How to use short term car insurance to sell a car

Have you decided it’s time to sell your car? It’s always a tough decision, but sometimes it’s the right one. Perhaps you’ve moved to a city with great public transport links. Or maybe you #wfh permanently now and can’t justify the expense of a car. Or maybe (yay) it’s finally time for an upgrade.

Whatever the reason, you’ve got a long journey ahead of you! You’ll need to decide whether you want to go through a dealer or whether you want to take on the job of selling the car privately.

The latter comes with significantly more work, but it could work well for you if you want to keep all the money from the sale. But, bear in mind, you’ll need to do your research so you can do it safely and legally. And you might need temporary car insurance to sell your car. Read on to find out why.

If you’re looking to get the most money for your car – and we mean really revving up that return on investment – you may wish to consider selling your car privately. You could potentially make more money than if you were to go through a dealership or company.

But don’t forget about the work that comes along with going private. You’ll have to handle all the viewings, marketing and negotiations yourself. You’ll need to make sure you’re doing all the right legal bits too. Also, you’d have to deal with strangers coming to your house. So if you’re not keen on taking this on it may be worth considering another option.

Selling directly through a dealer could work better if you don’t have the time to deal with the sales process. Not only does it save time and energy when it comes to handling paperwork and finding buyers, but it also eliminates the need to interact with strangers. But, you’ll probably get less money for the car as the dealer will want their “cut” too.

Basically, there isn’t one simple answer when it comes to deciding which route is best for selling your car. It really depends on what works best for you.

How do you get started with selling your car privately?

So you’ve decided to sell your car privately? Brave! Here’s how to get the process started and hopefully get some offers.

Give your car a makeover

First things first: you’ll probably want to spruce up your car. It might be a good idea to give it a full service and book an MOT if it’s about to run out.  That’ll give any potential buyers the reassurance that your car is mechanically functional. Also, give it a good clean inside and out to make sure it looks as shiny as possible. Aesthetics matter!

Find out what it’s likely to sell for

Check out what similar models are selling for online. You can do this by checking out websites that sell used cars and searching for your model and make. This will give you a rough idea of what you can expect.

But, there are plenty of free online valuation tools that can help you with this too. You’ll usually need to fill in your car’s reg and mileage to get a valuation. Remember, knowledge is power when it comes to finding the right price tag, so it’s always worth checking a few different sources.

Put it up for sale

Once you know the value of your vehicle then it’s time to put it up for sale. Take some nice photos of the car from different angles and post them online – there are tons of online marketplaces available for this purpose.

Make sure you include all relevant details about the car like age, mileage and any additional features.

You could also go the old-fashioned route and stick some for-sale signs on the inside of your car too.

Arrange viewings

Hopefully, you’ll get tons of viewing requests by this point. Potential buyers will likely want to take a look at the car before committing. You’ll need to be prepared to meet the buyers and answer any questions they might have about your car.

Prepare for smooth test-drives

Potential buyers may want to test-drive your car before they buy it. This will give them an idea of what the car feels like and will help them make a decision.

But remember, you should always exercise caution when you let strangers drive your car. You might consider taking precautions, like asking if you can keep their licence while they test-drive the car, or taking down their contact details.

You’ll also need to make sure your car can be legally driven.  At the very least, this means the car:

• Isn’t SORN’d (tip: read about SORN here)
• Has a valid MOT (tip: you can check the MOT status here)
• Is taxed (tip: you can check the Tax status here)

Check that the buyer has appropriate car insurance in place

You need to make sure the driver has the correct insurance in place to actually drive your car. Often, this can’t be their own comprehensive policy, as it won’t usually extend to driving other people’s cars. And even if they have the Driving Other Cars (DOC) extension, this often won’t cover test-drives.

To make sure the buyer has insurance in place, ask them to show you their car insurance documents and, specifically, the wording that refers to driving other cars. If their insurance covers them to drive other cars, it’s a good idea to check the restrictions and exclusions section. This may sound like a hassle, and an uncomfortable thing to do, but if they’re driving your car and are involved in an accident, the consequences could be really messy and expensive.

You’ll often find that the driving other cars (DOC) extension only offers third-party cover. This means that if your car is damaged during the test-drive, it won’t be covered. You might be a little apprehensive about letting strangers behind the wheel if you’re unsure of their driving abilities.

But, for your own car to be covered during a test-drive, the potential buyer must have a comprehensive policy that covers them while they drive other cars in place.

This is where temporary car insurance comes into play. It can solve all those pesky insurance issues and allow your potential buyer to try out the car – and really fall in love with it before they put in an offer!