Taking payment for a used car - safely

[CIS121]

Hi,

Selling a car now privately - around 7k, I've advised the buyer that I need to see the funds cleared in my account before handing over the car, but this should be instant now

Is there any risk that a bank transfer can be reversed once it appears in my account?

[av185]

No but use YOUR phone/ laptop/ device NOT the buyers to check the funds are cleared logging in twice if need be.

If you are still unsure call your bank to double check.

Assumed you are referring to an online bank transfer btw.

[TarquinMX5]

It might be worth reminding the potential purchaser to check how s/he intends to arrange it because some banks put restrictions on the first payment to a new payee, ie some are £2,000 via an App or £5,000 online.

[Skyedriver]

I usually make a small "deposit" payment a few days previous which sort of clears the way for the balance.

[motco]

I cannot shift more than £5k from NatWest to anywhere other than another Natwest account in my name. CHAPS is another matter I suppose.

[loskie]

I bought a car(privately) for £12.8k in Jan. Transferred £300 as a deposit by BACS on the day of viewing and paid the balance(BACS) whilst we did the paperwork when the car was delivered by the chap a few days later. It cleared in no time and wasn't even the same bank. Viewed car at the guy's house, same address as on V5.

It's not difficult, just be thorough.

[TTR6]

motco said:

I cannot shift more than £5k from NatWest to anywhere other than another Natwest account in my name. CHAPS is another matter I suppose.

You can change this to £20k instantly using the NatWest app. I just did it after reading your post an worrying that I wasn't going to be able to pay for a car that's getting delivered on Monday!

[singlecoil]

I paid the seller of a car £100 a few days earlier. Tried to pay him c.£7K later and had to spend quite a bit of time on the phone to my bank to convince them that the payment was ok. Multitude of questions, couple of hours before they transferred to money.

HSBC btw.

[anonymous-user]

I bought a car at the last minute last month, it was only £4K but I was worried that if the online payment was delayed I would be waiting around on a Sunday afternoon 200 miles from home in someone's kitchen for it to clear.

Using all of our bank cards I managed to get £1600 out in cash the day before. I then paid the remaining £2400 via two bank transfers, one from me, one from my girlfriend.

The transfer happened instantly, I collected the keys and the paperwork and was on my way.

[CIS121]

Super, thanks folks

My main concern - if once the money shows in my account it can later be reversed, but sounds like it can't. Thanks!

[motco]

TTR6 said:

motco said:

I cannot shift more than £5k from NatWest to anywhere other than another Natwest account in my name. CHAPS is another matter I suppose.

You can change this to £20k instantly using the NatWest app. I just did it after reading your post an worrying that I wasn't going to be able to pay for a car that's getting delivered on Monday!

I paid for a £30k car with my debit card on the phone with no problems, but paying by BACS was impossible.

[jonwm]

My transporter was £30k, private sale, luckily the guy told me about the £25k limit the day before collection.

I transferred £25k, wife £5k and drove away within 5 mins, it was a Saturday of a bank holiday weekend too

[rawenghey]

What are these bank accounts you're all referring to? Regular current accounts? My Lloyds one has a £25k/day limit, so when I bought mine I just did it in two payments over two days. Scrabbling around for a few grand across various cards/accounts.. ?

[davek_964]

Last car I sold privately, the buyer paid some in cash, and some bank transfer - I made sure we paid the cash directly into the bank, and the bank transfer was immediate.

Last car I bought was from an independent dealer, but one who only accepted bank transfer - so wasn't really different from paying for a private sale. I would have had to do it over 5 days using BACS so it was simpler to just pay for CHAPS.

[sixor8]

Online banking money payment using the Faster Past Payment Service is inclusive and free. It isn't always instant though, I once had Santander take several hours.

If there's a limit (my bank is £10k), just break it into smaller chunks.

[RichTT]

TTR6 said:

motco said:

I cannot shift more than £5k from NatWest to anywhere other than another Natwest account in my name. CHAPS is another matter I suppose.

You can change this to £20k instantly using the NatWest app. I just did it after reading your post an worrying that I wasn't going to be able to pay for a car that's getting delivered on Monday!

And that limit is removed entirely if you use phone banking and let them use their voice recognition security.

[davek_964]

RichTT said:

TTR6 said:

motco said:

I cannot shift more than £5k from NatWest to anywhere other than another Natwest account in my name. CHAPS is another matter I suppose.

You can change this to £20k instantly using the NatWest app. I just did it after reading your post an worrying that I wasn't going to be able to pay for a car that's getting delivered on Monday!

And that limit is removed entirely if you use phone banking and let them use their voice recognition security.

I was told by Natwest that the only way I could pay over £20k in one payment (bank transfer) was to go into a branch and use CHAPs. They didn't mention any other choice.