What happens if someone passes away? (insurance)

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Mon 31 Jan 2022 02:07
What happens if someone passes away? (insurance) - Warning

Their father has passed away. Son is named as additional driver on insurance policy.

Son has own car and own insurance. Car owned by the father. The son is executor of Will (but no paperwork has been filed). The Will passes all assets to their mother, but she does n't drive or have a licence.

The insurance is due next week and set to auto-renew. There is money in their father's account.

Car is up for sale. Car is parked on public road. They are worried if they notify insurance, then may struggle to get insurance. Also, car may get taken away if uninsured on public road or fines etc...

The other option is to drive the car off road somewhere else, but can the Son drive it to do this?

If insurance is not renewed. Then it will need to SORN and it is a pain for test driving a car.... As have to insure and re-tax.

Son undecided to keep the car, may be as a spare run about. Use it time to time, as it is a low mileage car. he was thinking of getting electric and keeping his dad's as the spare for longer journey. He thinks he will probably only use it a few times a year.

I have suggested they get a temporary insurance cover (from a specialist) for when they needed, if this is what they want to do and re-tax it.

If someone taxes it on the 5th Feb and then asks for a refund on the 8th Feb, will they get car tax refunded for the full amount? What is the best way to drive tax free?

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Mon 31 Jan 2022 07:35
What happens if someone passes away? (insurance) - Grenache

If the policyholder has already passed away, then the insurance is already voided and the car is now uninsured.

Speak to the insurance company re your options, they might offer to insure it in the son's name and transfer the NCD though not all companies do this.

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Mon 31 Jan 2022 09:21
What happens if someone passes away? (insurance) - thunderbird

When they took my dads licence off him (dementia) it meant his insurance was essentially null and void. My wife intended to keep his car (petrol) temporarily for local use but had her NCB on her own car (diesel) thus it looked potentially expensive even though the car was 7 years old.

She rang his insurers (Aviva) and explained the situation (once they had spoken to dad who confirmed it was OK). They cancelled his policy and issued a refund. They took out a policy in her name and since she had been a named driver on dads car for about 5 years they gave her full NCB. The cost of the policy was 1/2 what dad had been paying, the refund covered it.

Speak to your insurers, it does not have to be expensive.

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Mon 31 Jan 2022 09:38
What happens if someone passes away? (insurance) - RT

There's no hard and fast rule - when I had my licence withdrawn because of medical issues, I contacted my insurer (Cornmarket) who agreed for the policy to continue as my wife was a named driver but I became a named exclusion on the cover note - when my licence was re-instated the insurer simply added my back onto the policy. No refunds or supplements needed.

So in the OP's situation, ring the insurer and discuss the situation.

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Tue 1 Feb 2022 14:46
What happens if someone passes away? (insurance) - Engineer Andy

Seems like there's still some reasonable insurers still about, which is nice to hear for a change.

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Mon 31 Jan 2022 14:51
What happens if someone passes away? (insurance) - Andrew-T

If the policyholder has already passed away, then the insurance is already voided and the car is now uninsured.

And I suspect that the bank may have frozen Dad's account if they know of the death, unless you have power of attorney.

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Tue 1 Feb 2022 00:25
What happens if someone passes away? (insurance) - Warning

And I suspect that the bank may have frozen Dad's account if they know of the death, unless you have power of attorney.

They have not notified the banks, as worried about bills not being paid. Moving over any standing orders etc... Some of the online bank are linked to the current account.


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Tue 1 Feb 2022 14:06
What happens if someone passes away? (insurance) - Robert J.
I think you will find a power of attorney can only be used while the owner is alive. They have the right to cancel a power of attorney they have set up at any time if they suspect the attorney is not acting in their best interests. Something they wouldn’t be able to do if they are no longer alive.
I also think you need to tell the banks about the death asap. It looks a bit fishy using to keep using the account. Any creditors need to claim from the estate so will have to wait. Also if any pensions are paid into it, they will have to be returned, which is another load of hassle
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Tue 1 Feb 2022 19:44
What happens if someone passes away? (insurance) - Palcouk

There are two types of Power of Attorney, none have any relevance if the person they apply to has passed.

Depending where the death was registered, some Registrars use the "tell all" process where Gov departments are notified, helpful with state pensions/benefits

You should avoid telling the bank as they will freeze all accounts, nothing wrong with that.

You do tell the local Council if rates are involved

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Thu 3 Feb 2022 02:57
What happens if someone passes away? (insurance) - Warning

If someone taxes it on the 5th Feb and then asks for a refund on the 8th Feb, will they get car tax refunded for the full amount? What is the best way to drive tax free?

If they decide to keep the off-road. Uninsured. SORNed. What happens if they want to use it temporarily. What happens if they say tax it on the 5th Feb. Drive it around (with temporary insurance). And then SORN it again on the 8th. Will they get the full tax refund back?

From my understanding, is if you tax on the 5th, they charge you as if you taxed it from the 1st. If so on refunds, they should give back for the full month (if that makes sense?).

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Thu 3 Feb 2022 10:01
What happens if someone passes away? (insurance) - Andrew-T

<< Will they get the full tax refund back? >>

I am sure the DVLA don't deal in part-months - it's all or nothing. Once you start a stretch of tax it lasts to the end of that month at least.

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