Quizzes & Puzzles0 min ago
Elderley Main Driver / Owner Gives Up Driving Lisence
Hello, My elderly father is probably about to give up his driving license. He owns the family car and is the main driver on the insurance policy. My mother is currently a named driver the insurance for this car. Once my father no longer has a license does the car ownership have to be transferred into my mums name or can she insure it even though she doesn't own it....or can it remain owned and insured by my dad (ie a non-driver), but with my mum as a named driver?
Any help or advice much appreciated
Any help or advice much appreciated
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.I would have thought the simple way would be for dad to keep his licence but just not use it. That way there can still be 2 named drivers on the car which, reputedly, makes it cheaper; just say that mum is the main driver. You can only do that if he does not have a medical problem which needs to be declared to DVLA.
This draws attention to a particularly nonsensical part of the system. The DVLA (i.e. the government) insist that the registration of a car has nothing to do with its ownership - go to their site and they are at pains to explain that the person named on the registration document should be the user and not the owner - for example if a company owns a vehicle which a specific worker mainly uses then the vehicle should be registered in his/her name and not the company's (the owner's). The document refers to the "keeper" and then, in an absurd move, goes on to say something like "If you sell the vehicle..." (I haven't a very new version) and thereby disappears up its own rear end. Nowhere else that I know of is anything like this attempted - the vehicle is invariably registered in the owner's name and he/she is responsible in every way (taxation, use, etc.) unless in its use someone else is (proven to be) in charge of it (accident, violation, etc.). Strictly speaking your father can own the vehicle and it can be registered in someone else's name or not - the system is not meant to be interested in ownership except it says it is, registration is not officially linked to ownership but the registration authority contradicts itself. Nobody seems to be able to avoid this absurdity. But, in any case, to own a car you do not need to have a driver's licence while to insure a car in your name you almost certainly need to because in the UK the driver is insured, not the car as such. Elsewhere the car is insured, generally for any licensed driver.
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Dad or Mum can own the car but as main (only) driver she has to hold the insurance IMV. It might be simpler just to transfer ownership (keeper) & insurance over to Mum but you would need to check re NCD as mentioned above. Your father's NCD can't be applied if he is no longer the driver but the insurer may make some allowance for your mother.
barry //The 'any other driver' was always insured third party, so a car owner would have to be very sure of the 'other drivers' capabilities.//
No, it wasn't. Both my car and my wife's were insured for any driver; when my daughter reached 17 I checked and she was covered to drive both of them fully comp, even as a learner. That was in the 1980s.
No, it wasn't. Both my car and my wife's were insured for any driver; when my daughter reached 17 I checked and she was covered to drive both of them fully comp, even as a learner. That was in the 1980s.
I don’t know where you are getting your information from, Karl. I suspect it might be from somewhere like this:
https:/ /www.dv la-cont act-num ber.co. uk/the- differe nces-be tween-t he-regi stered- keeper- and-own er-of-a -vehicl e/
That is NOT an official DVLA web page. DVLA information is part of “.gov.uk” .
The DVLA is not interested in ownership. It keeps no register of owners, only of “Registered Keepers” (RKs). The Registration Document (V5C) only makes mention of ownership in the negative (i.e it is not proof of ownership).There is no legal requirement for the owner of a car to be its RK. Similarly there is no requirement for the RK to have day to day possession and control of the car nor to use it. The RK can, in fact, be virtually anybody the owner chooses. Almost all company vehicles are registered with either the company or more often these days a leasing company or a finance company. This completely at odds with the advice given on the fake DVLA site which says:
"For example, this is the case with a company car. The car is owned by the company, but the registration documents (the V5) should show the registered keeper to be the person who uses it on a daily basis, such as an employee."
The ongoing responsibilities that rest with the RK are for taxing the vehicle, insuring it (so as to comply with the “continuous insurance” legislation, see below) and for responding to any enquiries from the police if the vehicle is alleged to have been involved in a traffic offence and was not stopped at the time. When such enquiries are made it is not unusual for there to be four requests made for information before the driver is reached, e.g. Finance Company – Leasing Company – Employer – Employee (Driver). The only large scale exceptions to this general convention are cars provided under the “Motability” Scheme. These are registered under the user’s name.
//…the system is not meant to be interested in ownership except it says it is, registration is not officially linked to ownership but the registration authority contradicts itself.//
Where is this stated? Where is this contradiction evident?
//…in the UK the driver is insured, not the car as such.//
That is not correct. Under the “continuous insurance” legislation all vehicles that are not declared off the road (by means of a SORN) must have in place an insurance policy which provides the cover required under the Road Traffic Act. The policy must mention the vehicle specifically (by its registration mark). This is required regardless of who drives it or even whether it is driven at all. The question of who is allowed to drive it is a separate issue between the proposer and the insurer. Few policies allow “any driver” these days because, as barry says, drivers with bad driving records were using cars insured by someone with a good record. As well as that too many eighteen year olds were driving high powered cars which were insured by their fathers with an “any driver” policy.
As far as this question goes it would probably be simpler in the long run for Henry's father to transfer the registration of the car to his wife. He can avoid losing a months tax as a result of that transfer by declaring the car SORN towards the end on the month that the tax expires and then transferring the ownership early in the next month. This will need him to have somewhere to keep it off the road for a couple of days.
https:/
That is NOT an official DVLA web page. DVLA information is part of “.gov.uk” .
The DVLA is not interested in ownership. It keeps no register of owners, only of “Registered Keepers” (RKs). The Registration Document (V5C) only makes mention of ownership in the negative (i.e it is not proof of ownership).There is no legal requirement for the owner of a car to be its RK. Similarly there is no requirement for the RK to have day to day possession and control of the car nor to use it. The RK can, in fact, be virtually anybody the owner chooses. Almost all company vehicles are registered with either the company or more often these days a leasing company or a finance company. This completely at odds with the advice given on the fake DVLA site which says:
"For example, this is the case with a company car. The car is owned by the company, but the registration documents (the V5) should show the registered keeper to be the person who uses it on a daily basis, such as an employee."
The ongoing responsibilities that rest with the RK are for taxing the vehicle, insuring it (so as to comply with the “continuous insurance” legislation, see below) and for responding to any enquiries from the police if the vehicle is alleged to have been involved in a traffic offence and was not stopped at the time. When such enquiries are made it is not unusual for there to be four requests made for information before the driver is reached, e.g. Finance Company – Leasing Company – Employer – Employee (Driver). The only large scale exceptions to this general convention are cars provided under the “Motability” Scheme. These are registered under the user’s name.
//…the system is not meant to be interested in ownership except it says it is, registration is not officially linked to ownership but the registration authority contradicts itself.//
Where is this stated? Where is this contradiction evident?
//…in the UK the driver is insured, not the car as such.//
That is not correct. Under the “continuous insurance” legislation all vehicles that are not declared off the road (by means of a SORN) must have in place an insurance policy which provides the cover required under the Road Traffic Act. The policy must mention the vehicle specifically (by its registration mark). This is required regardless of who drives it or even whether it is driven at all. The question of who is allowed to drive it is a separate issue between the proposer and the insurer. Few policies allow “any driver” these days because, as barry says, drivers with bad driving records were using cars insured by someone with a good record. As well as that too many eighteen year olds were driving high powered cars which were insured by their fathers with an “any driver” policy.
As far as this question goes it would probably be simpler in the long run for Henry's father to transfer the registration of the car to his wife. He can avoid losing a months tax as a result of that transfer by declaring the car SORN towards the end on the month that the tax expires and then transferring the ownership early in the next month. This will need him to have somewhere to keep it off the road for a couple of days.
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