Selling car - How to insure it for test drives?

johnny five

I'm selling my car because I am buying a new one. I'll be transferring my existing policy over to the new car, so the car I have for sale will be uninsured. How will I let people take test drives in it? Is it better to just keep it insured and take out a new policy on the new car altogether? Pricier that way though. Or just chance it and let the drive it uninsured?

Rows Grower

Cancel your insurance on the car you will be selling and let the new owner worry about it when they buy it and drive it. You can't insure other people for test drives.

User1998

Realistically most people will be uninsured test driving your car regardless of your policy being in place. Thats just how it is selling a car privately

28064212

You could argue it's the driver's responsibility to ensure they're insured. Then you would just need to notify the driver that the car does not have any insurance policy on it.

However, there's a lot of ways that can backfire on you. First scenario: the test driver is pulled over by the Gardaí. Doesn't have insurance details on them, Garda tells them to produce at a station. They don't. As the registered owner, you have a legal responsibility to provide the details of the person driving the car at the time. If you can't, it is assumed that you were driving.

Second scenario: test driver crashes the car into a wall. Car is written off, and you never hear from them again.

Third scenario: test driver collides with someone else, resulting in serious injury. Test driver is (a) uninsured, and (b) poor. Lawyers for the injured decide you make a better target, and make the argument that you had a duty to ensure that the person you were giving the car to was fully insured. I have no idea how this would play out in court, but there's definitely an approach there. Even if a judge ultimately decides it's not valid, you will have had to spend time and money defending against it.

You will have to decide whether the risk of any of the above outweighs the benefits of allowing test drives.

There's at least four other possible approaches:

1. Attempt to ensure the driver does have valid insurance to drive other cars (even if there's no current policy attached to the owner of the car)
2. Don't allow test drivers
3. Only allow test drives where insurance isn't required. Likely to be difficult: the location must be somewhere the public does not have implicit access to, you must be given explicit access that the public does not have. A deserted car park doesn't count
4. Get a full open drive policy on the car - the insurance company would have conditions that you must adhere to, e.g. they may require that the driver has no penalty points

whomitconcerns

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122543746#Comment_122543746

Em..I actually would assume that's not the case? Can you get temporary open drive for your car your selling or something? Otherwise I really don't see how it works?

bazz26

The open drive extension usually applies to the driving of other cars that you don't own or have an insurable interest in so would not cover you on a car you are selling.

db

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122543897#Comment_122543897

This is incorrect, the open drive extension allows other unnamed drivers drive your car. On most policies they gave to be between 25 and 70 and have a full Irish/UK/Euro license.

bazz26

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122543965#Comment_122543965

Sorry your right. I confused it with the driving of other cars extension.

PsychoPete

Plenty of people would have "driving other cars" on their policy but loads of test drives are done without insurance. You can ask for proof of insurance from whoever is test driving it if you are worried

pah

Just be aware that most "Driving other cars" policies are 3rd party only

extra-ordinary_

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122544024#Comment_122544024

The OP is not driving other cars.

pah

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122544038#Comment_122544038

OK, thanks.

I'm talking about the person who comes to test drive the OP's car.

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122544057#Comment_122544057

I thought that was obvious😂

28064212

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122544038#Comment_122544038

Yes, but he could be asking test drivers if they have "other cars" insurance. Third party isn't much good if the test driver slams writes the car off by slamming it into a wall

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058366201/selling-car-how-to-insure-it-for-test-drives

Dont worry about insurance, thats their problem but do not let them drive the car until they give you the amount you want for it in cash.

A car is a car, your average Joe won't be able to tell anything my driving it, if they want a test drive of your particular car let them go to a garage.

I have sold many bikes and cars from my house, they give me their passport and the value of the car/bike in cash and they can go off themselves and do what they want , if they don't then no test drive.

If they are serious they will have no problems doing this

Whocare

Personally buyer be better off changing over there insurance for hour if Seriously going to buy it as it not like before you could take it for quick run up road and no there very little chance of checkpoint now you could be unlucky and get picked up by anpr by garda car passing by

User1998

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122544274#Comment_122544274

Thats not how selling cars works tho. Most people don’t arrive with the full amount in cash unless its a very cheap car. Doesn’t mean they are not serious buyers.

coylemj

Cancel your insurance on the car you will be selling and let the new owner worry about it when they buy it and drive it. You can't insure other people for test drives.

You could argue it's the driver's responsibility to ensure they're insured. Then you would just need to notify the driver that the car does not have any insurance policy on it.

Dont worry about insurance, thats their problem but do not let them drive the car until they give you the amount you want for it in cash.

