Car finance for wife

Car finance for wife

Author
Discussion

AudiMan9000

Original Poster:

738 posts

49 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
My wife does not work and I am the sole bread winner. I am aware that I cannot get car finance in my name for a car that will be exclusively/substantially driven by her. But can she get car finance in her own name without any income, on the basis our joint income (my wages) will cover the monthly payments? She will have a good credit rating.

V8 Bob

271 posts

126 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
Heard of people getting car finance to get rid of a wife but.... Seriously why not just get a bank loan? Can’t see issue with the car being primarily for use by your wife.

Eyersey1234

2,898 posts

80 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
Why can't the OP get the car finance in his name if his wife drives it more than he does?

dazmanultra

432 posts

93 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
AudiMan9000 said:
I am aware that I cannot get car finance in my name for a car that will be exclusively/substantially driven by her.
Is that true? Why does the finance company care who is driving the car?

CheesecakeRunner

3,866 posts

92 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
AudiMan9000 said:
My wife does not work and I am the sole bread winner. I am aware that I cannot get car finance in my name for a car that will be exclusively/substantially driven by her.
Of course you can. Owner, keeper, and main driver do not have to all be the same person.

My personal circumstances are the same as yours and I happily HP'd a car that my wife uses. I'm the owner, she's the keeper, main driver and insurance policy holder. I'm a named driver on the insurance policy but only for convenience, not because I need to be.

AudiMan9000

Original Poster:

738 posts

49 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
If I took finance out for someone else’s car, this would be known as ‘fronting’ i.e. fraud. Google it if you don’t believe me.

Smurfsarepeopletoo

871 posts

58 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
AudiMan9000 said:
If I took finance out for someone else’s car, this would be known as ‘fronting’ i.e. fraud. Google it if you don’t believe me.
As far as I am aware, fronting is only an insurance term, you cant take out insurance in your name as the main driver, if she is going to be the main driver.

However, I see no issue with you taking out finance in your name, you being the registered keeper of the vehicle, and her insuring it herself, if the car got written off, the finance would get the bulk of the payment, and you would get the remained if there is any, as you are the owner of the vehicle.

I would also suggest you take out gap insurance.

SD_1

7,266 posts

159 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
AudiMan9000 said:
If I took finance out for someone else’s car, this would be known as ‘fronting’ i.e. fraud. Google it if you don’t believe me.
Isn't that for insurance? I can't imagine it makes a difference for finance, plenty of parents finance cars for their kids for example and I can't imagine your situation is unique.

TwigtheWonderkid

43,505 posts

151 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
AudiMan9000 said:
If I took finance out for someone else’s car, this would be known as ‘fronting’ i.e. fraud. Google it if you don’t believe me.
Fronting, is not something that applies between husband and wife. Not in insurance, car finance, or anything else. There must be thousands of stay at home mums driving cars bought on finance or leased for them by their working husbands. That's a lot of criminals!

CheesecakeRunner

3,866 posts

92 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
Indeed. Mazda financial services were perfect happy with me doing it. And we were completely open and honest with them about who owned what, who was the keeper etc. Wasn't a problem at all.

anonymous-user

55 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
AudiMan9000 said:
If I took finance out for someone else’s car, this would be known as ‘fronting’ i.e. fraud. Google it if you don’t believe me.
As others have said, it isn't. That's where someone declares they are the main driver for a lower insurance quote.

MINI were 100% happy with me financing my wife's car in the same circumstances.

hondafanatic

4,969 posts

202 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
AudiMan9000 said:
If I took finance out for someone else’s car, this would be known as ‘fronting’ i.e. fraud. Google it if you don’t believe me.
B'jebus! I've done well! 10 years I've been taking the finance out in my name for various cars for my Mrs...you'd think the dealer would have pointed it out at some point. Well if I go down I'm taking her with me...she should be locked up for her choice in cars. Bear with me while I remove my tongue from my cheek.

AudiMan9000

Original Poster:

738 posts

49 months

VR99

1,271 posts

64 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
Op - I don't think this is a big issue, lot of people I know do this in similar single bread-winner scenarios.

The only potential issues I've heard of is in situations where a couple (whether they are legally married or not) split up and the individual who took on the finance is left to deal with paying it off but (god forbid that happening) I assume that when you took finance you were assessed for affordability criteria or whatever the correct term is so happy days.

As an aside my gardener told me his cars finance is paid by his daughter and when he was once stopped by police they did query why the car is in her name but after he explained that she bought the car and was paying the finance all was ok. So surely your in case should be fine I would think.

AudiMan9000

Original Poster:

738 posts

49 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
I appreciate the responses but they don’t in anyway accord with the article I posted. It’s not a case of what you believe/want to believe or what the dealer tells you or is okay with. It’s a question of what declarations you’re signing when you apply for finance...principally that you will be the registered keeper/main driver of the vehicle.

stuartmasson

60 posts

141 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
If you're married, you live at the same address, the money is coming from a joint account and there are no previous issues with your credit history, it's rarely a problem.

Where finance companies will take a dimmer view is where Person A has tried to get finance and been rejected, then Person B with the same surname or from the same address tries to finance the same car. They assume that Person A can't get finance for whatever reason, so Person B is borrowing the money as a favour, then Person A pays Person B each month and Person B pays the finance company.

The default rate on these types of arrangement is much higher than average, and the typical scenario is that Person A at some point stops paying Person B and Person B can't/won't continue paying the loan off out of their own pocket.

An accommodation deal is certainly not illegal, but it's a matter of risk. Finance companies will usually shy away from them unless it's clear that there is a substantial familial link between the borrower and the driver. The most obvious is husband and wife, but different finance companies will have different policies on what they will and won't accept. In the case of parent/child, the finance company might prefer the offspring to take out the finance with the parent as a guarantor rather than have the parent take out the finance.


jdizz

403 posts

205 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
Man comes on the internet for advice.

Gets given advice.

Man says this advice isn't true.


stuartmasson

60 posts

141 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
VR99 said:
As an aside my gardener told me his cars finance is paid by his daughter and when he was once stopped by police they did query why the car is in her name but after he explained that she bought the car and was paying the finance all was ok. So surely your in case should be fine I would think.
Separate issue. The police will probably only be interested in whether or not the car is stolen. As long as you have the keeper's permission to drive the car, the police are not going to call up the finance company and check.

SD_1

7,266 posts

159 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
AudiMan9000 said:
Interesting, so it looks like from that article you are looking at an "accommodation deal" and not fronting. A bit of digging revealed this article:

https://www.nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk/guide...

Which specifies at the bottom that there are conditions where this can be acceptable to the finance company. One of them is husband and wife applying on behalf of the spouse. I think the next step would be talk to the dealer, see the terms and conditions of the finance agreement, and check what the acceptability of an "accommodation deal" is and if you fall within it. The key seems to be if you live in the same address, which if you do, doesn't sound like it will be a problem.

Francois de La Rochefoucauld

462 posts

79 months

Tuesday 8th December 2020
quotequote all
I think you've misunderstood the premise of the article.

To quote - 'The logic is simple: the finance company does not expect you to be able to repay the loan, so it doesn’t expect you to be able to repay the same amount of money to another person.'

You're not proposing this. The finance is in your name, it's your car, you're the registered owner and will be making the payments, while letting your wife drive the car.