Dave Y

iTrader: (52)

A workmate and wife are splitting he pays finance on her car but her name is on the V5.
Who owns the car ??

Jon T

It clearly states on a v5 that it is not proof of ownership.

Smithys STI

iTrader: (1)

The finance company

Dave Y

iTrader: (52)

Good point

Dave Y

iTrader: (52)

What is proof of ownership ?

1509joe

iTrader: (2)

Whoevers name the finance was taken out in unless they managed to get a receipt at the time of sale.

johnlogie

iTrader: (4)

Will be the finance company if money is still owed on it. Been there. They could probably transfer the finance if she passes the relevant checks or hand the car back and he may have to take the hit if there’s a short fall.

johnlogie

iTrader: (4)

However if the finance is in her name and he pays it then just stop paying

1509joe

iTrader: (2)

BrownPantsRacing

iTrader: (6)

The finance company legally own the car and his wife is only the registered keeper.

legb4rsk

Yes.I think 'Registered Keeper' is the key phrase here.It does not say 'Owner'.

BrownPantsRacing

iTrader: (6)

I went through all the legalities of this when I very nearly bought a car years ago with finance still owing on it that was advertised as finance free by a ****. Thankfully for me I found out just before I went to view through a full HPI check using HPI.com as all the cheaper text services I'd used leading up to the viewing came up as clear and don't check for finance. Needless to say I pulled out, but unfortunately for the next person to view they didn't know and bought the car. I ended up spending a lot of time talking to him and following his court case while he struggled to fight for ownership.


Basically while finance is taken out against a vehicle, legally the finance company own the car and if your name is on the logbook you are purely the registered keeper. If payments to the finance company stop, they have the right and will seek to claim their property back, no matter who is listed as the registered keeper.

BrownPantsRacing

iTrader: (6)

Also, the finance company will automatically assume that when you purchased the car and the registered keeper name changed then you take responsibility for the vehicle in question along with any outstanding finance. So they can and will go to the registered keeper to ask for payment of outstanding debt should payments stop for any reason.

BrownPantsRacing

iTrader: (6)

So in short, if you buy a car at full price not taking into account outstanding finance value or not knowing there is outstanding finance on the vehicle, you could end up paying for the car twice.


Also, just to make things more difficult the finance company will tell a prospective buyer the vehicle still has unpaid finance but will not tell you the value of that debt. They will only tell the person (seller) who holds the finance agreement. So don't take someone's word for what amount is outstanding, ask them for printed recent confirmation. The seller that nearly caught me told me there was only £1k left and he'd knock that off my purchase price. I didn't trust him by that point so pulled out. Turns out there was £12k outstanding that the next buyer was then lumbered with after he'd payed the **** his money for the car not knowing.

Dave Y

iTrader: (52)

thanks for all the replies i will pass on all the info.