safest payment form when selling car privately

Happytohelp

I agree that bank transfer is definitely the best option for both the buyer and the seller. There is a clear, traceable record of the funds moving from one account to the other. I would also advise using the car registration number as part of the reference. e.g. Sale of Vehicle FL56 OXY.

Thanks to the faster payments serrvice the transfer can complete within two hours (for banks that use faster payments service) or if not CHAPS is available at £25.

System

zappahey wrote: »

Have you ever written a cheque to a stranger?

Not to Joe (or Jane) Public no.

Very rare for me to use cheques for anything, but I've only ever given cheques to companies or shops that are well known and that I know and trust. (And to family members)

System

thenudeone wrote: »

If you pay by bank transfer, CHAPS, or cheque, the recipient will have your bank details anyway.

Your bank details are printed on every cheque and usually on every debit card too, so they're not exactly secret.

That is why I wouldn't like to use bank transfer, CHAPS or a personal cheque in this type of transaction.

Not sure where the debit card comes into it because these cannot be used for private transactions, but my card only has my name and the bank sort code (Not the account number)

property.advert

Fast pay is instant. I regularly move money from one account to another within different institutions and it all happens in seconds.

benjus

property.advert wrote: »

Fast pay is instant. I regularly move money from one account to another within different institutions and it all happens in seconds.

Faster Payment is instant whenever I have used it. But they only say "within two hours", so sod's law dictates that the one time it actually takes 2 hours will be when you need it to be instant.

Another thing to check is the bank's limit on the size of Faster Payments. My old account with Nationwide would only let me transfer a total of £1000 in a day via FP. Anything over that would be downgraded to BACS (3 working days), and it's easy to miss the warning that it will not be instant. My current bank (First Direct) lets me transfer £10k per transaction, but on a couple of occasions it has refused to let me make the transaction online (for no obvious reason) and I've had to do it by phone.

rev_henry

benjus wrote: »

Faster Payment is instant whenever I have used it. But they only say "within two hours", so sod's law dictates that the one time it actually takes 2 hours will be when you need it to be instant.

Another thing to check is the bank's limit on the size of Faster Payments. My old account with Nationwide would only let me transfer a total of £1000 in a day via FP. Anything over that would be downgraded to BACS (3 working days), and it's easy to miss the warning that it will not be instant. My current bank (First Direct) lets me transfer £10k per transaction, but on a couple of occasions it has refused to let me make the transaction online (for no obvious reason) and I've had to do it by phone.

Santanjoke has a limit of £300. No good to anyone.

Flyboy152

BAA1 wrote: »

Not sure I would want to give my bank account details to a stranger

You could ask the buyer for a bank / building society cheque made out to pay you. (But the bank may charge them for this service)

Sadly, today, drafts and counter cheques are no more secure than a personal cheque. Do not release the car without the funds being cleared first. That said; nothing beats cash.

property.advert

Yeah, I've got Nationwide and they are still in the dark ages. My Nat West business accounts can certainly do 20k as I've done it. My overseas ones can do 500k !

asbokid

rev_henry wrote: »

I agree, unless you bank with Santander who just won't let you have your money as I found out recently when buying a car...

But they don't mind dishing out our cash to hackers, I know!

pompeyfaith

What about paypal all they need to pay you is the email address you used to register the paypal account.

You can check the funds are there before releasing the car and then transfer the funds to your bank account.