Can I sell my FiL's car - legal and practical question?
Discussion
My father in law has decided to stop driving and his car - a 16 year old, religiously serviced and maintained single owner 65,000 mile Citroen Berlingo, which now needs to be got rid. It's worth maybe £150 scrap, £400 WBAC or £800 private sale. Needs a new battery but otherwise I believe mechanically sound. Trouble is, my FiL is hundreds of miles away and his health is such that arranging any of the above options is beyond him. I can get the car back to my property, however, obviously all the paperwork is going to be in his name and address. It won't be practical to return to his property to conclude any transactions. I don't really want to re-register the car in my name because I'll immediately have to start paying tax & insurance which will erode into the final value that I will return to my FiL, and the current latency of DVLA doing this.
1) Legal question: can he pre-sign the V5C and can I then sell it on his behalf and fill in the rest of the details on the day? Do I need any written authority from him to do this?
2) Practical question: will buyers be put off from buying the car from a person and address that don't match the V5C, or given the low value of the car will this just not matter?
1) Legal question: can he pre-sign the V5C and can I then sell it on his behalf and fill in the rest of the details on the day? Do I need any written authority from him to do this?
2) Practical question: will buyers be put off from buying the car from a person and address that don't match the V5C, or given the low value of the car will this just not matter?
Yes, I suppose we could just let my FiL insurance cover it (it is only TPFT) and I could do test drives on my insurance driving car with other driver's permission. Still would need to wait for DVLA to process the paperwork though, and I gather currently that's not up to their usual service (!)
On second thoughts, SORN’ing is overkill for this.
But if you really don’t want to pay to tax it then it’s your only option.
I would just keep it insured in your FiL’s name, and keep it taxed, re-register it to you then sell it as soon as you can.
To answer your questions;
1) Legal question: can he pre-sign the V5C and can I then sell it on his behalf and fill in the rest of the details on the day? Do I need any written authority from him to do this? I’m not sure on the legal implications, I imagine it’s considered incorrect, but with your FiL’s permission it’s hardly crime of the century.
2) Practical question: will buyers be put off from buying the car from a person and address that don't match the V5C, or given the low value of the car will this just not matter? I personally wouldn’t be bothered, but some people might.
Just the test driving which is the issue.
But if you really don’t want to pay to tax it then it’s your only option.
I would just keep it insured in your FiL’s name, and keep it taxed, re-register it to you then sell it as soon as you can.
To answer your questions;
1) Legal question: can he pre-sign the V5C and can I then sell it on his behalf and fill in the rest of the details on the day? Do I need any written authority from him to do this? I’m not sure on the legal implications, I imagine it’s considered incorrect, but with your FiL’s permission it’s hardly crime of the century.
2) Practical question: will buyers be put off from buying the car from a person and address that don't match the V5C, or given the low value of the car will this just not matter? I personally wouldn’t be bothered, but some people might.
PhilboSE said:
Going to be tough to sell it or get it to WBAC if SORN.....
Well it’s not, the next owner to tax it would effectively be un-SORN’ing the car.Just the test driving which is the issue.
Edited by roadsmash on Tuesday 19th May 11:23
Could you arrange a local mobile mechanic to do the job? Order the correct battery to his place then once that arrives get the mechanic to fit it? Or possibly a local PHer?
Then just bang it on WBAC and explain the situation, I'm sure they'll take it off your hands and do something worthwhile with it.
Then just bang it on WBAC and explain the situation, I'm sure they'll take it off your hands and do something worthwhile with it.
shalmaneser said:
Could you arrange a local mobile mechanic to do the job? Order the correct battery to his place then once that arrives get the mechanic to fit it? Or possibly a local PHer?
Then just bang it on WBAC and explain the situation, I'm sure they'll take it off your hands and do something worthwhile with it.
I'm happy to go to his place and do whatever needs doing and/or recover it to mine if needs be. But repeated trips to/from his place becomes more effort/cost than it's worth. So I need to go there on the day and fix it and get it and my FiL down to WBAC the same day (I don't think they'll buy from me as I'm not a blood relative), or recover it to mine and sell privately.Then just bang it on WBAC and explain the situation, I'm sure they'll take it off your hands and do something worthwhile with it.
Brads67 said:
Just get him to sign the v5 , take it away and flog it.
It's not really that big a deal.
I agree it's not that big a deal, I am interested in the legalities of the process.It's not really that big a deal.
Brads67 said:
Just get him to sign the v5 , take it away and flog it.
It's not really that big a deal.
This. OP, you are making a mountain from a molehilll. If you like, get FIL to sign a bit of paper saying that you have his permission to sell the car. Be open and honest with the buyer. It's not really that big a deal.
I sold my f-i-l's car. He lived 100 miles away. Drove it to my house & F-i-L signed a letter I had printed out that gave me authority to sell the car on his behalf. Sold to the first person who viewed it. Car was an 8 year old Hyundi with less than 36K miles & had been serviced by a main dealer every year. F-i-L insisted I kept the sale proceeds "for your trouble - I didn't.
Is you FiL on WhatsApp or Facetime?
Reassure any potential buyer by providing access to him so they can see you are just doing a good deed.
Hopefully not needed, but reassurance.
At that kind of money it's not like there is going to be huge concerns and due diligence (in comparison to a 59k premium car).
Reassure any potential buyer by providing access to him so they can see you are just doing a good deed.
Hopefully not needed, but reassurance.
At that kind of money it's not like there is going to be huge concerns and due diligence (in comparison to a 59k premium car).
Pothole said:
You can also tell DVLA of transfer of ownership online - with the new owner there if they like.
This. No need to even pre-sign the V5.My dad gave me his old car as a temporary shed, which turned out to be more like 6 months. Never bothered registering it in my name.
The guy who bought it didn't bat an eyelid that the V5 was to an address 200 miles away. We did the transfer online.
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