What to do about a deceased person's car?

If the car is off the road and is not moving then you can make a SORN declaration: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/UntaxedVehicle/DG_4022058

A phone call to the DVLA to explain the situation might be the best idea. You're not the registered keeper so speak to someone on the phone. You don't need to insure the car if it's not going to move. Have a word with someone at the insurance company.

margaretclare wrote: »

If the car is off the road and is not moving then you can make a SORN declaration: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/UntaxedVehicle/DG_4022058

A phone call to the DVLA to explain the situation might be the best idea. You're not the registered keeper so speak to someone on the phone. You don't need to insure the car if it's not going to move. Have a word with someone at the insurance company.

If the car is not insured then any damage it suffers whilst parked up would not be covered. The executor would then be liable for any losses suffered by the estate. Also you would need to check the status of the car park where the car is parked, if adopted then it would be highway so you would need insurance and could not declare a SORN (offroad), if a private car park then I am not sure if the executor could be liable for any 3rd party damage if for instance the car was torched.

When my dad died, my son drove it on his own insurance to a garage/dealer and sold it. I think its MOT was still valid. The car was not worth much- he got £1K for it which went straight into my parents' joint bank account. He had my mum's permission and since Dad left everything to her we certainly did not worry about probate. Mum was pleased as the car had been sitting in the garage for months as dad was too ill to drive

DH's father has died and his car is in a parking space at the flats where he lived. After much difficulty we have found the papers relating to it (although not the registration doc).

I had this exact complex situation just over a year ago and it is difficult to sort out at such a stressful time so you have my sympathy. Some useful points given in the thread already and here goes on my side, and hope this helps with peace of mind and sorting out the problem when you can attend to this.

We cannot sell the car yet as we are only just about to apply for Grant of Probate (could take 6 weeks or more) - he left a will and the car will be part of the estate.

Yes you can definitely sell the car BEFORE sending off or receiving a grant of probate because the DVLA does not insist on a grant of probate before the car can be sold. If you want to, just give the DVLA a ring and they will confirm this.

And you obviously want to send off the grant of probate when you are ready irrespective of what is happening with the car, so for now just put the best estimated value of the car on the HMRC return of estate information form.

Hence things are a little easier already, and it is a question on how best to approach dealing with the car........

The problem is, the insurance runs out in a couple of days and the MOT ran out today.

Talk very nicely to the insurance company and ask if they will extend the insurance for a few weeks on the condition the car is only driven to a garage for sales purposes and MOT. They may grant a short extension which you pay for, especially if it is driven by a relative or executor/beneficiary. I managed to get a few weeks insurance and was sent a temporary insurance certificate from the exisiting insurer, it was with the AA who were very helpful and understanding, but it will only be for a few weeks and not indefinitely. Having the car in a safer location will also help if you mention this to the insurer and arrange this. The insurance issue is complicated not only because it is illegal to drive the car without insurance, but also because anybody driving the car on their insurance would not be insured anyway. Reason? because technically the car no longer has an owner or insurance and as such it cannot be driven by a driver on their third party insurance coverage.

It is taxed until September - so no worries there.

Fine, no problem provided the tax has been paid in full. But note it is illegal to sell the car with tax if the tax was provided free due to disability etc. In this instance you have to send the disc back to the DVLA. Car dealers know about this, but it would be a mistake to sell the car privately with disability tax.

MOT we can get done easily I suppose (except it would involve driving an uninsured car to the testers).

It is definitely good to get this done urgently before the insurance runs out if possible. Not too important if selling the car without MOT to a dealer, more important when trying to sell the car privately for the buyer's peace of mind. And in either case, having the MOT will probably pay for itself in terms of the value you can negotiate on the sale of the car.

Is it possible to insure a car belonging to someone else?

No, I do not think you will get far with this.

Just in the short -term til we got probate and then sell it? I guess the estate would have to bear the costs - but can it be done?

Sell the car when you are ready and able to do so, and send off the probate application when you are ready as discussed above. In any case keep the car somewhere safer, maybe a friend's/family drive or garage. And yes, as another has mentioned in the thread, if there is a beneficiary in the will who would like the car, provided the executor uses a realsitic market value for the car, the beneficiary can receive this after probate as part of any distributuon.

You cannot claim the costs of sorting out the car on the HMRC return of estate information form, because this was not a liability the individual had on the date of passing away. But yes of course, it is reasonable for the costs (any insurance/MOT/petol/valeting to get a good sale price etc) to be reimbursed by the executor of the will before any proceeds are distributed to the beneficiaries once the grant of probate has been obtained. Keep the receipts for this purpose.

I'm a bit desperate for a solution - trying to take some of the stress off DH who is executor in a fairly complicated situation.

Sale of the car (where grant of probate is NOT needed) and applying for probate are two seperate issues. Seperate them in your mind and try not to be too daunted by these at such a stressful time. They can be sorted seperately as discussed above and below.....

(i) Timewise, the most important critical thing to do is to temporarily extend the insurance on the exisiting car policy if possible to give you a bit of flexibility.

(ii) Move the car to a safer location.

(iii) MOT the car while it is still insured. You are allowed to drive the car to a garage for an MOT provided it is booked in advance of driving the car there, and the car is taxed and insured. Small price to pay for the benefit when the car is sold.

(iv) Retax the car if it has disability tax etc. Otherwise leave it as it is for any sale.

And finally, if you cannot extend the insurance in order to drive the car to garages for quotes for a sale, have car dealers or private buyers view the car where it is kept. Dealers will not be concerned if the car has no tax or MOT and will still purchase the car and take it away if they are interested. Private buyers will have a greater need for MOT and tax if you want an easy sale, a realistic price and so that they can drive it away after the purchase without complicated arrangements.

Hope this helps.

JamesU

I am not a financial or legal expert, the above is just my personal experience.