My girlfriend is getting her new car sooner than expected leaving not much time to flog the old one - about 3 days in fact.
She will need to be insured on the new one leaving the old one uninsured.
It's taxed and MOTd. I have 'driving other cars' third party cover in my insurance. Does a car have to be insured (and have it's details on an insurance certificate) to be parked on the road? Is it still legal for me to drive it? I can't find a definite answer for this.
In terms of flogging the old one - will Autotrader web-site be as good a place as any - seems good value at £7:50 including a HPI check or does an ad in the mag get onto the web-site?
Piers
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If she contacts her insurance company I'm sure they'll be happy to insure the 'old' car for a week, say, for a nominal sum. I certainly wouln't leave it uninsured.
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Piers, whenever I have been faced with this situation, I have contacted my insurers, explained the situation and they have have agreed to cover both vehicles for a short period of time to allow you (her) to sell it. In my case, it was for one week at no charge.
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Martin and Michael are correct.
As for your other two questions..
>Does a car have to be insured (and have it's details on an insurance certificate) to be parked on the road?
Insured - yes. Details on an Insurance Certificate - no. Covered by the wording on a certificate - yes.
If you drive it on your doc extension it will be uninsured the second you step out of it. the doc will cover what you will do with the car, the car is still not insured and cannot be on a public highway. As to whether this would be noticed by a policeman if you were stopped, your guess is as good as mine.
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I am correct in thinking that in the past there have been sucessful prosecutions of people who were 'in charge of the car' particularly when legless inside a pub.
The same logic applies to somebody who has left a vehicle parked legally (at the time), for somebody else to collect, but who fails to collect before the restriction comes into force.
The logical extension of this argument must surely be that if in charge of the vehicle 'any car not belonging....' insurance would apply. i.e parked outside your house while you are inside ok, but not left parked outside the girlfriends house.
Opens a can of worms! Love to hear a definitive legal view.
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peter wrote:
>
> I am correct in thinking that in the past there have been
> sucessful prosecutions of people who were 'in charge of the
> car' particularly when legless inside a pub.
Actually tougher to prove than you might think. If you are not actually driving the car, the police have to prove that you were intending to. Even asleep in the car in a pub carpark is not sufficient and of course it is a subjective view in the end.
> The same logic applies to somebody who has left a vehicle
> parked legally (at the time), for somebody else to collect,
> but who fails to collect before the restriction comes into
> force.
No it doesn't - that's the registered keeper.
> The logical extension of this argument must surely be that if
> in charge of the vehicle 'any car not belonging....'
> insurance would apply.
No, because you are insured to the legal minimum only while you are driving it. Being in charge of it, insofar as the RTA is concerned, is not relevant.
The car MUST be insured to be on the public highway, and it would not be. The offence would also be your girlfriend's problem with on way out only - she could say you did it without her permission and she would not be prosecuted - sadly you would incur a UT offence (The RTA version of stealing).
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Mark Thanks for a definitive legal view.
Re the parking scenario, how does the owner define who was the driver in charge of the vehicle when pre arrangements fail to materialise. or does it just become owner liablility?
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> Mark Thanks for a definitive legal view.
ooeer, "definitive" !
A good, possibly even expert, opinion, but for definitive you'd need to speak with a current, professional expert uptodate on the ever changing face of case law & statute.
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Ah, I'd better flog it PDQ. Now up on Autotrader web site (or should be soon) so if anyones looking for a little Italian car with a 500 sounding name in the Oxford area....... I know it's bad form to advertise on Forums!
Piers
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My experience in such matters has always been that they will cover it but then charge the equivalent of one months premium for a couple of days.
Bill
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Eagle Star Direct gave me one months cover on the old car free of charge earlier this year. Direct Line currently charge £21 per week - probably fairly typical.
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