After a bit of advice if anyone has been in this situation.

My father has very recently died.

There is no rush but my mum will want to sell his car at some point. Insurance was in his name and still is as it has not been cancelled yet. Car is on a drive/off road and obviously log book is in his name.

How would we go about doing this? Would the car have to be added to someone’s insurance temporarily in order to sell and what about log book? Would this need a change of name first?

Dad was the 2nd owner and would be a shame to add another owner just to sell.

MM
Edit: car is a 2004 Volvo V70 so not worth much

For what it is worth, I would suggest selling it as normal and then signing the V5 as the executer of estate. no need to add another owner. chances of the DVLA checking anything? Nil. new owner fills in their part, you’ll get a letter to confirm and send off V5. All good.

Sorry for your loss by the way, its these little things that cause the problems and no one ever knows the answers to. Try cancelling a mobile contract, thats a laugh a minute!

Sorry about your Father.

I went through easter last year when my dad died.
If the insurance is running out I’d say get rid of the car as soon as possible.
If it’s run out then get it temporarily put on your insurance so that it’s legal.
Don’t bother transfering ownership. Just write on the log book when you sell the car that your father is deceased. The DVLA is only really interested in the new keeper anyway.

I took my dads car to wewantanycar just to gid rid. As long as you have a copy of the death certificate selling it shouldn’t be a problem.

doesnt need to be insured if your SORN it but that will make test drives harder.

First thing to do is check the insurance and tax details so they don’t fall foul of them running out.

Worth sticking it up on here and up for sale locally and saving yourself from ebay idiots which are the last thing you need.

Thanks guys, going to miss him

Yes I don’t want my mum having the hassle of selling it.

Ideally I’d move it from Kent to North London so I can deal with the tyre kickers hence the insurance questions.

I can drive it 3rd party on my insurance but pretty sure that only when it’s also insured by the owner

Would be worth checking with the insurance company. I think most, if not all policies will not cover you (or anyone test driving it), unless there is a valid policy on the car. And that’s obviously a very grey area under your current circumstances.

You could auction it on eBay, which may negate the need for any tyre kickers (and test drives). Just write an honest description. Though obviously you’ll have little control over how much it sells for.

Condolences anyway.

I did the same with my dad’s old car, again only worth a few £. When I spoke to the dvla if memory serves. They want me to send copy’s for death cert and will etc to re register the car in my name and got arsey when I mentioned selling it quick and asked how I decided I had permission to sell it.
So I just signed it my self and sold it, as someone said no one cares, only care about the new owner as long as no finance etc

Sorry for your loss. Re insurance you’d be well checking that the policy isn’t void/ ineffective from death. If it is third party cover on your policy may not work. mine requires the other vehicle to have a valid insurance policy on it.

You may find you can get temporary cover from your own insurer for one to three months. I did this a fair few years back when I’d bought a new car but still had the old.

id just sign your fathers name in the registered keepers box, job done

no-one cares, its just an illegible squiggle most of the time

I wouldnt drive it on your dads insurance. Probably best to transfer it to your own insurance but leave the car in his name so you don’t have to mess around the the tax.

also is the probate/will etc sorted? If your family situation is simple and no one minds then go ahead but be careful if not.

IIRC my folks had a car which languished in their garage for ages. When dad was in hospital – he never got out – mum sorted selling it, we must have simply signed the form in his name I think.

Its all the little things that take the effort and emotion. Sorry to hear about your dad.

Sorry for your loss.
I’m into Volvos and run a 2004 V70.

Why not keep hold of it and have a weeks biking/family holiday in France in the summer? V70’s are awesome continent crossers and the spirit and memory of you dad will be along with for the trip. Or recreate a road trip your parents did in the car?
Older cars pick up character and soul from the people that owned them and become almost more than tin boxes.

Apologies if I’m wrong, I just know what my aging dad is like with his car.

I would keep it…but I have an RS6

Not sure what’s up with this site. I keep typing out replies and it deletes all but the first line when I post!

Thanks for all the advice

The only thing dvla need from the original owner is a signature, they don’t check them so any old scribble will do. You don’t need to change the owner certainly.

You can do a day insurance if you need to use the car or ask your insurer (or the existing one) if they’ll cover you in the circumstances.

Webuyanycar.com?

When my Dad died I just phoned the DVLA, told them the story and they issued a new log book. No signatures/hassle.

Sorry to hear about your father, MM.

As andyl said – the car forms part of his estate, so should be dealt with as part of that.

That said I know of a couple of families in the same position who just progressed and sold the car on (presumably signing the log book themselves). I think the took the view that moving the car on was more important and if anyone had challenged they would have made sure the estate had the money. In both cases the cars were worth very little. In fact, I think I ended up with one of them….

I suspect there are legalities but there’s also pragmatism in these situations.

Hope the sale is quick. As quick as your RS6..!

Estate all goes to my Mum, as will the sale of the car.

An 80 year old woman doesn’t want to be dealing with a car sale down the line. Just want to sort everything for her. She’s had, and having a tough few years.

Thanks for the thoughts

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Slightly different, but I recently sold my mother in laws car on eBay – on a BIN price, I priced it about £300 (10%) more than the webuyanycar online offer (they knock you down from that when you get to the depot anyway, and they are only offering you trade in rates in the first place) and it sold to a dealer – he paid cash notes, and paid asking price – he sold it for a lot more but we had no hassle, cash and didn’t have to move it off the drive…..

Dealt with this a good few years ago. Phoned the ins co and explained. Without question they extended the cover for a month or two, and put me on it for free as a named driver. Remarkably human.

Just to update on this…

Policy was changed to my Mums name and I was added as a named driver. Even got a £70 refund as we were less risk!

Ad to follow!

Most large companies seem very geared up with specialist departments to help with sorting estates
Read the post yesterday couldn’t help on insurance but I’d try and do a double check on what’s in joint names and solely your father
I can’t remember which one but when looking for other info one of the major age cRe charities had a link to an organization that got the deceased deleted from makling lists – this may help your mum I know mine got quite upset with stuff arriving addressed to the love of her life

Mailing lists edit

We recently sold mums Mini Rose (1989, 19000 miles absolutely mint), I think dealt with DVLA to change ownership and the insurance company.
The hardest part was getting an idea of what it was worth, but dad just wanted shot of it because it reminded him of mum every time he went in the garage.

I have no advice OP – sorry to hear of your loss though.