Overhaulin'

If I sell my car to my son to raise some cash, can I still insure and drive it with his permission?

I am facing a short term cash-flow problem and my son has offered to purchase my car from me whilst still allowing me to drive it. I have checked with someone at my Insurers by telephone and for some reason they have said that I have to be the owner of the car for the insurance to be valid. I am not sure this is entirely true. I am guessing that if I am the registered keeper still this would be acceptable normally. Any ideas on the rules for insurance under these conditions? Thanks remowlms, how would we achieve that then, sorry to be dense, I am just not sure how the documentation for that would work? Ok chocolatebox, what exactly do you mean by check your insurance company?

Public Comments

1. If the title and registration is transferred to your son, he would have to insure the car. However, you can make it so your son is the legal owner and you are the registered owner and then you could insure it...
2. Check the insurance company.
3. Your son will have to insure the car but he can make you a named driver. So, you would be insured and there would be no trouble if you were stopped by the police, on that basis.
4. The name on the title, registration, loan, and insurance policy ALL have to match. That's what your agent means - a policy where the named insured is one person, but the car owner is someone else, well, there's no "insurable interest" so the policy doesn't cover that car, even though it's listed. That's what keeps ME from insuring YOUR car, and making a profit if you're in an accident, so yes, it's true. There's no such thing as a "registered keeper". Either you own the car, or you don't. So, if you sell your car to your son, he'll have to retitle it, re-register it, and buy a policy in his name, and list you as a driver. That would be perfectly fine.
5. depends on the insurance company but with mine the users of the vehichle have to be insured with the company