Does the car have to be insured by the car owner?

ihatechoosingnames

My dad has a car that my uncle is going to use regularly. Is it possible to have the car insurance under only my uncle's name, even though my dad is the owner of the car?

I ask this because my dad has an excellent insurance record whereas my uncle is the opposite, and I wouldn't want this to disadvantage my dad in any way. If it is not possible and my dad needs to be the main driver of the car with my uncle as the second driver, would my dad be blamed for anything that was my uncle's fault (e.g. accidents, speeding/parking fines)?

thanks

mrcow

You can get insurance where the driver is not the registered owner. Most policies default to the registered owner on application, you just need to tell the insurance company that your uncle is not the owner.

If your Dad goes ahead with his own policy with your uncle as a named driver, then any accidents will on your Dad's policy (but any convictions will remain with your uncle).

jonesMUFCforever

I think in all cases of insurance there has to be an insurable worth.
Ask the insurance company to be sure but IMO they will not accept it.

ihatechoosingnames

thanks i'll phone up tommorow as i don't think i can do it that way online

mattymoo

There is one possible scenario for a prosecution of your dad.
If you manage to find a firm that will insure your uncle for your dads vehicle and he then defaults on the insurance premium or fails to renew it, then it is possible your dad could be charged with permitting a vehicle to be used without insurance.

Also if your uncle does insure it then any payments made (if the vehicle is written off under a comprehensive policy) would have to be made to your uncle. This is fine while everyone gets on but a nightmare when there is a family feud.

IMO it would be best to insure in your dads name with your uncle as named main driver. Make sure you disclose his previous convictions / accidents.
Your dad should also set this up as a second policy (I assume he has another car already insured with NCD) so that any claims will only result in the loss of NCD from this policy.

Gorgeous_George

Apologies - slightly off topic.

I cannot find anything that says a minor cannot register a vehicle.

Suppose a 5 year old owns or is the registered keeper of the car. What happens as he/she would be under age and could not be prosecutyed. Would this help to abvoid speeding fines etc?

Or, is there an age limit on car ownership? Does the registered keeper need to be insured in order to tax the car?

Just a thought.



GG

olly300

Gorgeous_George wrote:

Apologies - slightly off topic.

I cannot find anything that says a minor cannot register a vehicle.

Suppose a 5 year old owns or is the registered keeper of the car. What happens as he/she would be under age and could not be prosecutyed. Would this help to abvoid speeding fines etc?

Or, is there an age limit on car ownership? Does the registered keeper need to be insured in order to tax the car?

Just a thought.



GG

Drivers are not suppose to be allowed to incriminate themselves so it's up to the police to prove that the driver wasn't the registered keeper. (It went to the European courts).

I can't find any age limits either all I can find is that under 18 year old's are not allowed to enter into contracts unless they are necessaries i.e. food, shelter, clothing, or unless like employment it's for their benefit.

I don't think any insurance company would insure a vehicle with a owner who wasn't the minimum legal age to drive that type of vehicle because in effect they would be entering into a contract with the minor and so would the person driving the vehicle. (Remember under English and Welsh law contracts can be verbal.)

mrcow

Al_Mac wrote:

I insured a car owned by my wife for several years. But the same company wouldn't insure my wife for a car owned by me!

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Yes my FIL tried that excuse as he didn't want his wife driving his new car

jennifernil

I am the registered owner of 2 of our 3 cars, but 2 of them are insured by my husband as he is the main driver of them, I drive the 3rd.