name.
You can check both through Verify NSW before handing the car over. Worth doing if the dealership is new to you.
One limit catches people out. You cannot submit a NSW notice of disposal online when the buyer is an interstate motor dealer without a NSW motor dealer licence. That sale needs the paper route.
When do you need the paper form?
The paper form is required, not optional, in four cases:
- You do not have a NSW driver licence or NSW photo card
- The vehicle is conditionally registered
- The buyer is a company or organisation rather than a person
- The buyer is interstate
For an interstate buyer or an interstate motor dealer, fill in the form, then post it to Transport for NSW or lodge it at a Service NSW centre. Photograph the completed form before you send it. Paper lodgement gives you no automatic receipt, so your photo is the only proof it was completed properly.
What happens to your green slip when you sell?
Nothing you need to manage. A CTP green slip attaches to the vehicle’s registration, not to you, so it transfers to the new owner when you sell a registered car. Service NSW puts it plainly: you do not need to do anything.
Every registered vehicle in NSW has to have CTP insurance, which is why the cover cannot simply lapse mid-sale.
Two things follow, and they catch people out in opposite directions.
Sellers get no refund. The green slip went with the car, so there is no unused portion sitting with your insurer. That is the trade-off for not having to cancel anything.
Buyers inherit a policy they never chose. It came from an insurer you did not compare, and it expires on a date you did not pick. The statutory cover is the same whichever of the six licensed insurers issued it, because CTP is a regulated product. One insurer, NRMA, also includes at-fault driver cover automatically with its green slip. The price at renewal is where insurers genuinely differ.
So it pays to know what your inherited policy will cost before it runs out. Our guide to which insurers sell CTP green slips in NSW covers all six, and what a CTP green slip covers you for explains what you are actually buying.
What if the car was written off or sold to a wrecker?
The notice of disposal only applies when the vehicle leaves with its number plates attached. Two situations work differently:
- Written off. Cancel the registration instead of lodging a notice of disposal.
- Sold to a wrecker without the plates. Same answer. Cancel the registration.
When you cancel a registration you have to hand in the number plates, and keeping them is an offence. You may get back part of what you paid, but not all of it. Cancel before the registration expires, and expect no refund of the registration fee or the number plate fees, with a cancellation fee taken out of the rest.
The green slip refund is a separate job with an order to it: cancel the registration first, then claim from your insurer with proof from Service NSW. The refund is worked out pro rata, less costs. Our NSW green slip refund guide walks through both steps.
Cancelling a green slip on its own is not really possible. Insurers can only cancel once the registration has ended and the plates are surrendered.
Why does lodging protect you?
Because until you lodge, Transport for NSW still treats you as the registered operator, and that carries real legal responsibility.
Lodge promptly and you cannot be held responsible for parking fines, speeding fines or other traffic offences the new owner picks up. It closes off future liability, provided you also do the second half of the job.
That second half is your toll account. Delete the vehicle’s registration number from it, and take any tags, passes or permits out of the car before handover. The notice of disposal settles your legal obligations with Transport for NSW. It does not touch your toll account, so skip this and future tolls keep arriving.
Keep the confirmation receipt for future reference. If a fine turns up months later, the disposal date on that receipt is what sorts it out.
What does the buyer need to do?
Nearly every guide to this topic is written for sellers, often by businesses that want to buy the car. Here is the buyer’s half.
You have 14 days from the sale date to transfer the vehicle’s registration into your name, and a late transfer fee applies after that. You do not need to arrange CTP for a registered car you have just bought, because the green slip came with it. What you do need is the expiry date, because that is when the choice becomes yours.
Before you buy, check the vehicle’s history and read our guide to buying a second-hand car in NSW. If the car is unregistered or coming from interstate, the path is different and our interstate and overseas green slip guide covers it.
Key points
- Lodge the notice of disposal straight after the sale, not 14 days later
- The 14-day deadline is the buyer’s, for transferring registration
- Your green slip transfers to the new owner automatically, and no refund is due
- You need the buyer’s details, the sale date, and the higher of the sale price or market value
- Use the paper form for an interstate buyer, a company, a conditionally registered vehicle, or if you have no NSW licence or photo card
- Delete the registration number from your toll account and remove any tags
- Written off, or sold without plates? Cancel the registration instead
- Keep the confirmation receipt
Check what all six insurers charge in the green slip calculator when your policy comes up for renewal.
People Also Ask
Buyers and sellers ask much the same questions about the notice of disposal: when to lodge it, what happens next, and where the green slip fits. Here are the answers, with links to our fuller guides.
1. What is a notice of disposal?
A notice of disposal is the formal notice you submit to Transport for NSW to record that you have sold or disposed of a NSW registered vehicle. It removes you as the registered operator and records the buyer against the car, which is what keeps their fines and tolls away from you. It applies to cars, motorcycles and trailers.
2. Can you lodge a notice of disposal online?
Yes, for most sellers. You can submit online through the Service NSW website if you have a MyServiceNSW account, a NSW driver licence or photo card, a vehicle that is not conditionally registered, and a buyer who is either a person or a NSW licensed motor dealer. If any of those do not apply, use the paper form.
3. How long do you have to lodge a notice of disposal?
Lodge it straight after the sale. Service NSW gives sellers no grace period, because every day it sits unlodged is a day you are still the registered operator. The 14-day figure people repeat belongs to the buyer, who has to transfer the registration within 14 days or pay a late transfer fee.
4. Does my green slip transfer to the new owner?
Yes, automatically. Your CTP green slip is tied to the vehicle’s registration, so it goes with the car and you do not need to do anything. It also means no refund is due to you, because the cover moved to the buyer rather than going unused.
5. What happens after a notice of disposal is lodged?
Transport for NSW updates its records to show you are no longer the registered operator, and the buyer becomes responsible for transferring the registration within 14 days. You get a confirmation receipt to keep. Separately, delete the registration number from your toll account and remove any tags or passes from the car.
6. What does the buyer have to do?
The buyer transfers the vehicle’s registration into their name within 14 days of the sale, with a late transfer fee after that. They do not need to buy a green slip for a registered car, because the existing CTP policy transferred with it. Comparing insurers matters at expiry, and our green slip price comparison shows what all six charge.
7. Can I cancel my green slip instead of transferring it?
Only if the car is coming off the road, not if you are selling it. Cancelling a green slip in NSW means cancelling the vehicle’s registration and handing in the number plates first. The insurer then cancels the policy and refunds the unused premium, worked out pro rata and less costs. Selling a registered car does not qualify, because the policy transfers to the new owner. If the car was written off or sold without plates, cancel the registration and follow our green slip refund guide.
