What to do about Car - Registered Keeper ?

p00hsticks

I'm not sure if this is better here or on the motoring board but hope someone can help.
My father died suddenly ten days ago and I'm dealing with his estate (He left everything to mum, and I'm executor). 

I registered the death on Thursday (delay due to coroner being involved) and am now looking at the Tell Us Once paperwork to gather all the info needed. 

Dad left a car which we will need to be sold at some point but as it's parked up safely in the garage at the moment I'm currently treating it as one of the less pressing things on my list of things to do - the tax, MOT and insurance doesn't run out for a while. 

I don't drive myself so don't know much about car ownership but do remember the process  causing a lot of confusion when I was in a similar situation with my late brother a few years back . 

My question is - is there any downside / benefit to telling the DVLA (via TUO) at this point that Dad is no longer the registered keeper of the car ? Will it make it easier or more difficult to sell the car later ? It's a fifteen year old Nissan Micra so won't be worth much - if we had a We Buy Any Car type place nearby I'd just go to them but as we don't it may take me a while to arrange a sale.

If dad is no longer the registered keeper, then who is ? Is it me as executor, or mum as beneficiary ? Mum is elderly, frail, hard of hearing and visually impaired so I want to avoid her having to do any more than is strictly necessary (luckily they both started the process of setting up POAs a few months ago, which I am expecting to come though in a few weeks, so should have POA to act for my mum if that helps.... 

BooJewels

I'm sorry for your unexpected loss @p00hsticks

When I had my Dad's car to sell, I asked the DVLA and they said to do nothing at that stage and when it sold, on the V5 document, to sign it myself in the section where the owner would usually do so and just put 'as executor' underneath my sig.   At this point 'the estate' owns the car I think - so it can be sold by the estate, which comes under your responsibility as executor.  Like with a house registration, you don't need to do anything until you actually sell it or give it to someone else.  I think the DVLA are automatically advise when you use TUO.

I can't quite remember the details with my husband's car, as my son did that one - as we put it into my name as we still have it - I own it but he's driving it - I'll put it into his name shortly when I get back to my driving lessons, as I'll buy my own car I think.  I think my son took a death certificate to the PO with the V5 (I think I'd signed it as the new owner) and they did what was necessary and I got a new V5 through the post a week or two later.

If it's not going to be driven in the immediate future and is safely garaged, can you SORN it and save some pennies in insurance and road tax?

sheramber

p00hsticks said:

I'm not sure if this is better here or on the motoring board but hope someone can help.
My father died suddenly ten days ago and I'm dealing with his estate (He left everything to mum, and I'm executor). 

I registered the death on Thursday (delay due to coroner being involved) and am now looking at the Tell Us Once paperwork to gather all the info needed. 

Dad left a car which we will need to be sold at some point but as it's parked up safely in the garage at the moment I'm currently treating it as one of the less pressing things on my list of things to do - the tax, MOT and insurance doesn't run out for a while. 

I don't drive myself so don't know much about car ownership but do remember the process  causing a lot of confusion when I was in a similar situation with my late brother a few years back . 

My question is - is there any downside / benefit to telling the DVLA (via TUO) at this point that Dad is no longer the registered keeper of the car ? Will it make it easier or more difficult to sell the car later ? It's a fifteen year old Nissan Micra so won't be worth much - if we had a We Buy Any Car type place nearby I'd just go to them but as we don't it may take me a while to arrange a sale.

If dad is no longer the registered keeper, then who is ? Is it me as executor, or mum as beneficiary ? Mum is elderly, frail, hard of hearing and visually impaired so I want to avoid her having to do any more than is strictly necessary (luckily they both started the process of setting up POAs a few months ago, which I am expecting to come though in a few weeks, so should have POA to act for my mum if that helps.... 

https://www.gov.uk/tell-dvla-about-bereavement

BooJewels

Thanks @sheramber - that rather contradicts what I said about my Dad's car then - maybe because it was already SORN'd when he went into care and we weren't paying road tax anyway, it didn't need anything doing to it in that situation.

pjs493

Firstly, I'm sorry for your loss.

