Bank details for deposit

Catonthemoon

I’m paying a small deposit to secure a vehicle I’m buying from a private seller. He has provided his Bank name, a/c no & sort code and his first name only. Is this usual & nothing to be concerned about?
As an aside, I seem to remember reading a recent post on here re: names no longer appearing on V5N’s (log book).
Perhaps the seller doesn’t think there’s any need for me to know his surname!

Thoughts please.

paul_c123

You'll need the surname and whether its a personal/business account to successfully traverse "verification of payee" in your banking app or whatever. It might also be possible to override this, and the bank/app will probably give a warning at that stage - which means you'll lose any fraud protection associated with it.

Yes, the previous keeper no longer appears on a V5 but the current keeper does, and if a car's in the trade this will be the last RK, not the trader (whose name will never appear on a V5, unless they have registered the car into their own name).

la531983

Problem you may have is when making the payment you will get a message saying the bank account name doesnt match what you have typed, now as far as I know most banks will let you ignore this and pay it anyway but I suspect this would remove the bank from any liability should it then be fraudulent.

marcia_

 Indeed if you click ignore/pay anyway the bank will absolve themselves of responsibility because they warned you. 

Arunmor

I wouldn't pay a deposit.  Just sort out payment out when you collect the car by bank transfer.

Does he live at the house the car is registered?  Check the V5

la531983

I didnt see that bit. So you dont even have his full name and you are happy to pay him a deposit?

Wouldnt be getting a penny out of me.

paul_c123

Arunmor said:

Does he live at the house the car is registered?  Check the V5

See post 2. As a private seller, it won't be hidden on the V5 because he's the current RK - the previous ones will, and once its sold and reregistered, there will be no record of it on the V5 (so keep a note if OP needs it).

Arunmor

paul_c123 said:

Arunmor said:

Does he live at the house the car is registered?  Check the V5

See post 2. As a private seller, it won't be hidden on the V5 because he's the current RK - the previous ones will, and once its sold and reregistered, there will be no record of it on the V5 (so keep a note if OP needs it).

You have missed my point.  Is the car at the address it is registered, does the guy selling the car live at the address and is he the registered keeper.

Catonthemoon

Thanks guys. To answer a few points:

1. No, I don’t know his full name, just his forename. I messaged him about 4 hours ago stating that I’ll almost certainly need the full name that appears on his bank card/statements…he hasn’t come back to me yet. In the early stages of negotiation, he gave me the private plate no to allow me to carry out due diligence. On one of the govt sites, it asked for the VIN - I asked the seller for this but he didn’t provide it. As it turned out, I was able to find out everything I needed to know on a different site (full MOT history, car description etc). I found everything to be satisfactory & my instinct was telling me to go ahead and buy this car. Btw, this was after he had sent me photos of everything I asked for & having spoken to him a couple of times, I just get the feeling that the guy is genuine. 

2. He’s asked for a deposit of £250 (sale price is £6250) because he’s had an offer of that amount from another buyer. He had promised to give me first refusal. So, I guess he needs to know that I’m serious about buying, otherwise he could potentially lose the sale to the other interested party.

3. The car is currently on his driveway (covered, as he no longer uses it). I presume he lives there; there’s no way I could know that until I go there.

4. All I can think is that he’s being very cagey/cautious & I can’t say I blame him with everything that goes on these days! He’s probably thinking that now I know (a) the original number plate, (b) the private number plate, (c) his bank, the a/c no & sort code. If I also had his full name then maybe he’s concerned about what I could potentially do with all of that info!!

I suppose I could go down and pay in cash?

Catonthemoon

Oh, I forgot… I’ve got his mobile no as well!

Brie

He's got another buyer so you better pay that deposit soon!!!  I'd call that scam behaviour.  

Meanwhile I've trying to figure out how I might sell my some random neighbour's car providing the details and a picture of it in the drive.  Bank transfer done, I vanish. 

Ok it's only £250 but you do that 20 times......