How to register a trailer without documents

Requirements for trailer hitches for cars

The requirements for passenger trailers are contained in the “Technical Regulations on the Safety of Wheeled Vehicles”, approved by Decision of the Customs Union Commission of December 9, 2011 N 877.

The regulations, in particular, contain requirements for the effectiveness of trailer braking systems , wheels and coupling mechanisms, lighting devices, as well as size and weight restrictions.

In addition, the technical condition of the trailer must comply with the “Basic provisions for the approval of vehicles for operation and the responsibilities of officials to ensure road safety”, approved by Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Government of the Russian Federation of October 23, 1993 No. 1090. This document contains information about those malfunctions , the presence of which makes it impossible to operate the trailer.

If we talk about the basic requirements, they include:

Length . It must be at least 1.5 times the length of the tractor, but not more than 8 meters.
Width . Up to 20 mm of the total width of the tug on both sides, and the ground clearance should not be greater than that of the main tractor.
Height . The maximum permissible bar is no higher than 1.5 times the size of its track, and is within 2.5 meters.
Appearance . The body must be painted in an even layer, there should be no cracks, swelling or other irregularities.

If the height of the trailer does not fit into the norm, additional external rear-view mirrors must be installed on the vehicle. This is for reasons of safety for the driver and passengers.

How to register?

Registering a trailer for a car is not much different from the algorithm of actions when registering the vehicle itself. Let's take a closer look at it.

Where to contact?

The trailer is registered with the traffic police department , where the owner must apply with the appropriate application and a package of necessary documents. Moreover, the owner can come to the branch in person, or can first leave an application through the State Services portal, in which case the cost of the state duty will be significantly lower. We talked about how to register a trailer through the State Services portal in this material.

After submitting the application, the traffic police inspector will inspect the trailer, check the numbers with the data in the PTS, and then make an appropriate note about the inspection. Next, all documents are handed over to an authorized employee, and he sets a date and time when you need to come for the technical passport. Before this you will need to pay a state fee.

Documents for registration

Registration of the trailer occurs upon provision of the following package of documents:

owner's passport;
vehicle passport, which can be in electronic form;
document confirming ownership, for example, a purchase and sale agreement;
trailer numbers;
direct application from the owner;
OSAGO policy, it is presented upon request, but the owner must have it.

Important : if we are talking about a trailer for a passenger car, then you do not need to buy an insurance policy for it. This is stated in the federal law on compulsory motor liability insurance. In the case of trucks, buses and motorcycles, separate insurance is required.

Inspection procedure

According to the law, civilian trailers with a maximum permitted weight of up to 3.5 tons are not subject to mandatory technical inspection. In other words, the owner of a car trailer does not need a vehicle inspection certificate when registering. However, it is mandatory to have MTPL insurance for the car itself, and if there is a trailer, in paragraph 2 of the policy there must be a mark in the column about the use of the vehicle with a trailer.

At the same time, if the owner of the trailer is a company, that is, a legal entity, then you will have to undergo a technical inspection.

Filling out an application to submit to the traffic police

The application for registration of a trailer shall include the following information::

territorial traffic police office where the owner applies;
last name, first name and patronymic of the owner, his passport details;
registration object (trailer);
technical characteristics, PTS data;
Contact Information.

The application must be filled out by hand, and the form can be downloaded on the Internet or taken from an employee. You can also compile it in electronic form if you use the State Services portal.

On our website you can also find out how to register a homemade trailer and towbar.

How much does it cost and what is the payment procedure?

The amount of state duty when registering a trailer will depend on certain circumstances.

Firstly, if the owner registers the trailer and receives new license plates, then they will cost him 1,500 rubles.
Secondly, a fee is added to this amount for obtaining a paper certificate of registration - 500 rubles (or a plastic one - 1500 rubles), as well as 350 rubles for making changes to the PTS.

Thus, the total cost of the state fee for registration with the traffic police will be 2,350 rubles without a plastic certificate, or 3,350 with a plastic registration certificate.

