My Mum sold a car that isn’t legally hers?

[Lilly1102]

Last year my Mum gave me my late grandmas car (she legally transferred ownership to myself). She inherited it but never drove it as she has her own car and it was just sitting on their driveway doing nothing. I am an only ‘child’ and my grandma really did adore me and would be so pleased I learnt to drive in her car.

i’m 25 so was a late learner. I insured the car, taxed it etc. When I passed my test my partner bought me a more ‘stylish’ car for Xmas. He pays for the tax and insurance on that one so I decided to continue paying for the car I learnt to drive on for a year just to get some no claims and also my younger cousin learnt to drive in it with my uncle so I thought I may as well insure it.

my cousin is now done with the car , my Mum has decided she wants to sell it. I asked her very politely if there was any possibility I could get a very small percentage of the car sale (ie £300) just because I’ve paid £1400 for the car over the year even though I never drove it.

I asked out of principle because legally it is actually in my name etc, it wasn’t about the money, i just asked to see if my parents actually ever considered my opinion or asking me.

my mum has never put any money into that car as my grandma bought it and my mum never drove it even when it was her name (I think she SORNed it).

It took so much courage to ask her as my parents are VERY ‘funny’ with money and I was right to be scared because she phoned me back SCREAMING down the phone telling me she needs the money for the car sale.

she screamed and cried and said ‘I don’t live in the world she’s living in’ (she assumes because I work in finance that I am some rich bitch) which is SO far from the truth.

I’d like to emphasise that my parents live in a 5 bed detached house with a large garden in the Home Counties with NO mortgage. My father is retired and although my mum doesn’t work (she’s also close to retirement age) they are hardly hard done by. Me and my partner on the other hand (although we are also not hard done by) we don’t own a house and we more a less live pay cheque to pay cheque most months.

her reaction really stunned me. It stuns me because they’re so critical of my boyfriend’s father who recently inherited a relatively large sum of ££ from a house sale. My parents think he is selfish for not giving my partner any money for a house deposit from it and they always tell me that if they had spare money they would give it to me.

me and my boyfriends view is that it’s his fathers money - he can spend it on what he likes but my parents have such a double standard because whenever I ask for any help (not on a large scale at all) they quick up a huge fuss.

was I wrong for asking? Like I say, I don’t want the money but I’m more hurt at my mums reaction given her beliefs about other people’s attitudes towards their money! They’re so judgemental about everyone else and as soon as I ask (which I never do because even growing up I was met with reactions like this) it turns out to be a huge drama.

100% agree. MN is such a weird place sometimes.

Why not do some research on it? It's all online.

If you've insured yourself as the main user of the micra when you're not, and you allowed your cousin to use it more than you have then you've committed insurance fraud.

Better keep quiet about that going forward.

The DVLA need to know who is responsible for the vehicle and I believe it’s an offence not to update the keeper details. Obviously this then feeds the PNC for speeding tickets etc. As PPs have stated the V5C even states in big letters that it’s not proof of ownership so it’s quite the opposite of showing that you are the owner and the only person allowed to sell.

😂No I did research and found the same as PP - to change ownership you complete the V5 and handover.

I'm just try to understand some other posters POV. HTH

I don't think the OP has any right to some payment when the car is sold.
It sounds like a misunderstanding TBH.

The Mum gave her the car but didn't know (no crystal ball) that OP's boyfriend would buy her a better care.
So in her eyes, there is nothing wrong with selling it and keeping the money.

Looking at it another way, the OP benefited from the car and only had to pay for insurance and tax so she saved the cost of buying a car for herself.

a 2006 Micra is worth probably £400-£900 if its been twice used as a learner car, even in excellent condition around £1100-ish on the private sale market.

Yous are fighting over something not that much above scrap value.

Paying £1400 in insurance on a parked off road car you don't drive thats worth half that is insanity.

The V5 is part of the transfer process of the keeper.

A registration document (V5) is not proof of ownership. The registered keeper should be the person who is actually using / keeping the vehicle and this is not necessarily the owner of the vehicle or the person who is paying for it.

That person is the person responsible for the vehicle so far as official communications from the police/DVLA etc., but the owner is the person who put up the cash (or was given it as a gift).

