Vehicle finance in different name to registered keeper

DaveJFT

Hi All,

I'm buying a new car on PCP finance for my wife and the finance contract will be in my name. As such the dealer is insisting that he has to put my name on the V5 as it's their policy and it would, apparently, be "illegal to do otherwise". The car will be only ever be housed at our address.

As the DVLA state that the registered keeper is not necessarily the owner of the vehicle, I'm struggling to understand why the dealer would say that it's illegal for the vehicle to be registered in anyone's name but the person named on the finance agreement. Can anyone explain?

Many thanks.

Ebe_Scrooge

It's true that the registered keeper and the owner can be different as far as the DVLA is concerned.


I suspect that this is the finance company's requirement, rather than actually being "illegal" as such, and is simply to protect themselves - if you fail to make the payments then they can simply repossess the car, which is more difficult to do if the name on the V5 is different to what's on the finance agreement.

rtho782

Hm, quite often the finance company will be on the V5 with PCP.

No reason you can't change it over once you have the car.

Also no reason why it can't stay in your name, she can still be insured on it, although some insurers might increase the premium for this.

curty510

many years ago my wife went to purchase a motorcycle for my birthday and considered finance(i didn't know). The finance company didn't mind the V5 going in my name and finance in hers, as it is not proof of ownership as previously stated.

As it happens they didn't submit/rejected the application as she herself didn't hold a motorcycle licence!!

SeanG79

The finance agreement will state something along the lines of you having to have control of the vehicle and have it in your possession.

When you have the registered keeper as a different person, then that condition is breached and you have breached the contract. If the finance company becomes aware, they may repossess.

There may be leeway because it is your spouse, but that is not guaranteed.

The reason funders have this in the agreement, is to prevent accommodation, where someone who is not deemed credit worthy uses someone else to obtain the finance to get around this.

DaveJFT

Now, here's a curveball...

It turns out that our car insurance policy requires that the registered keeper be the main driver. So who wins out in this tug of war?

a) The insurance company?
It is my wife's car.
My wife is the main driver.
Our insurance company requires the vehicle be registered in her name.

b) The finance company?
The finance is in my name.
The finance company requires me to be the registered keeper of the vehicle so as not to be in some breach of the clause about me being in control and possession of the vehicle.

I'm happy to do whatever I'm told.

SeanG79

Usually you can tell the insurance company that you are neither the owner or the registered keeper but the named driver and they will insure you.

I know it is possible because some contract hire vehicles are owned by the bank, the registered keeper is the business and the insured person is the employee (that way the employee gets to build up their no claims bonus). Your situation is slightly different, but should be possible for you to have the finance and be the registered keeper with your wife as the main driver...

Ben8282

Why don't you take out a loan to purchase the vehicle rather than this PCP.
If you took out a normal loan there would be no charge on the vehicle so you could register it in any name you wanted and that way you would actually own the vehicle instead of having to make a final payment which you may not be able to afford at the time.

rtho782

DaveJFT wrote: »

Now, here's a curveball...

It turns out that our car insurance policy requires that the registered keeper be the main driver. So who wins out in this tug of war?

a) The insurance company?
It is my wife's car.
My wife is the main driver.
Our insurance company requires the vehicle be registered in her name.

b) The finance company?
The finance is in my name.
The finance company requires me to be the registered keeper of the vehicle so as not to be in some breach of the clause about me being in control and possession of the vehicle.

I'm happy to do whatever I'm told.

Nobody wins it.

You can't (by the terms of the contract) use that insurer with a car that is not in the main drivers name. So, if you do this, you need to change insurer.

Some insurers will be fine with her being the main driver and your name being on the V5, they might not be the most competitive quotes, but that's the correct way to do this.

DaveJFT

Hi folks,

I've got an answer...

I spoke to the finance company and they've told me that it's not necessary, as the name on the finance agreement, to have the car registered in my name though it must be registered at he same address - no problem there. Now I've just got to get the dealer to register the vehicle under the right name and everything's squared away.

Thanks for your replies!