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In response to Greg’s sad tale about getting his car stolen off his driveway last week (by a “prospective purchaser”), @camelsac2002 suggested that someone start a thread about the do’s and don’ts of selling privately. Well, as if by magic … I’m sure that between us we have a lot of collective experience that is worth gathering in one place. Just to kick things off, one thing that came out of that thread was the issue of registration vs ownership. As pointed out by @GeoffTand others, the DVLA are only interested in the Registered Keeper, which begs the interesting question of how you prove ownership of your car if it is nothing to do with the V5C? The answer, of course, is quite simple: the same way you prove ownership of anything else that you own. By signed invoice / bill of sale, or a proper receipt provided by whoever sold it to you. The reason for mentioning it here is that it is quite easy to forget this when preoccupied with all the other stuff to sort out when buying or selling a car privately. There are some useful bill-of-sale templates (for cars) on line, so you don’t have to design your own from scratch. The AA one below might be considered the bare minimum, with the Law Depot one a bit more comprehensive. The important thing is that they are valid legal documents once properly completed. You can insist on other conditions and information, which is your prerogative as a seller or buyer. For example, if you are a buyer and the seller won’t meet your conditions, then just walk away. So as to avoid any awkwardness on the day, inform the seller in advance that you expect him/her to prepare a simple contract to be exchanged when you take delivery, and say that you won’t be going ahead without it. You can even suggest one if he/she is not particularly clued up. Just to be clear, I am not recommending any particular form, but please make sure that you have a proper record of the transaction (to your own satisfaction), whether selling or (particularly) buying. The V5C transfer is something else completely. The Registered Keeper may or may not be the owner (only the owner has the right to sell), which is why the DVLA print that prominent warning at the top of the V5C document. https://www.theaa.com/~/media/the-aa/pdf/motoring-advice/aa-car-buyers-sellers-contract.pdf?la=en https://www.lawdepot.co.uk/contracts/bill-of-sale/?ldcn=bos#.WqKkaOjFKUk So, boiling all that down, my suggested inclusion would be: 1. Make sure you have a proper bill of sale before accepting or transferring ownership. If I have got anything wrong, or omitted anything, I’m sure someone will point it out. That is the beauty of the forum 🙂 (I will leave someone else to advise on the vexed question of how to pay (if buying) or accept payment (if selling), as I know that a few people on here have had some “interesting experiences” with that..). Jeez, I’m sorry it took me so long to explain that! My proof reading/editing skills must be on the wane 😞
