ownership

[bermudasaab]

My son wanted to keep my daughters car when she died a 1985 Renault 4 He has maintained it since He has now passed his car test but it is insured in my name and still registered in my daughters name is this legal can I insure it in his name not for hte cheap insurance but my wife and I used the car a lot

[Luxobarge]

The person in whose name the car is registered is irrelevant. What matters is who owns the car. You cannot legally insure a car (i.e. be the policy holder) that you do not own. To legally own a car (or anything, as it happens) you must have paid for it, (i.e. given "consideration") even if it's only £1, and you prove this by holding a signed and dated receipt.

If I were you I'd do this to legally sort out ownership, and get this all sorted legally. As you know, insurance compaies will do almost anything to avoid paying out int he event of a claim, and if they succeed you are deemed to be an uninsured driver, and may be pursued through the courts by any 3rd party involved, as the driver will be held personally responsible, and this can get awfully expensive!

Hope that helps?

Cheers

P.S. 1) Sorry about your daughter - sounds tragic. 2) Welcome to the forum!

[suffolkpete]

I know it's difficult to think of these things in trying circumstances, but the car is part of your daughter's estate, so ownership would be determined by her will if she left one, or the intestacy rules if she didn't, so the easiest thing would be for the new owner to apply for a V5C and take it from there. If your house insurance includes a legal helpline, give them a call, or see a solicitor or the Citizens' Advice Bureau.