How to fill out Alabama MVT 40-1E

What is filed after an insurer settles a theft claim on a car that was never found. Alabama treats a theft settlement as a total loss, so the vehicle has to leave the owner's name even though nobody can produce it. The insurer completes most of the sheet; the owner at the time of the theft completes the certification at the bottom, and only where the certificate itself is lost or stolen along with the car - which, given that the certificate is usually in the house rather than the glovebox, is not automatic.

Written against MVT 40-1E (2/24), issued under Code of Ala. 1975, Section 32-8-87(b)(1)d. If your car was stolen and you are still the registered owner, the plate is still registered to you as well. Alabama has no notice of sale and no automatic link between a police report and the registration, so the insurance verification machinery keeps running on a vehicle that no longer exists. Surrendering the plate at the county office is what stops that, and it is a separate errand from the insurance claim.

Two documents, and they are not the same thing. Take the blank MVT 40-1E from the revenue.alabama.gov copy so you get the revision that is current today.

Every line, in the order you meet it

1. 1
   You fill this in

   Vehicle identification number

   Seventeen characters, one to a box, in the comb across the head of the form.

   Watch out: One character per box. A VIN written continuously through a comb is the single most common reason a scanned Alabama form comes back.

2. 2
   You fill this in

   Year, make, model, body type

   Four fields to the right of the preprinted transaction code.

   Watch out: The transaction code is already printed as 01 and is not yours to change. It tells the Department which kind of title transaction this is.

3. 3
   You fill this in

   Cylinders, date of purchase, colour

   Three fields on the second row, describing the vehicle as the certificate describes it.

   Watch out: Date of purchase is when you bought the car, not the date of the theft or of the settlement. Three dates live on this form and they are all different.

4. 4
   You fill this in

   Current Alabama title number

   The number of the certificate that is being replaced, at the right-hand end of the vehicle band.

   Watch out: If you cannot find it, a designated agent can. It is what connects this affidavit to a real record rather than to a VIN.

5. 5
   The insurance agent fills this in

   Owner information

   The insurance company's name and mailing address, because after a settlement the insurer is the owner.

   Watch out: The block is headed FELONY OFFENSE FOR FALSE ADDRESS in italics, and that heading is on the block a company completes, not the one you do.

6. 6
   The insurance agent fills this in

   Insurance and adjusting company details

   Names, physical addresses, adjuster names and telephone numbers for the insurer and, if there is one, the adjusting company.

   Watch out: Two adjusters can appear on one claim. The form gives each of them a name and a number because the Department may well ring one of them.

7. 7
   The insurance agent fills this in

   Claim number and date declared stolen

   The insurance company claim or policy number, and the date the vehicle was declared stolen.

   Watch out: Declared stolen, not reported stolen. Insurers use both dates and only one of them belongs here.

8. 8
   You fill this in

   Owner's certification

   You sign and date, certifying the information is true and that the outstanding certificate of title is lost or stolen.

   Watch out: Only sign this if the certificate really is gone. If it is in a drawer at home, the insurer needs it properly assigned instead, and this block stays empty.

What gets this one rejected

• •Filing it where the certificate is safely at home. The instruction is that the outstanding properly assigned certificate of title must be submitted along with this application - the owner's certification exists only for the case where it cannot be.
• •An owner signing the insurance company's block, or an adjuster signing the owner's. They are two separate certifications about two different things.
• •Using it before the claim has settled. The first line limits it to where a settlement has occurred between an insurance company and the insured.
• •Leaving the date the vehicle was declared stolen empty. It is the event the whole affidavit turns on.
• •Assuming an out-of-state theft can be dealt with entirely in Alabama. The asterisked note sends the applicant to the theft laws of the state where it happened.

Rules that decide whether it is accepted

• •A stolen car is a total loss. Section 32-8-87(b)(1)d says so directly: where the payment or monetary settlement was made because of the theft of the vehicle, which shall be considered a total loss as defined in this section, the insurer forwards the properly assigned certificate to the Department as soon as practicable after the vehicle is recovered.
• •Which is why this form exists for the ones that are not recovered. With no vehicle and often no certificate, the ordinary route closes. The affidavit substitutes two sworn statements for the missing paper.
• •The owner is the insured, not the finance company. The certification is by the owner (at time of theft). Where a lender held the certificate, the lien still has to be dealt with, and the insurer's settlement is what does that.

Every line here was read off MVT 40-1E (2/24) itself — the PDF is here — and off the Alabama Department of Revenue, Motor Vehicle Division pages. This is plain-language help with a form, not legal advice, and where our wording and the agency's differ, theirs governs.

Back to all Alabama seller paperwork, or what selling a car in Alabama involves.