Transferring Car Ownership Costs Five Dinars: What Actually Stops the Transaction

Transferring ownership of a car in Kuwait is a transaction with a fee of five dinars. What usually stops it is not the money but two conditions that are easy to forget before you reach the counter.

What the General Traffic Department asks for

• Transfer of the insurance policy from seller to buyer. This comes before everything.
• Seller and buyer attending together to sign in front of the officer, with confirmation that neither party has outstanding fines.
• The civil ID of both parties, plus a copy.
• The vehicle ownership book.

So the real obstacle is two things: a traffic fine on either party stops the transaction, and insurance not yet transferred. The fee itself is less than the price of a meal.

If the seller has died

Three documents are added: a copy of the death certificate, a copy of the inheritance deed, and all heirs attending or an agent acting for them.

Three other transactions on the same book

Renewing the vehicle licence — five dinars

It requires a renewed insurance policy, presenting the vehicle for technical inspection, a copy of the civil ID, and the ownership book. A vehicle that has been outside the country is presented for inspection after it returns.

The late fee is five dinars, but it is not paid at traffic: it is paid at the traffic violations investigation section. That detail wastes the time of anyone who does not know it.

Replacing a lost ownership book — ten dinars

It starts with a police report, then printing the replacement application, and a copy of the civil ID. It is the most expensive transaction on this list, twice the transfer fee. Political missions need a letter from the embassy attested by the foreign ministry.

Cancelling and scrapping a vehicle — two dinars

This is the only transaction that does not require the vehicle to be insured. It is handled at the scrap section of technical inspection in Jahra. The owner attends in person or through an agent, bringing a letter from the scrapyard proving the vehicle was sold for scrap, then completes the relevant form once the officer has checked it and removed it from the system.

Before you go

The cheapest of these is scrapping at two dinars, the dearest a replacement book at ten. Transfer and renewal are five each. All the fees together come to under fifteen dinars — and what turns people away from the counter is fines and insurance, not the fee.