The DVLA make a point of saying that the person named on the registration document is not necessarily the owner.

This is particularly true with a company car which is owned by the company, however the registration document should show the registered keeper, i.e. the day to day user (this may be an employee who has it as a permanent perk with his/her job).

I'm in complete agreement with @AMAthistimeroud too. It's appalling behaviour as a parent. Be warned going forward if you ever have kids, their gifted clothes, toys etc may turn out to be a loan.

No - as a learner he paid to insure himself on a vehicle that is already insured. I paid £122 a month for 12 months to insure the car. He probably went out with his dad in that car less than 10 times to learn - the rest he was in his drivers instructors car. I’m not a criminal!

He pays for the tax and insurance on that one so I decided to continue paying for the car I learnt to drive on for a year just to get some no claims and also my younger cousin learnt to drive in it with my uncle so I thought I may as well insure it.

I'm confused over your insurance set up @Lilly1102

Are you a 'named driver' on the car your boyfriend bought you? Is the policy in his name?
Or is it insured with you as the main driver?

I'm puzzled over how you're insured on two cars and hoping to accrue some no-claims years on the smaller car (when you're also insured to drive the better car.)

Is the cousin (who was learning to drive) named as another driver on the other car (the one your Mum gave you)? The total of £1400 seems low for 2 learner drivers and road tax.

x-d post with the above post!

No - as a learner he paid to insure himself on a vehicle that is already insured.

So you're saying that your cousin contacted the insurance company that your small car is insured with, (in your name) and added themselves? It doesn't work like that.

An insurance company can't add someone else to your policy just by them phoning up and asking - you have to do that . Your premium would increase and yes, your cousin could hand over money to you, but there is no way they could insure themselves on your policy.

How often he drove the car isn't relevant.
He'd need insurance for 1 single trip in it.

How much extra did it cost to have your cousin on your insurance policy?

You were paying just over £1400 a year.

For two (young) drivers both learners, that is low.

No he didn’t do that. my uncle would’ve paid for a temporary learner insurer for him, completely separate from my admiral indurance! you can insure a learner on a car as long as that car is insured by the main policy holder (me in this case).

He would’ve paid for 3 months learner insurance or something, they’re not dodging the system. This is so irrelevant to my original post anyway.

He may have had cover on demand insurance as a learner. He would not have needed to contact the ops insurer for that.

I was querying it because the cost of the insurance seemed low for 2 learner drivers and you were making a point originally how much the car had cost you to run.
You can still sometimes build up a no-claims by driving cars which you don't own but are insured to drive. So if your boyfriend is the owner and insures the car you drive now, you can often use that towards no claims.

I'm flummoxed too.. The ones who keep saying its not ownership just keep repeating that it says it on the v5. But in real life it doesn't work like that. And they don't seem to want to acknowledge it 😂
V5 has always worked as proof of ownership throughout my life. Car salesmen, car exchange companies, webuyanycar etc, private sellers.. all just needed v5.

They need the V5C otherwise they’d have an admin nightmare, they don’t need it to prove you own it. If that was the case it’d be impossible to sell a car that’s registered to someone else, not to mention that you can register a car in anyone’s name if you have their address.

How anyone can stand there in real life holding a V5C and believe it’s proof of ownership is beyond me.

@Shade17 Yet another poster totally negating real life experiences 🤦🏻‍♀️

Heaven forbid actual facts! Also, no one in the motor trade thinks a V5C is proof of ownership.

If it were me, I'd have kept the car inherited from grandma for as long as possible and told BF to return the fancier car and put that money into a savings pot for a house.

Take the car back and park it in her driveway. Tell her that you are canceling the insurance, thank her for the use of the car. Then go grey rock.

Edited. Sorry, missed the updates

I’d suspect your mum’s reaction has more to it than seem. I know you say they are well off in their big house with no mortgage etc. But, how is their cash flow? Is all their money tied up. She could really need the money for something????

The person who can provide the receipt for the vehicle is the legal owner.

In this case it’s the mum, as I guess it was a stipulation of the Will. The Will is the receipt of transfer of ownership.