Question about cars in BR

lisa.89

Hi all

Just need to clarify issue re. cars.

Me and my husband are going to file for BR soon and at present have a car each (no more than £1k in value each). I know it is likely I will lose mine as I will only need it for 2 x days per week for work. Both cars are reg'd to me with DVLA and ins in my name with hubby as allowed driver (seemed cheaper this way).

Anyways one of the cars is purely my husbands for work (he starts work @ 3.30am).

We are thinking:

1. Sell my car before BR to help towards funds for BR
2. Keep 2nd car for husband BUT will this be ok as ins etc is in my name???

Any advice would be great as we need to have 1 x car for sure.

Many thanks!

debtinfo

How would you say that 1 of the cars is your husbands?

lisa.89

debtinfo wrote: »

How would you say that 1 of the cars is your husbands?

That is what I am asking.. not sure what to do but one of the cars is his car but in my name..

JCS1

How were the cars paid for? Do you have a paper trial to prove you paid for one vehicle each?

lisa.89

JCS1 wrote: »

How were the cars paid for? Do you have a paper trial to prove you paid for one vehicle each?

We have joint finances so nothing to seperate it.. cars were paid by cash from sale of previous car.. have swapped cars when needed work etc...

Shall I change insurance over now?

Thanks

debtinfo

so are you saying that on both insurance policies, you have declared that you are the owner of each vehicle rather than your OH.

If so that leaves you in a bit of a bind because you have only two options then.
1) is that you are trying to say that statement was correct and you have transferred ownership of the vehicle just before the bankruptcy which wouldnt wash with the OR.

2) or you are saying that the vehicle was owned by your OH all the time and that you have lied on the insurance forms to obtain a cheaper quote, which is also not going to go down well

lisa.89

debtinfo wrote: »

so are you saying that on both insurance policies, you have declared that you are the owner of each vehicle rather than your OH.

If so that leaves you in a bit of a bind because you have only two options then.
1) is that you are trying to say that statement was correct and you have transferred ownership of the vehicle just before the bankruptcy which wouldnt wash with the OR.

2) or you are saying that the vehicle was owned by your OH all the time and that you have lied on the insurance forms to obtain a cheaper quote, which is also not going to go down well

I am registered keeper for both cars as i deal with the taxing of the cars etc... I am policy holder on both ins policies and told ins co. that I am reg keeper (didn't realise I was doing anything wrong here).

We basically are both allowed to drive both cars, so we can swap etc.. he uses my car when his in garage etc and I then use the bus.

I am basically the owner if you like but he uses it for work and cannot do his job without it. Never was a problem until now..

kepar

Technically you are committing fraud.
The car your husband is driving to work everyday should have him listed as the main driver and you as the main driver on the other car. You are listed as other drivers on them to ensure you can drive both.
The Insurances companies are coming down hard on cases like this. it usually involves parents putting their children as a second driver on their second vehicle. This reduces the premium.

Be careful it could prove to be very serious for you.

Maizy

Hi Lisa

Glad all is going well with the house move etc etc ...........

Not really sure what the solution is here as I'm pretty sure when we were a two car family, both cars were in OHs name and it never appeared to be a problem, spouse was always included in the insurance and the insurance company knew. I would have been an equivalent driver of both of the cars as worked full time then and it was a case of whichever was to hand on the drive, the first person to leave the house took. Would never have thought of it as fraud or anything like that but you live and learn.

Thankfully on going BR the only car we owned which was under 1k was not in my name as I wasn't in a position to need a car, OH was for work with working unsociable hours like yours. It was probably luck more than anything that the car was in his name. We've had plenty of run arounds over the years and both have been registered keepers, him mainly as he deals with car tax, mot etc etc just seemed easier that way.

Must be plenty of other situations like yours, its amazing isn't it, mine and my OH share ALL of the finances and nothing is separate but when it comes to BR, it seems not to be looked at that way with cars. Regardless of whether or not both cars are in your name, the OR may discuss a solution with you but again, you will not know until the time comes. In the meantime, what do you do with both the cars which in reality are classed as yours but at the same time, your main family earner NEEDS one for work.

We all do things that in hindsight we wish we had done slightly differently. I'm hoping someone on here has some experience or a kind of solution to guide you as this could greatly impact on your OH job or may mean putting BR off for a while ???

BR changes everything and when we did it, we were determined to sort everything out that was putting strain on us as a couple and then of course as a family as we're a very close nit unit and debt has affected us greatly over the past few years. Our goals included ridding the unsociable working hours and getting the job bit right, so far so good and with a bit of persistence, I believe we can get most things sorted.

We didnt go through this to end up with even more stress & I hope everything works out for you on the other side too. I'm not suggesting anyone changes jobs here etc etc, just pointing out that with the right mind set and determination which you seem to have, any little niggles during this process, & beyond which are of course different for us all, should get sorted over time.

I hope members can give you some realistic pointers as to where you can go from here, you need a solution after all. Good luck. x

PippaGirl_2

Helpful post maizy!

Just to clarify, it doesn't matter who is the registered keeper of the cars, they can both be in one persons name if that suits and the registered keeper doesn't necessarily mean the owner anyway, just means they are responsible for the legailities of it. But for Insurance policies they must be in the name of the main driver and of the one who drives the car most. It is possible therefore technically if the man for instance does 90% of the driving of each car that both cars could be in his name for insurance purposes and the wife could be a secondary named driver as she drives both cars 10% of the time. That situation is therefore legal. However if in fact the husband uses one car 80% of the time and the wife uses it the rest, and the other car the wife uses it 80% of the time and the husband the rest then to have both in one persons name insurance wise is illegal and fraud. Many people commit this fraud as it saves money but if the insurance people discover this, your insurance is invalid and therefore you could be prosecuted for driving with no insurance.

The only reason then legally for both to be insured in one persons name is because they are the main driver for both, and the OR will therefore deem one to be surplas outright from the start.

antrobus

PippaGirl wrote: »

.... Many people commit this fraud as it saves money but if the insurance people discover this, your insurance is invalid and therefore you could be prosecuted for driving with no insurance. ...

As a general rule, non-disclosure of material facts to an insurer (such as the identity of the main driver) renders the contract voidable at the option of the insurer. But until such time as the insurer does discover the truth and cancel the contract it's perfectly valid. You could only be prosecuted for driving with no insurance if you continued driving the vehicle after the insurer had cancelled the insurance and you'd failed to purchase an alternative.