We have our Mégane for sale on Autotrader. A guy is keen and wants to buy it (he's coming up from London). He wants to export it to Sebia (sounds like Dodgy McDodge from Dodge City, but it also could be genuine.
I said that he couldn't test drive it unless he shows me proof of insurance, but he says no problem - you drive it.

All fine so far. However, what if he buys the car and hands over the cash. If he drives away apparently without insurance, what is my position?

I have approximately 2 hours to sort out if he can drive away without engaging my liability...

Oh, and I forgot it was my wedding anniversary today (as did MrsC) so I'm hoping they come and go swiftly so I can enjoy a cheeky glass of red.

If I were a betting man, I wouldn't give great odds on it all going smoothly...

Advice, please, none of which will be taken as Law.

Oh, and assuming by some miracle it does work out, can anyone tell me where to find a free downloadable sale agreement document?

Thanks...

Happy Anniversary Jim!

I was in a similar situation when I sold one of my Alfas.

Because the offer of cash etc. was all a bit sudden / seemed a bit too easy and the car wasn't taxed I offered to deliver it to their address the following weekend which they agreed to. When I got there it was a family home and there was nothing at all dodgy.

I think some cars are a lot more valuable in Eastern Europe than in the UK.

Can't comment on the law - I guess it is their responsibility but can probably be a pile of hassle if they never send their bit of the V5 off and start picking up points / fines etc.

Things that could happen, in rough order of likelihood:

1. He buys the car and drives where he's going. Because the car will be on the MID it's unlikely to be pulled unless he's doing something else naughty. So nobody's any the wiser.

2. He buys the car and gets pulled or has a smash, in which case the cops will probably work out he has no insurance and either (a) give him a fixed penalty notice or (b) issue a NIP. Which of these is most likely depends on a number of factors, including whether he has a UK driving licence, a UK address and whether he's just mowed down a bus queue. However, the problems are almost certainly his to deal with.

3. PC Plod has had a bad day and decides to track you down. As you've acknowledged on a public forum that the buyer has no insurance, but you've handed him the keys to your car you're probably in the frame for aiding or abetting driving whilst uninsured against 3rd party risks. You'd probably get a FP fine of £90 and 6 points for your trouble.

4. The buyer does mow down a bus queue and somebody who is suddenly going to go through the rest of their life with the nickname Iron-Knees brings a civil claim against you, on the grounds that you allowed an uninsured driver (who was penniless and has now escaped to Serbia anyway) access to your car. If you lose the case then you're suddenly in hock for half a million quid which you'll be paying off for the next 30 years.

I think I'll have the sale document annotated with the time and signed by the buyer. And the V5c will be in the post before you can say "Balkans!".

Thanks Andrew. That was my take on the matter, with options 3 and 4 top of the Sod's Law list.

Incidentally, I don't know that he won't have insurance to drive the vehicle once he owns it, he has just said that he is happy for me to drive during the test drive and has not said that he will show me proof of insurance. I am merely leaping to a wild conclusion.

I'd say that both 3 and 4 are massively unlikely, probably to the point where they're not worth worrying about.

Your reassurance is almost enough to stop me worrying.

There is no way you could be held responsible after he has bought your car and gets stopped by the police for being in a crash whilst having no insurance . Its not up to the seller to check whether the buyer has poper insurance . Sold a Fiat uno turbo a few years ago and the guy who bought the car within 24 hours hit a girl crossing a road and drove off . The police called to my house late at night to find out did i still own the car and i told them it was sold less than 24 hours ago . They kind of knew that and went off on their way . Nothing to do with me .

IANAL - but it strikes me that:

The offences under Section 143 Road Traffic Act, 1988 are

(1)Using, or
(2)Causing, or
(3)Permitting

a vehicle to be on a road without third Party insurance in force.

Since you're neither using the vehicle nor requiring its use, the only logical possibility is that of 'permitting'.

Which would be valid if it were your car, say, and I asked to drive it, and you didn't check I was insured. But since you have sold the car, you no longer have control and therefore permitting is now no longer something you can do; the charge has changed to him 'using'.

Though as we all know, logic and the law are things that don't as a rule fit together...

How many people selling a car after the deal is done will check on the new owner to see if they can produce adequate
insurance before driving off .Very few or not at all .

Well, they turned up - first surprise - and seemed as dodgy as I thought. After discussing in Macedonian and revving the nuts of the poor car to prove it smoked (I would have smoked!), they then knocked me down the exact amount I'd built in to the price and bought the thing. With the right amount of cash (second surprise). The who.e deal still stinks of rotten kippers with stink bomb sauce, but I think I've done everything right: documents signed, cash handed over. Time will tell!

Exactly!

Once someone has bought the car, the responsibility is theirs, not yours.

I've bought several cars over the years and not once thought about showing insurance documents and never once been asked either.

I haven't bought a car for nearly 7 years though, so maybe things have changed?

Don't worry too much though Jim, everything will be fine Just make sure you get that Registered Keeper section sent off asap!

Only where the dealer is taxing the car have I ever needed to provide insurance docs to a main dealer. I think there is zero risk of Jim being held responsible for their insurance.

Fingers crossed the cash isn't fake...

Happy to see some xenophilia on the forum for a change

A valid sarcastic barb, but my comment was not intended to be levelled at the buyers because of their nationality. Interestingly, they were at great pains to put other nationalities (and religions) down, seemingly to put me at my ease...

Did you mean Xenophobia? Or were you being ironic?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophilia

I think it was a fully intentional dig - and justified by my post - at least on the surface.

They always are, Jim. They always are.