The new owner can worry about insurance after they have bought it. Until then, the responsibility falls on both of you. In that, if you're on a test drive with a prospective buyer in the driving seat and you're stopped by the cops, the driver can be done for no insurance and the owner (you) for permitting an uninsured person to drive the car.

But the civil liability rests with the car owner so if there is an accident followed by a claim, the MIBI will pay up and then come after you for the money. Taking an uninsured person on a test drive is a very bad idea.

If you have moved your policy to the new car so that there is no policy in place on the old car, you take it for a test drive and the prospective buyer has a policy with Liberty, Aviva, Allianz or Zurich, his 'driving other cars' cover will not apply. For DOC to apply, those companies insist that a car that you borrow has a policy in place, whether it covers you or not.

Realistically most people will be uninsured test driving your car regardless of your policy being in place. That's just how it is selling a car privately

'Regardless of your policy'😲 If you have open driving and they have a full licence, they will be covered.

BornSkippy

I just temporarily transfer cover back onto my old car for the hour of the test drive, and insist on proof of insurance from the person testing.

Geuze

If the potential buyer has their own insurance policy on their own car, then they will be covered by the DOC cover of their own insurance policy.

If the potential buyer does not have their own insurance policy already, then it's an issue.

SchrodingersCat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122544274#Comment_122544274

I have never heard of this approach until now 😀 If I turned up to test drive a car and they asked for cash up front like that let alone my passport id head home again. How would you know its their house? Do I have to make sure they came out through the front door? Will I check that its not listed on AirBnB?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122543746#Comment_122543746

^^ This is how every experience ive bought/sold cars in the past has worked.

Seth Brundle

When I previously sold cars privately I asked them during the initial call to bring their insurance for me to check when they were coming for the test drive.
If they didn't have cover for my car then I'd drive - there was no debate.

sprucemoose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122546417#Comment_122546417

driving other cars isnt always included in insurance policies, it is in most but not all.

also, driving other cars works on the principal that the car owner holds their own insurance policy, so in this case no they wouldnt be covered

loyatemu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122546744#Comment_122546744

When I looked into this ("driving other cars") before, some insurance companies insisted the car was covered by another policy, but some did not, so it depends. Either way if you're worried about them crashing the car, it doesn't cover that anyway. The buyer also can't temporarily transfer over their policy as you can't insure something you don't own.

Anytime I've sold a car privately, it's still been insured by me and I've taken the buyer for any test drives myself.

sprucemoose

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122546839#Comment_122546839

fair enough if they have said that but i would be very, very wary unless it stated on my policy booklet that the other car does not need its own policy - anything said over the phone needs to be taken with a grain of salt to be honest

loyatemu

for reference, I'm currently with Aviva - they do require the car to be covered by it's own policy:

but my previous policy was with AIG and they don't:

coylemj

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122546417#Comment_122546417

Repeating what I pointed out in post #18….

If the OP moves his cover to his new car and the old (for sale) car now has no policy, what you're saying will not apply if the potential buyer has a policy with Liberty, Aviva, Allianz or Zurich. Those companies require that the car you borrow has it's own policy in place. It doesn't matter if the car owner's policy covers you or not, the requirement is simply that there is a policy in force on that car.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122546449#Comment_122546449

When you sell a bike there is no Garda catching them, I have adopted the Same approach with cars. If someone wants to buy the car they will give the cash

With a bike, not a chance in hell they are putting their leg over it without a passport and cash , that's standard for anyone selling a bike.

You drive to people's house who wants to buy your car ? 😂

What do you mean how do I know it's their house, or what I car what door they come through or if it's an air BnB.

They come to my house if they want to buy.. I don't give a **** where their house is. It's utterly irrelevant

If I am selling a car or bike for 20k they arrive with 20k in cash and their passport if they want to test drive

Why in god's name should someone turn up uninsured which 99% of people are and expect to be allowed to test drive my car? Are you insane

I assume with that attitude you are buying cheap car less than 5k, you think anyone is going to let someone test drive a 30k vehicle without cash 🤣

You would never turn up at my house, because you would be told in advance what the story is. And as a cowboy buyer you would be eliminated straight away because you don't have the cash

McHardcore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122548451#Comment_122548451

They mean as a customer buying a car off you.
Im surprised that you can find buyers that trust you to give you a deposit worth the value of the car before a test drive.

McHardcore

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122546417#Comment_122546417

One solution then may be for the seller to drive the car.

Henry Ford III

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122543746#Comment_122543746

That's still irresponsible and frankly foolish.