The DVLA will be notified of your father's death from the Tell Us Once service. They will automatically cancel his driving licence and send a refund for any tax due on his car. If you fill in the online Tell Us Once form, the refund will come to you as executor and you can then add it to the incoming funds of the estate.

If there is no intention to use the car in the interim, I'd advise SORNing the car because it is kept in the garage. That way there will be no tax to pay.

As executor you could change the V5C form to list you as the registered keeper while you administer the estate. It will make it easier when you come to sell the car.

Call the insurance company and see if they can offer a laid up policy in case the car is stolen from the garage. They may offer a refund, especially if the car insurance was paid for annually. If they don't offer a laid up policy there are many insurance companies that will. Or you could see if they will allow the insurance to continue during the administration period. Or you could cancel it completely and take the chance of having an uninsured car (you may decide that as it is garaged there is little to no risk of theft so that might work for you and its a chance you are willing to take given the low value of the car).

When my husband died the cars were one of the first things I did because I needed to ensure I had a road legal car to drive because we have two small children. I was also executor of his Will. I completed the Tell Us Once forms online and then followed the instructions on the DVLA website and sent off the V5C forms for both cars to change them into my name (I am both executor and beneficiary of his Will). I immediately SORNed a classic car that was previously SORNed by my husband, and taxed the every day car in my name. I put a covering letter in with the V5C forms and sent them to the bereavement team at the DVLA. When they wrote back to me with the new V5C forms, they acknowledged that I had SORNed one car and taxed the other in my name. I called the insurance company and all they did was make me the lead driver on the policy, there was no extra money to pay but it ensured that the everyday car was road legal.

poppystar

If you definitely don’t want the car and it is old then there are alternatives to We Buy Any Car. Some places will come out and collect it -either sending a driver if it is still usable or bringing a low loader. To be honest I found the car one of the worst things to deal with. In the end I gave it to charity as the little it was worth in resale didn’t really matter that much to me - and the relief of one less thing to think about was great. I wish I had done it straight away! Yes, I could have probably got more selling it privately but having to have it insured and taxed for people to test drive and having to deal with prospective buyers just was too much to handle. Guide Dogs benefitted from the money and I got another job ticked off. If it is currently MOTd then deal with it before that runs out as the value will be more whatever way you decide to dispose of it. In terms of DVLA I did nothing until I sold the car and sent a letter at that point with my part of the registration document explaining I’d been slow to act which I heard nothing back from so all was ok. I signed the purchasers part of the registration document ‘as executor’. Sorry for your loss. 

Ganga

If you want to sell the car go on the WE BUY ANY CAR web site and put the reg number ,mileage etc ,that will give you a rough value to work with.

p00hsticks

Thanks for all your comments on this.
Just to update people for others who may be in the same situation. 

I did decide to  include details of the car on the 'Tell Us Once' form and as I thought this did then say that dad would be removed as the registered keeper of the car and that the car would no longer be taxed - as he had only recently taxed it we should expect a partial refund shortly.

I then had a webchat with the DVLA who have confirmed that as the car is in a garage off road, (where it will stay until we get round to selling it in the near future) then it does not need to be taxed or SORNed until it has a new registered keeper. 

I've also been in touch withe the insurers and AA breakdown cover to cancel that.
Luckily dad was well organised so I have the VC5 and had all the relevant details - insurance policy number, , breakdown membership details, MOT certificate showing next MOT is not until June.

I did look at We Buy any car but the nearest one is around 15 miles way, which makes it difficult to get to and from.
I'm therefore going to look at either Motorway or Autotrader to see if I can get a deal where they will collect the car from home. I should be able to sign the VC5 myself on the sale indicating that I am executor of the estate. 

Savvy_Sue

Note that the car is not currently insured eg against the garage going up in smoke with the car inside. This may be a risk you are prepared to take ...

p00hsticks

Savvy_Sue said:

Note that the car is not currently insured eg against the garage going up in smoke with the car inside. This may be a risk you are prepared to take ...

Thanks, that did cross my mind, but I think it's a risk I'm prepared to take.