If the owner uses the State Services portal to register a trailer with the traffic police, he will receive a 30% discount on the price upon payment.

The state duty is paid after submitting the application to the traffic police (the receipt can be obtained from the employee) or in your personal account of the State Services portal by transferring money from the card. In the second case, the owner will only need to follow the steps that appear one by one on the screen.

Help : if the payment was made through State Services, you can print a receipt or tell the traffic police officer the TIN number, which he will use to check the availability of payment.

Result of the procedure

After all stages have been completed, the traffic police officer will set a date and time when you need to appear for a certificate. According to the law, registration cannot take more than 10 days.

Step-by-step instructions: registering a trailer without documents

Before registering your trailer without documents, you need to restore at least some papers regarding this vehicle:

Draw up a purchase and sale agreement. Since it will be partly fictitious, it is better to involve a close relative for this event - ideally a mother or father. In the future, the imaginary seller will have to testify in court. Even if there is no criminal overtones to this event, not every friend will want to waste his time visiting authorities and testifying under oath.
Find the instruction manual. Naturally, this is easiest to do on the Internet. If you cannot find a manual specifically for your unit, you will have to make adjustments to the existing source.

A sales contract and an operating manual are already something. With these documents, as well as a completed application for registration, a receipt for payment of the state duty (currently 2000 rubles), photocopies of passports (your own and a relative’s) you can go to the traffic police department.

After examining the submitted documents, the MREO employee will, of course, refuse to register you.
The main reason is an insufficient set of documents, namely the lack of a certificate-invoice. The official wording will sound something like this: “impossibility of identifying the owner.” This visit is mandatory in order to receive an official refusal of registration. The next step is preparing documents for the court. Most likely, you will have to hire a lawyer for this purpose. A lawyer will have to pay about 2,000 rubles to draw up an application. The statement of claim is sent to the magistrate's court at the place of residence of the defendant (that is, your relative). Additionally, you will have to pay a state fee - about 400 rubles.

At the court hearing, both sides will be heard - you and your relative. It is important that the defendant confirms his ownership of the car trailer and the fact of the sale.

We can say that the vehicle was purchased a long time ago (and therefore the invoice certificate was lost), was stored in a garage and was not used. Of the documents, only the operating instructions have been preserved.

After this, the court sends a request to the regional traffic police department. From there, within a month, you should receive a response stating that the vehicle has never been registered and there are no restrictions on its operation. Now nothing prevents the court from recognizing you as the legal owner of the trailer.

For the court decision to enter into legal force, at least a month must pass. After this period of time, you can again go to the MREO and restore the necessary documents. You will need:

relevant statement;
receipt of payment of the duty;
the court's decision;
copies of passports of former and current owners;
contract of sale;
a copy of the trailer's operating instructions.

Review of documents takes no more than an hour. After this time, you will be given a license plate, PTS and a registration certificate.

In total, if you follow the above instructions, the entire process of legalizing a trailer without a passport will take about 3-4 months. The asking price is 6-7 thousand, taking into account payment of all state duties and expenses associated with registering the vehicle.

Differences in Procedure

For self-propelled vehicles

If you need to register a trailer, for example, for a tractor, the procedure will differ primarily in that the application is submitted not to the traffic police, but to the territorial body of Gostekhnadzor.

In this case , the applicant must be included in the document on the ownership of the trailer , and when registering, be guided by the Rules for state registration of tractors, self-propelled machines, etc.

A trailer for a self-propelled vehicle must have an MTPL insurance policy.

For those brought from abroad

If the trailer is brought from abroad, the difference will be that before registration begins, you will need to pay the costs of customs clearance.

Procedure for registration at the State Traffic Inspectorate

Let's now move on to the practical part - how to register a trailer with the traffic police. All actions taken in this case by the owner will be similar to actions in case of. It is important that the owner is obliged to do this within 10 days from the date of purchase. To do this, he needs to come to the traffic police department and submit an application to register the vehicle.

