Inherited a car, Insurance dilemma
Discussion
Looking for advice.
My father in law (89) bought a brand new small automatic car just over two years ago to nip down to Tesco etc a couple of miles away etc. At the time, he was in good health but had no desire to venture more than around five miles from his house.
He took out a 2000 mile PA mileage policy which, off memory was about £1000.
12 months ago, his health declined, and the car has more or less stayed in the garage, other than the odd run around the block to keep the battery charged,
Sadly, he died a few days ago, the mileage is showing 1400, yes 1400.
It has had two services at the main dealers.
Now my wife (His daughter) was down as a named driver, and she has been left the car in his will, which is currently worth £14k (give or take).
We now have to decide whether to keep the car as a small runabout, but, tbh with three other cars in our household, we don't really need it.
My wife is going to speak to the insurance company tomorrow, but presumably the insurance is now null and void because you can't insure a deceased person.
She was wondering whether it is better to simply transfer the insurance over to her name, cancel the policy and take out a new one, or simply just sell the car.
If she does take out another policy, do you think the new insurance company will mirror the 20 yr NCD she has built up on her own car?
Thanks in anticipation.
My father in law (89) bought a brand new small automatic car just over two years ago to nip down to Tesco etc a couple of miles away etc. At the time, he was in good health but had no desire to venture more than around five miles from his house.
He took out a 2000 mile PA mileage policy which, off memory was about £1000.
12 months ago, his health declined, and the car has more or less stayed in the garage, other than the odd run around the block to keep the battery charged,
Sadly, he died a few days ago, the mileage is showing 1400, yes 1400.
It has had two services at the main dealers.
Now my wife (His daughter) was down as a named driver, and she has been left the car in his will, which is currently worth £14k (give or take).
We now have to decide whether to keep the car as a small runabout, but, tbh with three other cars in our household, we don't really need it.
My wife is going to speak to the insurance company tomorrow, but presumably the insurance is now null and void because you can't insure a deceased person.
She was wondering whether it is better to simply transfer the insurance over to her name, cancel the policy and take out a new one, or simply just sell the car.
If she does take out another policy, do you think the new insurance company will mirror the 20 yr NCD she has built up on her own car?
Thanks in anticipation.
Call the insurer and report the death of the policyholder.
They ll ask for documentation (often a death certificate and proof you re the executor, next of kin, or new owner).
Ask if the current policy can stay active temporarily while the estate is being handled (many insurers offer a grace period for executors/heirs).
Edit: Sorry for your loss. The insurers will deal with this daily and will likely be reasonable.
They ll ask for documentation (often a death certificate and proof you re the executor, next of kin, or new owner).
Ask if the current policy can stay active temporarily while the estate is being handled (many insurers offer a grace period for executors/heirs).
Edit: Sorry for your loss. The insurers will deal with this daily and will likely be reasonable.
Just a quick heads up about DVLA...
I used the Tell Us Once Service and DVLA responded within a day to say that the deceased was no longer shown as the current keeper and the vehicle tax was cancelled and DVLA automatically issued a refund of vehicle tax for any full remaining months and stated the vehicle should not be kept on a public road.
DVLA state that only the registered keeper can SORN the vehicle but there was no registered keeper for a while and I didn't manage to understand its actual status.
After a short while the existing V5C was used with the DVLA online service to transfer the keeper to another family member who could then tax the vehicle.
Also the insurer was not able to continue the existing policy even though the new keeper was a named driver.
I used the Tell Us Once Service and DVLA responded within a day to say that the deceased was no longer shown as the current keeper and the vehicle tax was cancelled and DVLA automatically issued a refund of vehicle tax for any full remaining months and stated the vehicle should not be kept on a public road.
DVLA state that only the registered keeper can SORN the vehicle but there was no registered keeper for a while and I didn't manage to understand its actual status.
After a short while the existing V5C was used with the DVLA online service to transfer the keeper to another family member who could then tax the vehicle.
Also the insurer was not able to continue the existing policy even though the new keeper was a named driver.
