Does car insurance cease with the death of the keeper.

Apoorwoman

A quick question.

A dear friend lost his battle with cancer this morning. We have just been to see his widow and she has requested that we bring his car back to our house some time this week with a view to selling it for her as she does not want it left on her drive. This, of course, we are willing to do.

How do we stand insurance wise, does the insurance cease on his death? My husband has fully comp so can drive it home, but just wondering about it being here regarding fire and theft. Would it still be insured?

I do not feel that at this time we can ring her and ask her to trawl through his insurance documents.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Avoriaz

I am sorry for your loss.

I can't answer your specific question but I would caution you to check that your husband's insurance does cover him to drive other cars.

Even fully comp insurance doesn't always include that. It used to be common but is now increasingly rare as insurance companies drop it from standard policies.

Torry_Quine

Someone who knows better than me will come along soon but I think the answer is not what you want. If the person who has the insurance dies then the insurance is no longer in place.

Your husband will not be insured to drive it and may not be whatever the situation as comprehensive insurance doesn't automatically mean you can drive any car. You need to check with the relevant insurer(s).

Sorry for your loss.

AdrianC

Just because your husband has FC on his own car doesn't mean that he has driving-other-cars cover. He may do, he may not. If he does, it may require the car to be covered anyway.

But, no, the policy shouldn't cease immediately on the death of the policyholder. Somebody should talk to the insurers, though to confirm.

forgotmyname

Not all policies cover driving other cars. Some are only valid if the other car is insured.

His policy wont be valid. You need to contact them and if they allow add a driver to the policy to sell the car or transfer to a temorary policy.

Personally it maybe risky to buy a car that was registered elsewhere to the address it was being sold at.
Lots of genuine reasons, But something scammers and dodgy traders also do.

facade

As above, carefully check your husband.s policy, and your friend's policy.

Get his wife to contact the insurer, or a family member, they have to know about the death at some point.

When my father passed away, I was a named driver on his policy, and when I contacted the insurers (The CoOp) they were more than happy for me to continue to drive the car until the policy expired even though the policy holder was deceased. (I didn't want to and cancelled it, and got a refund)

Logically the fire & theft cover will still be active, until the insurer cancels. (They usually give you a couple of weeks to sort out the affairs)

Rolandtheroadie

Technically, could you use your DOC when the owner of the car cant give permission?

FiremanDave

scotsman4th wrote: »

Technically, could you use your DOC when the owner of the car cant give permission?

It's the registered keeper of the car who's passed away, the ownership will be passed to next of kin or executor of the will.

Pincher

The system is just not set up for deaths, in my view.


If the widow notifies the insurers and cancels the insurance, to get a refund, the DVLA will issue a fine for the car having no insurance! Also, to whom does the insurer issue the cheque, and will they use data protection as an excuse to not talk with anybody.


Maybe the insurer will allow adding a named driver? Yet again, with the policy holder dead, who has the authority to make the request?


You can buy short term bridging insurance through brokers.
I think there are websites, but I have no idea which one is fake or real.

FiremanDave

Pincher wrote: »

The system is just not set up for deaths, in my view.


If the widow notifies the insurers and cancels the insurance, to get a refund, the DVLA will issue a fine for the car having no insurance! Also, to whom does the insurer issue the cheque, and will they use data protection as an excuse to not talk with anybody.


Maybe the insurer will allow adding a named driver? Yet again, with the policy holder dead, who has the authority to make the request?


You can buy short term bridging insurance through brokers.
I think there are websites, but I have no idea which one is fake or real.

Why can't the widow notify the DVLA and declare the car sorn?

colin79666

Firstly I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. It is exactly a year to the day that my father lost his battle with the disease.

It is almost certain that the insurance cover stopped however each company deals with the matter differently. In our case (ESure) they were happy to temporary change the policy into my mothers name while we got everything in order. They couldn't make it permanent though so after a few weeks the policy was cancelled and the refund given back to the estate. We then took out a new policy so my mother and I were covered to drive the car (she inherited it).

Your husband probably can't drive it under his own insurance as even with "driving other cars" it is unlikely to cover a vehicle that doesn't have its own insurance.

My advice if check the paperwork but the most likely course of action next is to:
1. Establish who now owns the car as you can't drive it until that is sorted.
2. Ask your friends widow to speak to the insurer. They may well be able to sort something out, at least to cover the short term.
3. If 2. isn't possible or the insurer isn't being helpful then you can take out day insurance to cover moving the car from one place to another. Once moved be sure to get it off the road and declare SORN if the tax is in any danger of running out.