Next, present the trailer he purchased for inspection and provide documents indicating identification numbers, which the inspector will compare with the numbers actually stamped on the vehicle. The inspector will also check the color and year of manufacture. The result of the inspection will be a mark on the application for the inspection. After this, the owner submits the established package of documents to the traffic police (below in the article there will be more detailed information on their list), and at the appointed time receives a vehicle passport with the seal of the State Traffic Inspectorate and a registration mark.

For passenger cars

The procedure for registering a trailer for a passenger car with the traffic police will not undergo any special changes in 2021. Although they still exist:

When registering, the vehicle is assigned a registration number with the owner's region code and issued with an STS. Based on this number, the owner can obtain registration plates directly from the traffic police, at the place of registration of the vehicle, at the department at the place of registration, or order them from the organization that produces them.
If the trailer will be registered by an authorized person using a power of attorney that has not been certified by a notary, then it will be necessary to provide the owner’s original passport.

Time intervals for various stages are now strictly limited and, in general, if the documents and trailer are in order, the registration procedure, including an inspection of the vehicle at the site by an inspector, will take no more than an hour of pure time.

The difference from trucks is that they are intended for passenger cars and, therefore, they do not require a compulsory motor liability insurance policy, but only if they belong to individuals. If their owners are legal entities, then they must undergo technical inspection.

A frequent question is how to register a trailer for a passenger car without documents with the traffic police, because such vehicles are often welded by home-grown craftsmen? In this case, for registration you will need to provide a certificate of safety of the vehicle design. However, obtaining this document in itself is very troublesome.

For truck

Trailers for trucks are required to be registered with the State Traffic Inspectorate on a general basis, however, there are serious differences in terms of registration of compulsory motor liability insurance: for example, if a trailer for a passenger car does not require a policy, then a truck must be insured by making an appropriate entry in the insurance policy of the truck. This procedure was enshrined in federal law No. 223-FZ dated July 21, 2014; until this point, an additional insurance policy was issued for the cargo trailer.

For boats

Registration of a boat trailer with the traffic police, despite the complete simplicity of the design, is carried out according to the rules for ordinary vehicles. Consequently, you will also have to submit it for inspection and pay a fee.

Since according to the classification this vehicle belongs to passenger trailers, registering a boat trailer with the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate will not require issuing an MTPL policy.

Is it possible to register without documents?

If the owner of the trailer does not have a title, the registration procedure becomes more difficult . However, there is always a way out. As such, owners often resort to registering as a so-called “homemade trailer”.

According to the technical regulations of the Customs Union “On the safety of wheeled vehicles”, such “single vehicles” must have a design safety certificate. To obtain such a passport, the owner must submit the trailer to a specialized laboratory.

The direction there is taken from the traffic police department.

To contact the department, you will need to collect a package of documents, including receipts, certificates and other available documentation for each of the units.
You will also need to describe the trailer itself in free form in your own words and photograph it from all sides.
Next, you need to take all the documents and come to the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, where an employee will give you a referral for laboratory testing.
All collected documents and photographs should also be given to laboratory staff. The examination is paid.
After receiving the safety certificate, you need to contact the traffic police again and go through the registration procedure that is provided for ordinary trailers. If there are no complaints from the experts, the owner of the trailer will receive a registration certificate.

How to register a used trailer with documents

When purchasing a passenger trailer, the new owner must ensure that he receives the entire set of documents from the previous owner. Here is a list of documents used to formalize the sale:

Technical equipment passport (or PTS). All necessary parameters must be entered into this document: frame and body number, make, year of manufacture.
reception and transmission. This document contains information about all faults and defects that exist at the time of sale.
Contract of sale. This document, if properly executed, is the basis for the transfer of equipment into the ownership of the new owner.

Only a complete set of documents can make it possible to register a trailer with the traffic police quickly and without serious problems. Therefore, the new owner must ensure that all documents according to this list are transferred to him on time.