Wacky Racer said:
Now my wife (His daughter) was down as a named driver, and she has been left the car in his will, which is currently worth £14k (give or take).
We now have to decide whether to keep the car as a small runabout, but, tbh with three other cars in our household, we don't really need it.
My wife is going to speak to the insurance company tomorrow, but presumably the insurance is now null and void because you can't insure a deceased person.
Not quite. The ABI have issued guidelines on this that UK insurers have to stick to. No one is expected to think "OK, my loved one has died, I can no longer drive as a named driver on their policy". That would be ridiculous, as people who have lost someone have more important things to deal with. So, from memory, you have 6 months grace, (might even be 9 months) or until the policy comes up for renewal, whichever comes first. Named drivers can continue to drive during that time and will be covered. That even applies if the named driver is much younger and would be a much higher risk if insurers knew they were the main driver, or if the named driver takes the car back to their house in Central London when the policyholder lived in Cornwall. You don't have to advise them straight off. We now have to decide whether to keep the car as a small runabout, but, tbh with three other cars in our household, we don't really need it.
My wife is going to speak to the insurance company tomorrow, but presumably the insurance is now null and void because you can't insure a deceased person.
So take your time, think about what you want to do, and then deal with it when you're ready.
Edited by TwigtheWonderkid on Monday 6th October 09:26
I had the same - phone insurance company and inform them of circumstances. The insurance company put me on the insurance for no cost for 1 month so I could dispose of the car
As an aside, I took it to We Buy Any Car and despite the registration document being still in deceased name they were superb & money in the nominated account within days
As an aside, I took it to We Buy Any Car and despite the registration document being still in deceased name they were superb & money in the nominated account within days
My wife and I were named drivers on my mother s insurance policy. When we rang up the insurance company to tell them she d passed away they said that we could carry on using the car until the policy expired. We even persuaded them to add my sister to the policy for a couple of weeks so she could use the car.
Nobody in the family wanted the car so I sold it to a garage in Exeter, there wasn’t a problem with my name not being on the V5. I brought a death certificate along to show them, but they weren’t really bothered.
Nobody in the family wanted the car so I sold it to a garage in Exeter, there wasn’t a problem with my name not being on the V5. I brought a death certificate along to show them, but they weren’t really bothered.
Edited by Paul Dishman on Monday 6th October 09:58
Actual said:
Just a quick heads up about DVLA...
I used the Tell Us Once Service and DVLA responded within a day to say that the deceased was no longer shown as the current keeper and the vehicle tax was cancelled and DVLA automatically issued a refund of vehicle tax for any full remaining months and stated the vehicle should not be kept on a public road.
DVLA state that only the registered keeper can SORN the vehicle but there was no registered keeper for a while and I didn't manage to understand its actual status.
After a short while the existing V5C was used with the DVLA online service to transfer the keeper to another family member who could then tax the vehicle.
Also the insurer was not able to continue the existing policy even though the new keeper was a named driver.
We had this when my dad died - tax was cancelled and refunded and we were told he was no longer the RK.I used the Tell Us Once Service and DVLA responded within a day to say that the deceased was no longer shown as the current keeper and the vehicle tax was cancelled and DVLA automatically issued a refund of vehicle tax for any full remaining months and stated the vehicle should not be kept on a public road.
DVLA state that only the registered keeper can SORN the vehicle but there was no registered keeper for a while and I didn't manage to understand its actual status.
After a short while the existing V5C was used with the DVLA online service to transfer the keeper to another family member who could then tax the vehicle.
Also the insurer was not able to continue the existing policy even though the new keeper was a named driver.
Cars sat for a while (inherited by mum who couldn't drive). Insuring them became an issue (not my car, owner doesn't drive, no registered keeper
). To be honest I got bored of trying to explain myself as every insurer said something different, but neither of my insurers were happy to cover it for a week on my insurance. In the end just got rid of them through Motorway.I say this as the car will form part of your FIL's estate which will presumably have to go through probate so expect all sorts of confusion from insurance companies about who owns it and who is the RK. It really shouldn't be so complicated. It's just a car. But it is.
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