Grandad lost capacity. What to do with car?

[Rebecca9210]

Any advice is appreciated. My grandad is in hospital. He has lost capacity and is going into a care home. We have applied for deputy but that is going to take 6 to 9 months. I got an email saying his insurance is due to be renewed. Obviously he can't be insured anymore but what do we do about the car. We can't leave it on the road uninsured. We will also have to think about tax and MOT. It's so old and there is mould growing on the bumper. I'm not even sure it works. We can't get rid of it as legally we don't have the power to until the deputy of court protection comes through. What should I do? I hadn't even thought about his car u til the insurance renewal came through!

Could you just insure for third party, fire & theft? But if it's on the road it will need to be taxed and mot'd. How complicated!

Does anyone have Lasting Power of attorney for your grandfather? If he is still mentally competent he can still have them made.
My parents were anti this. We stressed to them that it was to help them with their finance and medical decisions because when they get to the point they can not decide for themselves it is too late. Eventually after a couple of years they agreed.

Oh sorry just read he isnt

@SionnachGlic

Not UK based but must it be taxed & insured if not being driven & not parked in a public place? Can you take it in off the road to his garden or garage & let insurance/tax lapse. If it was ever to be renewed in future you would need to sign a declaration that it has not been in use for the untaxed/uninsured period. Maybe check that out with local motor tax office & insurer. Sorry to hear of your GF's ill health, that is difficult in itself without all these other things to sort too

Thank you. You are 100 percent right. This situation is difficult enough emotionally and dealing with hosp/ devisions/ is falling apart house/ and his bills that I have to pay for now it has been incredibly difficult

Have you contacted the dvla? They were extremely helpful when my mum passed.

If he no longer has capacity it may come under on of the health conditions that mean his license is revoked. They may help you sorn the car or advise you what you need to do until the deputy-ship is granted.

www.gov.uk/contact-the-dvla/y/driving-and-medical-issues

SORNing is easy on line - I did it for my father. But it has to be physically off road.

Long shot is someone whose house will be empty for a few months who would appreciate a car parked on the driveway to give the appearance of occupancy. Or an elderly person with no car.

What type of car is it?
You could approach the car club, owners club for it. There might be a local enthusiast who could help out with a driveway for you to put it on as Sorned. And then give it to them with all the paperwork = car problem solved!

Sorry I can’t help you with the legality of what to do, but can I mention this charity. Any money raised YOU get to nominate the charity it goes to.

giveacar.co.uk/

I needed to get rid of a car in the middle of the last lock down and they arrange for the car to be collected and sold either at auction or for scrap. They take them in any condition. It was unbelievably easy and my chosen charity got £850! It is no cost to you at all and painless.

Potentially this is an abandoned car. As grandad has lost capacity and is in residential care with no one with legal authority to do anything with it. It doesn't sound like it's worth anything. You could contact the local police force to advise that it will soon be without tax and insurance in a public highway as he has abandoned it due to above reasons. They might tow it and dispose of it for you?

Hi, what did you do with the car?

It's still there. The solicitor said we can't have it removed or crushed. All we can do is get insured on it and tax and MOT it ourselves. This is something we can't afford and will cost more than the fine for the DVLA removing it themselves

I urge any one to sort out power of attorney sooner rather than later. My husband and I have had it for over 15 years (we are now 63 and 60) and have just updated it to cover both finance and medical. In my opinion it is selfish not to do this as it can save so much distress for family in the future.

Just leave the keys in it

POA costs a lot if the person has already lost capacity, involves doctors assesments and solicitors.
I'd see if you can get a friend/family to let you store the car on a driveway, or other off road spot for a while, then call and tell insurance to cancel, let the bank know not to pay out anything.

We are already applying through the courts. Yes it costs a lot. We are looking at about 2 to 3 thousand pounds. We have no option as now he is in a nursing home, if we don't do it the local authority will do it and we won't have any say in who buys the house etc

Cancel the insurance and then eventually it will be removed and crushed, especially if someone reports it.

I had a terrible problem with a relatives car when they died. It was impossible for ME to get insurance on it as I did not own it or have any financial interest in it. I couldn’t drive it on my insurance either as you need permission from the owner to do that. Believe me, I googled the hell out of this one, and rang multiple insurance companies. No one could offer a solution. Even with the resolution of the estate, the car passed to a non-driver so that didn’t solve things. This was a brand new car so I had to get it sold and achieve the best price, no option to desert it and no one would buy it off the drive. In the end I had to take a chance and drive it to the dealer (with heart in my mouth) just to get rid of the damn thing. Thank god the dealer was only 2 miles away. Oh yeah - and the battery was flat too. This was one of the most stressful days of my life. My only learning from this is that if you can deal with it while the person is alive.