My dad is coming towards the end of his time with us and he has agreed (a week or so ago) to let us have his car. This was all agreed prior to him becoming more unwell. Now we are in a position to be taking the car away this weekend but he is potentially not lucid enough to respond to questions from the insurance company to cancel his policy.
Is there a way to cancel someone else’s policy at short notice so we can place our own cover on?
Before anyone claims we are nabbing his car from him my brother is in full agreement.

Would you know the answers to the questions? Ring and say you are him?

Can you not write a letter to the insurer and have him sign it?

Do you/anyone have power of attorney?

Yes we know the answers but not comfortable claiming to be him as not right etc etc.

Writing a letter would maybe work if they would accept a scanned copy.

We (brother and I) have power of attorney but we have asked and it needs to be triggered by GP or equivalent which takes time in rural country land.

Just got off the phone to MrsG82 and she suggested just giving them a call to see what their rules are. It’s saga insurance so they must have dealt with this sort of thing before?

Can you add yourself as a named driver, use that insurance until it runs out, then get your own?

Ring and say you are him?

Would be my approach.
Easiest way by a long shot.

We (brother and I) have power of attorney but we have asked and it needs to be triggered by GP or equivalent which takes time in rural country land.

It doesn’t if you set it up correctly that’s the whole idea behind it. The insurance company may ask for proof of power of attorney though.

Sorry to hear about your Dad.

Speak to your insurer? There are rules / issues around double insurance, although we sometimes encounter it on property and vehicles at work (where we cannot get data on third party assets that we are responsible for) we have rather special cover and specialist brokers. It may be they can do cover that deals with your use while leaving the other policy live until it expires. For that you need a human on a phone.

Just renewed 3 weeks ago so no point in adding as named driver. It’ll be a matter of days we think until he won’t be around to own the policy.

It doesn’t if you set it up correctly that’s the whole idea behind it. The insurance company may ask for proof of power of attorney though.

Sorry to hear about your Dad.

I’ll get the paperwork out to see what’s what. Would make life a lot easier.

Thanks. I’m staying with him for a few days until we can get the care he needs. One of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

For that you need a human on a phone.

I used to work in the same team selling car insurance for saga so I know the specific training they get to stop and understand the situation as they have many elderly customers. I think calling them in the morning is the best bet after I’ve had a look through the POA paperwork.

Thanks all.

**** the rules.

Honestly, it will be easier and involve less heartache for everyone. Just phone up, say you are him and cancel with a clear conscience that he agreed anyway, the alternative will be jumping through hoops for God knows how long at a time you REALLY don’t need that sort of hassle. It took nearly a year to sort my mother in laws affairs out as far as I remember and even then not everything got sorted. Bereavements are not the department to go to if you want a quick and pain free resolution.

TL:DR You will have plenty of problems to deal with, don’t make more for yourself.

Aside from all that, best wishes to you and yours.

Agreed on above – just say you are him. I do this with a couple of our household accounts that are in my wife’s name (Virgin Media in particular, any time I have to report the service as down) – its kind of humorous when they ask me “are you Mrs Krixmeister” and I just answer “yes I am”. You’ll be fine, nothing at all wrong with it in the grand scheme of things.

Downside of being honest and explaining the situation is that you may (will?) get a minimum wage phone agent who’s job isn’t worth bending the rules a bit.

And finally, best wishes for you and your family during this difficult time. Do get as much time with your father while you can. I lost my father about 18 months ago, not a day goes by I don’t think about him.

Get him to give you authority to speak on his behalf at the start of the call.

I do this on a daily basis with energy suppliers and would hope it can work as well.

Do as cynic-al says, had to do exactly that with my dad when they changed cars back in December. As long as he can answer the questions they ask they’ll be fine with it. Phone them up yourself with your dad next to you, explain to them what you need to do. They will then ask to speak to your dad. He can confirm you have authority to speak on his behalf once he has answered the security questions then you take back over. No need for POA to be active either.

Good luck with everything.

I think you are over thinking this. The situation you are in is no different from that I would be in if your father sold me the car last week. Once I am the registered keeper I have a statutory obligation to insure the car; it’s not my worry if the old owner forgets to cancel their policy.

Things would be more complex if you were a named driver on the old policy and add a new policy as it is not clear who should pay. Likewise if you were trying to manipulate the systems so two individuals were not combined on one policy.

If you really are just talking days then take out a new policy in your name. Register the v5 in your name. Then when the sad event happens you (or whoever is the executor/administrator of the estate) will be able to fairly quickly advise Saga in writing and terminate the policy.

If you can’t do it on the internet or via live chat, I’d just ring and say you’re him.

Unless as cynical says, he can answer questions at the start and let you take over.

All the best it must be really hard for you at the moment. Try to make it easy for yourself.

Surely all this kind of thing would be easier if you had power of attorney over your Dad?

Surely all this kind of thing would be easier if you had power of attorney over your Dad?

He has.

Read the POA docs and certainly looks like I can just phone them up and I have paperwork I can send if needed.
Also I was under the impression that it was not legal to have multiple policies on one car. Not true. Just means the insurers have to argue liability for costs in case of a claim and would likely affect both policies. One of which will cease to exist fairly soon so not a huge issue.

Thanks for the support and advice. Very much appreciated. I’m hoping today is the last of the hardest days of me looking after him on my own. My brother will be back later and then we hope to have a more consistent care package in place. The most frustrating part is not knowing how long we have together.

Read the POA docs and certainly looks like I can just phone them up and I have paperwork I can send if needed.

That’s great it works well if set up correctly I’d recommend anyone does it before it’s too late.

It’ll be a tough time for you but at the same time some what rewarding knowing you are there at a time he very much needs you.