car registered keeper, but not policy holder, can i drive it?

snagglepuss16

hi, cant seem to find anything online to a bit of a niche question. my dad passed away last year and i am now the registered keeper of the car. i do not drive it, my brother is the policy holder. he is unable to drive it and i need to get the car to a garage, can i drive it under my own car insurance? i am insured to drive other cars under it, but a bit confused as i am the registered keeper of both. thank you

maxmycardagain

day insure will cover you for, er, a day.....or more, is it SORN or taxed?

Car_54

You need to read your policy.

usually it will exclude cars you own.

But do you own it? Registered keeper is nothing to do with ownership.

DullGreyGuy

snagglepuss16 said:

hi, cant seem to find anything online to a bit of a niche question. my dad passed away last year and i am now the registered keeper of the car. i do not drive it, my brother is the policy holder. he is unable to drive it and i need to get the car to a garage, can i drive it under my own car insurance? i am insured to drive other cars under it, but a bit confused as i am the registered keeper of both. thank you

Who is the owner? Why are you the RK but your bother the policyholder if they cannot drive it?

DoC normally required you not to be either the owner nor it be financed to you. Ultimately you need to read the terms of the DoC and see if that applies or not. If you are to drive it under DoC you will have no cover for damage to this vehicle. 

snagglepuss16

my brother is just unable to drive it at the minute thats all. i have nothing to prove ownership as the car was bought a long time ago, and my dad died after a risky operation, he left no will but it was discussed. the car was not insured to drive by me as originally it was not planned to be driven, if that makes sense, my brother moved back home, and needed a car for work. he will never be the owner or registered keeper. i will check my policy but the site seems down at the minute.

facade

So who is the owner?

He left no will so if this is England, English Rules of Intestacy apply. If he was married or in a Civil Partnership when he died, the owner is his wife/partner.

If not, the estate passes to his children (including any adopted by him)- you and your siblings get equal shares in everything, the other siblings can agree that one can have the car obviously.

Bigphil1474

That's the question - who is the owner? If you own the car, then you can't usually drive it under the drive other car bit of your fully comp policy as it will 'usually' exclude cars you own (otherwise, someone owning multiple cars would just insure one). Has your dad's estate been through probate, or passed to your mum, or are you and your brother just living in the same house?

If there is an agreement that your brother would be given the car on your dad's passing, and he does indeed now own it although you registered it in your name, then if you have drive any other car cover, you may be able to drive it to the garage under that third party cover subject to any exclusions in your policy (which you might be able to access via the email you got confirming your policy). Can't remember what my policy says but it might say excluding any car owned or registered to the insured.

born_again

Begs the question why if brother is driving & insuring the car, why are you named on the V5?

Car_54

born_again said:

Begs the question why if brother is driving & insuring the car, why are you named on the V5?

Any reason why not?

Okell

snagglepuss16 said:

hi, cant seem to find anything online to a bit of a niche question. my dad passed away last year and i am now the registered keeper of the car. i do not drive it, my brother is the policy holder. he is unable to drive it and i need to get the car to a garage, can i drive it under my own car insurance? i am insured to drive other cars under it, but a bit confused as i am the registered keeper of both. thank you

Why don't you just give your insurance company the relevant facts and ask them?

You might be the RK but you also need to identify who the owner is.  Your father died intestate, but you haven't mentioned his widow, so presumably your father was a widower and you and your brother (and any other siblings if there are any) share legal ownership of the car, unless either of you has since transferred his share to the other brother.

If your brother took out an insurance policy on the car when he wasn't the RK, what did he tell the insurance company?  I'm no insurance expert but I'd have thought that to take out motor insurance the policy holder must be either the RK and/or the owner.

sheramber

Your brother could add you to his policy as a named driver and you would be covered to drive it on that policy.