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I'm selling a car, a first for me, and was wondering what to do if someone wants to test drive the car. Do I take their word that they are correctly insured (they won't be under the car's policy), or should I ask for proof? The car is only worth £300-400.
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Essentially no they arent likely to be insured - you can ask for proof but its unlikely you will get a sale by making them produce it.
Ive actually found that boxing a car in, but making it look like a straight example, often plays on buyers being unwilling to be overally arkward by asking you to move heaven and earth so they can drive it.
Ive done this 4 times now when shifting old cars and on the occasion when they do want to see the car move, ive never met anyone who doesnt mind you driving them.
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I personally would not buy a car without driving it and would just take my chances and drive it even though I would not be insured.
Similarly, I think you just have to assess your buyer, decide whether they are honest and likely to drive safely and if you believe that they are, let them drive the car. Otherwise I think you will find the car hard to sell.
We recently sold my daughter's Fiesta to a couple who I felt were very straight. They took the car for a test drive, leaving their BMW and its keys, returned very happy with the car and bought it with only a little bit haggled off the price (which left us with £675 more cash than had been offered as a trade in).
OK, we took a risk but life is full of these. Let's face it, nobody is going to arrange insurance to test drive a £400 car and it would be economic madness for you to arrange cover for all comers.
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So long as the Op has their own insurance on the car and those seeking to test drive had insurance with the clause " covered to drive a vehicle not owned by themselves ", would they not be insured 3rd party to drive it ?
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You could use Norwich Union's short term insurance, perhaps offering a refund of the £10 if they buy the car.
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Cover to drive other vehicles is becoming a rarity on insurance policies now and is intended to provide minimum legal cover in an emergency situation. Even if somebody had this facility, I doubt that the insurers would honour a claim arising from an accident during a test drive. I would imagine that any claim would dealt with as one involving an uninsured driver, so that if the other parties involved were not themselves insured then the funds held jointly by the insurance industry would have to be called on.
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Thanks for your thoughts. I was assuming some viewers would use the Other Vehicle Cover, I think I'll play it by ear assessing each viewer. It's an old 8v GTI so it might attract some youngsters, I don't think I'd let them out (they will almost certainly not be insured).
Next thought, as a point of interest, would I be at all liable for letting someone drive the car uninsured?
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Even if somebody had this facility, I doubt that the insurers would honour a claim arising from an accident during a test drive
further to the comments above if you have other vehicles cover on your policy you are properly entitled to test drive and have third party cover which is all that is required .
I would imagine that any claim would dealt with as one involving an uninsured driver,
absolute rubbish ,third party cover means paying out to any other persons involved .
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'Next thought, as a point of interest, would I be at all liable for letting someone drive the car uninsured? '
I believe as it is your car you would be 'aiding and abetting' ( or something similar which is no doubt endorseable) driving with no insurance.
Edited by gsb on 07/02/2008 at 17:39
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So just what is the other vehicle cover for ?.Is this another example of the insurance industry screwing money from its customers for something that doesn't exist ?
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