To return license plates in New York, remove both plates from the vehicle, complete the Plate Surrender Application (Form PD-7), and either mail the plates and form to the DMV in Albany or hand them in at a DMV office. Do this before you cancel your auto insurance. Getting that order wrong triggers daily civil penalties that add up quickly.
Surrender the Plates Before Canceling Insurance
New York requires liability insurance on any registered vehicle. If you cancel coverage while the plates are still active, the DMV treats it as an insurance lapse and charges civil penalties by the day: $8 per day for the first 30 days, $10 per day for days 31 through 60, and $12 per day for days 61 through 90. A full 90-day lapse comes to $900. Skip the penalty and the DMV suspends your registration for the length of the lapse, and you can’t drive the vehicle until the suspension ends.1Department of Motor Vehicles. Pay an Insurance Lapse Civil Penalty The DMV can also suspend your driver’s license if you fail to surrender plates you’re no longer using.2Department of Motor Vehicles. Surrender (Return or Turn-in) Your Vehicle Plates and Registration
The fix is simple. Turn in the plates first. Then call your insurer to cancel the policy.
Prepare the Plates and Fill Out Form PD-7
Take both plates off the vehicle. Remove any plate frames and fasteners too; the DMV won’t accept plates with those still attached. Scrape or destroy the registration and inspection stickers on the windshield so they can’t be reused.2Department of Motor Vehicles. Surrender (Return or Turn-in) Your Vehicle Plates and Registration
Then complete the Plate Surrender Application, Form PD-7. You need three pieces of information from your registration document: the plate number, the plate class (the three-letter code above the plate number, like PAS, COM, or MOT), and the first three letters of the last name or company name on the registration.3NY DMV. Plate Surrender Application Use a separate PD-7 for each set of plates you’re turning in. The form is a PDF on the DMV website, and paper copies are available at any DMV office.
Return the Plates by Mail
Put both plates and the completed PD-7 in a sturdy envelope. The DMV specifically says not to use a box. Send it to:
NYS DMV
6 Empire State Plaza
Room B240
Albany, NY 12228
There is no fee to surrender plates by mail.3NY DMV. Plate Surrender Application Before mailing, confirm your address on file with the DMV is current, since your receipt and any refund check will go there.
Use certified mail or another trackable service. The DMV uses the postmark date as the official surrender date, so tracking gives you proof of both when you mailed the plates and when they arrived.2Department of Motor Vehicles. Surrender (Return or Turn-in) Your Vehicle Plates and Registration That postmark is what settles any later dispute over whether you had a coverage gap.
Return the Plates in Person
Any New York State DMV office will accept plate surrenders. Bring the plates (frames and fasteners already off) and the completed PD-7. Appointment rules vary by office, so check the location’s page on the DMV website before you go.2Department of Motor Vehicles. Surrender (Return or Turn-in) Your Vehicle Plates and Registration
County-run motor vehicle offices charge a $1 processing fee. State-run DMV offices don’t charge anything.2Department of Motor Vehicles. Surrender (Return or Turn-in) Your Vehicle Plates and Registration The main advantage of going in person is that you walk out with your surrender receipt the same day instead of waiting for it in the mail. If you send someone else on your behalf, make sure they hand you the receipt.
Keep the FS-6T Receipt
The FS-6T is your official proof that the plates were surrendered. Keep it permanently. You may need it to resolve insurance disputes, clear DMV records, or show a future insurer that there was no coverage gap.
Surrender by mail and the DMV takes up to 21 days to process the plates and mail the FS-6T to the address on file. Surrender in person and you get it at the counter.2Department of Motor Vehicles. Surrender (Return or Turn-in) Your Vehicle Plates and Registration While you wait for the mailed version, hold onto your certified mail tracking slip as interim proof.
Registration Refunds and Transfer Credits
Depending on when you surrender, you may get part of your registration fee back. The rules turn on whether your registration is one year or two:
- Two-year registration surrendered within 60 days of issue: full registration fee refund minus a $1 processing fee. The sticker must be unused, and you have to surrender the plates, sticker, and stub together.
- Two-year registration surrendered during the first year: 50% of the registration fee, minus a $1 processing fee.
- Two-year registration surrendered during the second year: no refund.
- One-year registrations (motorcycles, snowmobiles, trailers): no refund at any time.
Only the registration fee itself is refundable; other fees and taxes bundled into your original payment are not. Your FS-6T will indicate whether you qualify. If you do, the New York State Office of the State Comptroller mails a check automatically, generally within several weeks.4Department of Motor Vehicles. Refunds and Transfer Credits for Surrendered Plates
If you’re going to register another vehicle soon, you can ask for a transfer credit instead of a cash refund. The credit goes toward the registration cost of your next vehicle.4Department of Motor Vehicles. Refunds and Transfer Credits for Surrendered Plates And if you’re replacing one car with another right away, you may not need to surrender the plates at all: New York lets you transfer an unexpired registration and its plates to a different vehicle you own, which you handle at a DMV office when you register the new car.
If Your Plates Are Lost, Stolen, or Destroyed
You can’t mail plates you don’t have, but the registration still needs to be surrendered. Start with a police report. For plates lost or stolen inside New York, ask any New York police agency to complete a “Report of Lost, Stolen or Confiscated Motor Vehicle Items” (Form MV-78B). That form is only available from law enforcement. For plates lost out of state, get a report on the letterhead of a police agency in that state.5Department of Motor Vehicles. Lost, Stolen or Destroyed Plates
Bring the report to a DMV office to surrender the registration. If a police agency refuses to complete the report, you can substitute a Certification of Lost License, Permit, or Plates (Form MV-1441.3), noting the date you asked for the report and the agency that declined.5Department of Motor Vehicles. Lost, Stolen or Destroyed Plates Don’t let missing plates stall you. An active registration attached to plates you can’t find is a liability worth closing out.