shelley748

Has anyone been able to get temporary car insurance whilst staying in UK sorting out the estate for a deceased family member as the executor of the estate? I am a Canadian /UK citizen and live in Canada- still have an unexpired UK driving licence

At some point (may it be a while away) I am going to have to go back to UK and take care of estate for a close family member. I may have to stay for a month and want to be able to use their car instead of renting one- has anyone been able to get temp cover?

Helen1964

Hi
I live in France but have a UK licence.
When I’m back for short periods, my Mum adds me to her Churchill insurance.
They know I live in France but are happy to insure as long as I have a UK licence.

shelley748

Yes unfortunately i dont have any relatives who can do that for me...

Helen1964

Looks like the insurance lapses with the death of the registered keeper.

As well as informing the insurance company, you also need to notify DVLA of the death.

You could then register with DVLA as the new keeper, even just temporarily.

Apparently cars are « chattels », not part of the estate. So you don’t have to wait for probate.

You could then insure the car in your name. You’ll doubtless pay a higher premium being non-resident but it does at least seem to be possible.

fidobsa

The licence makes all the difference. I visited my cousin in England in May and she offered to lend me her car. This was not possible in the end as I no longer have a UK licence. We could have gone to a specialist insurance broker for short term cover but that is very expensive. I found getting car hire in UK is also almost impossible if like me you don't have a credit card.

cyrian

A change of ownership cancels the road tax and a refund for unused months is paid to the previous keeper.
The vehicle then becomes un-taxed and either has to be declared "off-the-road" or re-taxed.
The new keeper has to immediately pay the new road tax before the vehicle is taken on the roads.
You can check the tax and MOT status online here:
Car tax status
This is a free service.

durham_lad

I think that in the same situation I would just hire a car for a month, certainly compare the hassle and costs between that and transferring ownership, insurance and road tax etc. I never had an issue hiring a UK car with my US licence when visiting.

Helen1964

Yes, I think hiring a car would be a lot less hassle.

C.2s

There are a number of issues here about ownership, short term insurance and tax etc but I just wanted to reply with how I understand the question about the existing insurance....
Car insurance policies are OFTEN BUT NOT ALWAYS invalid on the death of the policyholder.
So IF you know that this is a possibility and the person who is the owner of the car is able/willing you might want to consider looking at the policy wording and/or contacting the insurance company in advance (obviously that would need to be done by the policyholder). It does depend on the company. Some companies will allow a policy to continue for a period of time after the death of the policyholder, and for a certain amount of the cover to continue. The exact time period depends on the company. They won't USUALLY make a change like adding a driver after a death (because only one the policyholder can authorise the change), so you might need to get added now.

Check carefully what cover there would be. It might be Third Party Only which will allow the vehicle to remain on the road, but might be restricted in the sense that you would only be allowed to drive it in order to move it off the public road. Or maybe it'll include Fire and Theft cover. Or possibly will continue without any reduction in cover.

If the policy has to be cancelled and the annual premium was paid in full and there have been no claims there should be a refund of premium, but it might be on scale that reflects the fact that statistically speaking claims are more likely in the early part of a period of insurance, and there might be admin fees.

austin_d_powers

You can compare the cost of getting temp insurance for a month or two against the cost of hiring a car for that time. Also how much hassle/time will be required to get the deceased family members car insured in your name. You can simply hire a car for a month then extend the hire weekly ( assuming settling the estate may take longer than first estimated ). Either way the cost should be paid by the estate and not you personally.