It has been brought to my notice that a distant member of the family, living in one of the poorest counties of England, is contemplating co-purchasing a car with a friend. I am not sure is this is an informal arrangement or not. Apparently this arrangement is common in the county.

This Relative is in her forties, a lone parent with several children. She is starting driving lessons shortly and then hopes to pass her driving test later this year.

I gather that her Friend has been driving for a number of years. Also, it is implied that this friend is in a similar social and financial situation as aforementioned relative - churches overun by mice spring to mind; no pott o .....no, I won't go there.

The proposal by Friend is that both she and Relative split the cost of purchasing a car (around £1000 purchase price).

Friend is nominal Policy holder and Relative a named driver - how would that work in practice i.e. car accidents, maintenance ?

They would consult their diaries as to which days of the week/month they needed the car and use the car accordingly.

Whether this would use be calculated on weekly,monthly basis I have no idea. .

I can forsee a number of problems arising from this arrangement such as:

Car insurance: one experienced driver, one less so.

Would they split the premium down the middle.

Would insurance company have to be informed of different driving experience/record.

What if one wants to sell the car and the other not.

I have got to the stage where I have confused myself.

I used to post under the name Rita - have had to reregister so am now Rita meter maid.

If any of my old sparring partners are around I would welcome their input on ther above.

RMM