car finance on death.

bargainbetty

If the car is not on HP, but a flat loan, then the car can be sold as an asset of the estate.

The funds raised can then be split along percentage terms between the creditors that are solely in his name. The settlement cheques, along with a letter and a copy of the death certificate should be sent to those creditors, explaining that the estate has no further assets and the debts are therefore are closed.

If anyone calls telling his widow that she is liable, unless she was a joint account-holder, they are lying. Some will try. His debt, his estate, his liability, his death and no forwarding address.

nick1970

As Above....

I had a similar situation when my Dad passed suddenly a few years ago.
He had a few credit agreements that none of us were aware of (he was separated from my Mum).
I did the decent thing of notifying the lenders of his death, told them he left no estate and as nothing was taken out jointly nothing was owed on our part.
Most of the companies simply asked for a copy of the death certificate and then that was the end of the matter, we asked what we should do with his Tv,fridge, cooker ect that was on finance and they told us to dispose of it as we wish.
As for the car, the first thing would be to phone the finance company informing them of the death and ask them what they would like to do with the car and then to be honest that should be it, its not your debt.People take out finance and then unfortunately the worst can happen, they must deal with it all the time.

HTH

Buzby

On a tangent, but still very relevant - is the car still taxed and insured? If not, you need to declare SORN until there is a new registered keeper. A car cannot be kept on the road unless it is both showing a current excise disk, and insurance.

If no to both, then the car needs to be placed on a private driveway until disposal is arranged.