Most straightforward way to sell vehicle

seans_elysees

My father recently passed and the situation is probably about as straightforward as it can be.  He has a will and I’m the only child, and the only person named in will for the estate. I’ve not met the lawyer yet (planning to in a couple of weeks). 

What is my most straightforward path to selling his car and what do I need to consider from process/legal perspective. 

I had a glance at DVLA - am I going to need to take ownership and tax it, only to then sell it?  

I’ve not told DVLA anything yet. 

Car is currently parked off the road in drive way but not SORN’d.

Olinda99

I was wondering why you need to meet a lawyer ?

how big is the estate ie you need probate? are you the executor ?

if you are the executor you can sell the car immediately and the funds go to the estate

p00hsticks

I'm sorry for your loss. 
Having been in a similar position recently, I can only share my experience, which I found to be a complete pain
This link may help, although to my mind it's not completely clear and unambiguous. 
Telling DVLA after someone dies: What you need to do - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Whoever registered the death will have been given a personalised code to the Tell Us Once service, which allows you to inform multiple government agencies (DVLA, Passport Office, DWP, HMRC etc) of the death. 

If as part of this you give the car registration number (s) then the DVLA will automatically refund any car tax due and remove the deceased as registered keeper, leaving the car untaxed. 

You'll then find yourself unable to SORN it as you are not the registered keeper. I did have an online chat with a DVLA rep about this and they assured me that as my intention was to sell the car ASAP then I was ok to just leave it untaxed and unSORNed providing it was offroad. I also cancelled the insurance, although on speaking them they would have amended the policy to insure it while off-road if I'd wanted it.  

I had the V5C and service history, which helps and then used Motorway to sell the car - it's effectively an auction site for car dealers, and the main advantage for me over something like Webuyanycar or a dealer direct was that the winning dealer agrees to come and collect the car (I don't drive and the car was now untaxed and uninsured, with the MOT due in six weeks).  

The one problem I then had was that when the dealer came to collect the car and attempted to show me how to transfer the ownership online, it wouldn't let us do it as it came up that the car had already been sold! It was a Sunday so the helpline given with the error wasn't operational. Luckily the dealer accepted that it was some sort of glitch and paid me (they do it via bank transfer) and  took the car away anyhow. I called DVLA to follow this up and it appeared that they had logged it as 'sold' on the date of death - I'm not sure if this is how the system is intended to work or if it was an error in my particular case, but it was an embarrassing situation to find myself in.

I ended up having to write to the DVLA to advise them of what had happened and provide the new owners details with the retained part of the V5C.   

Olinda99

well of course if you want to you could go through the above but if you are the executor then you could just advertise and sell it

mebu60

I have unfortunately been in a similar situation twice in the past two years. I used Motorway both times. Bit of a faff with the paperwork both times but very decent outcomes. 

poppystar

Easiest way is to sell to a company that will collect it. The downside is that you may get less than you would like, the upside is you don’t need to worry about tax, insuring it for someone to test drive, dealing with prospective buyers etc. I was dealing with a car over ten years old and eventually gave it to my father’s favourite charity  via  https://www.giveacar.co.uk/  wish I’d done that sooner as the car caused me the most worry. Guide Dogs happy, me happy, and they even were able to claim Gift Aid from me. 

seans_elysees

Olinda99 said:

I was wondering why you need to meet a lawyer ?

how big is the estate ie you need probate? are you the executor ?

if you are the executor you can sell the car immediately and the funds go to the estate

The estate is low value - a house under £100k, a car £1k, and moped worth a few hundred. The lawyer is the one in possession of the will so I basically need their confirmation and instruction as this hasn’t happened yet. 

p00hsticks said:

I'm sorry for your loss. 
Having been in a similar position recently, I can only share my experience, which I found to be a complete pain
This link may help, although to my mind it's not completely clear and unambiguous. 
Telling DVLA after someone dies: What you need to do - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Whoever registered the death will have been given a personalised code to the Tell Us Once service, which allows you to inform multiple government agencies (DVLA, Passport Office, DWP, HMRC etc) of the death. 

If as part of this you give the car registration number (s) then the DVLA will automatically refund any car tax due and remove the deceased as registered keeper, leaving the car untaxed. 

You'll then find yourself unable to SORN it as you are not the registered keeper. I did have an online chat with a DVLA rep about this and they assured me that as my intention was to sell the car ASAP then I was ok to just leave it untaxed and unSORNed providing it was offroad. I also cancelled the insurance, although on speaking them they would have amended the policy to insure it while off-road if I'd wanted it.  

I had the V5C and service history, which helps and then used Motorway to sell the car - it's effectively an auction site for car dealers, and the main advantage for me over something like Webuyanycar or a dealer direct was that the winning dealer agrees to come and collect the car (I don't drive and the car was now untaxed and uninsured, with the MOT due in six weeks).  

The one problem I then had was that when the dealer came to collect the car and attempted to show me how to transfer the ownership online, it wouldn't let us do it as it came up that the car had already been sold! It was a Sunday so the helpline given with the error wasn't operational. Luckily the dealer accepted that it was some sort of glitch and paid me (they do it via bank transfer) and  took the car away anyhow. I called DVLA to follow this up and it appeared that they had logged it as 'sold' on the date of death - I'm not sure if this is how the system is intended to work or if it was an error in my particular case, but it was an embarrassing situation to find myself in.

I ended up having to write to the DVLA to advise them of what had happened and provide the new owners details with the retained part of the V5C.   

Thanks - that is helpful. 

I did read their website and thought it would end up somewhat complicated and unclear whatever the approach. I purposely excluded them from the Tell Us Once process as I wanted to know more specifically what would happen. 

Dave_5150

I just used an online car buying service. They were willing to proceed without transferring ownership after sight of the death certificate and will. Not all of them do this though so check any T&C's carefully.

Rhubarbium

I sold my mum’s car back to the garage she’d bought it from before doing the ‘tell us once’ as I could drive it on my insurance as it was still taxed. As the V5 was in her name they insisted on making the payment into her bank account which was no problem as I’d not at that point notified the bank. I then included the cash in the estate with no mention of the car.

bunnygo

sorry for your loss.

Not doing 'tell us once' may have been a good idea as that instantly cancels the tax and also leaves the vehicle with no keeper. You don't need to become the keeper. The DVLA guidance seems fairly clear on the process:

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

Important; if the insurance was in your father's name then it is now invalid, so don't drive the car even if you were a named driver, and remember that insurance also covers fire and theft. Speak to the bereavement team at the insurance company, they should give you a month extension on the policy while you arrange sale. A car is a chattel and does NOT need to wait for probate. I would also find a dealer or a car buying company, you don't need the hassle of a private sale.

as an aside re the will; the solicitor will release it to you as the executor on production of ID, and this shouldn't cost anything. Keep it very safe as it needs to be sent off when you apply for probate, and bear in mind that it won't be returned.