Suspension car lift

Cancel suspension of your car online

Once you lift the suspension, it stops immediately. You cannot lift the suspension for a future date.

You can always lift the suspension online through the RDW website. Follow these steps:

1. Go to "Cancel suspension car" and log in with your DigiD account.
2. Identify and lift the suspension.
3. After that, you will receive 2 emails from the RDW. The suspension is only finally lifted after you receive the second e-mail. This second e-mail also contains a confirmation and an end date of the suspension.
4. As soon as the suspension is lifted, you may immediately re-enter public roads with the car.

Your registration card (pass with green card) remains valid after the expiration of the suspension. You will not receive a new registration certificate. On some paper registration certificates (when the car was suspended before 1-1-2014) the suspension is mentioned.

You will then receive a new registration card and registration code within 5 business days. If you have a paper registration certificate without mention of the suspension, it will remain valid.

Lift suspension of your car at the ticket office

Of course, you can also lift the suspension of your car at the counter. In that case, always bring valid identification. This is done as follows:

1. Go to a license plate counter, RDW counter or RDW inspection station.
2. Bring the registration certificate and the certificate of transfer. Or the registration card and the registration code.
3. An employee terminates the suspension immediately.
4. You will receive a paper receipt with the end date of the suspension.

If you have a registration card, your suspension certificate will show the first 4 digits of your new registration code. Within 5 working days you will receive a letter from RDW with the last 5 digits of the registration code. Your registration card remains valid.

Do you have a paper vehicle registration certificate showing the suspension? Then you will also receive a new credit card-sized registration certificate together with the last 5 digits of the registration code. A paper certificate without mention of the suspension remains valid.

What does it cost to lift a suspension?

Canceling a car suspension is free of charge.

Charges upon earlier lifting of suspension

Do you lift the suspension earlier? Then you won't get any money back for the remaining time. Have you suspended your car for 3 years but lift the suspension after 1 year? Then you still pay the full amount.

Do you lift the car suspension within 1 month of its commencement? Then you must pay road tax retroactively for the period during which the license plate was suspended. In that case the tax authorities will send you a fine.

Good to know when you lift the suspension

Have you stopped the suspension? Then you need to take care of a few things so that you avoid fines and after-taxes.

1. Get car insurance

After the suspension is lifted, you will need car insurance again because the legal insurance obligation immediately starts again. In the Netherlands, third-party insurance is mandatory for any vehicle that is registered and not suspended.

Without insurance you are not allowed to use the car on public roads and you risk a fine from the RDW and possibly the tax authorities. You are also fully liable for damage without insurance. The fine for uninsured driving is €490.

Car insurance? Calculate your premium!

2. Get your car MOT tested

During the suspension, the MOT obligation is suspended, but once you end the suspension, the car must meet the legal requirements for road safety and environmental standards. The APK obligation applies as soon as the car is allowed back on the road.

You may only drive the car to the inspection with valid insurance and an inspection appointment. Therefore, make an appointment as soon as possible. Without a valid MOT you may not use the car and you risk a fine of €180.

3. Pay motor vehicle tax

During the suspension you were exempt from road tax because the car was not allowed on public roads. Is the suspension lifted again? Then the Tax Office assumes that you are using the car again and you are obliged to pay road tax. Your car is then re-registered as an active vehicle at the RDW. This applies even if you are not actually using the car yet.

You will automatically receive an assessment from the Tax Office and can pay it by direct debit or manually through My Tax Office.