To be honest I have always put me as the owner. I wrote my fiesta ST off and said to the insurance company it was on PCP and there was a bit of a debate over the phone about who the cheque should be sent out to, in the end it was sent to the finance company.

I suppose it might depend how much is owed on the car or whatever. Cause you'll just get whatever equity you have in the car

The finance company legally owns the car until final payment is made and they sent you a letter saying that they no longer have any interest in the vehicle.

I suppose it might depend how much is owed on the car or whatever. Cause you'll just get whatever equity you have in the car

Haha yes I got a cheque as well for £126.87..... Dunno where the 87p came from, the could have rounded it up... Buggers!!

Haha yes I got a cheque as well for £126.87..... Dunno where the 87p came from, the could have rounded it up... Buggers!!

Haha how unthoughtful of them

Well I've spoken with my insurance company this morning and they have told me it will go down as a private lease, and the price is no different whatsoever than if I was the owner myself. Happy days

I don't get it, as the car is not leased its on a PCP finance agreement.

I think as per spacenase's comment above it is just a generic term for a car being on finance. It says in the PCP paperwork that I must advise the insurer that I do not own the vehicle.

I think as per spacenase's comment above it is just a generic term for a car being on finance. It says in the PCP paperwork that I must advise the insurer that I do not own the vehicle.

Strange, does that mean everyone with just straight forward finance has to do the same?

Not sure mate. Have a look at the insurance section on your paperwork.

PCP - Personal Contract Purchase - the key point is that you can purchase the vehicle, the V5 document is in your name and the invoice for the sale of the vehicle will state the finance company and yourself normally. You are the registered keeper and it is not a lease at all. PCP is simply a Hire Purchase agreement with a fixed balloon payment at the end.

 

Contract Hire - You are not the owner, you have no option to buy the vehicle as part of the agreement and the purchase invoice is in the leasing company name and not yours. The vehicle is not yours, you are simply renting it. V5 is not in your name either. Many motor insurers will not cover you for a contract hire vehicle, or they may charge you significantly more.

PCP - Personal Contract Purchase - the key point is that you can purchase the vehicle, the V5 document is in your name and the invoice for the sale of the vehicle will state the finance company and yourself normally. You are the registered keeper and it is not a lease at all. PCP is simply a Hire Purchase agreement with a fixed balloon payment at the end.

 

Contract Hire - You are not the owner, you have no option to buy the vehicle as part of the agreement and the purchase invoice is in the leasing company name and not yours. The vehicle is not yours, you are simply renting it. V5 is not in your name either. Many motor insurers will not cover you for a contract hire vehicle, or they may charge you significantly more.

 

I see what you are saying but my insurer have said it is a personal lease which apparently is a generic term for a car on PCP. It also says on my Skoda PCP paperwork that I MUST inform my insurer that THEY own the vehicle.

I see what you are saying but my insurer have said it is a personal lease which apparently is a generic term for a car on PCP. It also says on my Skoda PCP paperwork that I MUST inform my insurer that THEY own the vehicle.

What Insurance company are you with...!!!

The insurance company is irrelevant, my point is that Skoda's paperwork states you must tell your insurer that they own the vehicle.

People are making this more complex than it needs to be.

 

If I go out to the bank and get a £10,000 UNSECURED loan to buy a car I am the legal owner (have good title) and registered keeper (for tax /motoring offences purposes).  I can sell the car at any point - the bank will not care and have no say in the matter - but I still need to pay for the loan as per the t&cs.

 

If I fund my new car through a PCP the Finance Company (VW Financial Services) have SECURITY and title over the car.  They are the legal owner - if the buyer does not keep their side of the bargain they will come and reclaim the car.  The buyer is still the registered keeper for tax/motoring offences purposes.

 

Insurance companies do want to know who legally owns the car - but by putting in personal lease it makes no difference to the premium, in my experience.

 

If you managed to write off your car would you not want the finance settled direct with VW Financial Services?

 

Simples.

I'm going to err on the side of caution and declare everything. I know from bitter experience that insurance companies will try their utmost to avoid paying a claim or swindle even more money out of us. I can just imagine the conversation, "oh, your car is on PCP? You should've told is. Had you have done so, your premium would have increased by £X. We'll take it out of your settlement". Next step, the ombudsman.

I called my insurer (LV) about this too.

Bit of a long winded call. Initially they didn't care as long as I was the registered keeper. I asked them to double check as my PCP contract suggest I inform them VW still own it.

They came back with We'll declare it as a lease car' to which I explained that isn't accurate as it is not a lease, the contract with VW is for the finance, not the car.

They then declared it as 'owned by a company'. Still not sure I'm 100% at ease here, as that's about as vague as it gets.

Either way, lease or owned by a company, I'm £15 lighter as a result.

PCP is no different to Hire Purchase other than the way you pay. I wouldn't like mine to be insured as 'leased' as it's definitely not a lease.

Agree 100% with Neily, the ownership of the car is no different on PCP as it would be on traditional HP just the funding model is slightly different.

Your name will be on the V5 so its your car legally.....if you default on the payments it gets repo'd by VWFS who'd auction it to try and get the money back. With a HP be the same......in fact if you took a bank loan and paid for the car outright the bank would probably take the car too...or any owned goods to the value of the loan. The positive thing with a PCP or HP deal is that they'd only ever take the car and nothing else (i think).

Just about to renew my car insurance, have been on the gocompare website to get some quotes as I normally do each year. I am on the PCP and the question comes up are you the legal owner of the car? From reading the above posts it appears that some of you would say yes and some of you would say no, so I'm in a bit of quandry. leaning towards saying yes right now.

Write 'Yes'

Just about to renew my car insurance, have been on the gocompare website to get some quotes as I normally do each year. I am on the PCP and the question comes up are you the legal owner of the car? From reading the above posts it appears that some of you would say yes and some of you would say no, so I'm in a bit of quandry. leaning towards saying yes right now.

If your name is on the log book your the legal owner, are' t you...!!!! 

Yes...The name on the Log Book is all you need

Two questions are being asked. Are you the registered keeper and are you the legal owner.

My understanding was always that being the registered keeper didn't necessarily mean you were the legal owner.

Hence the grey area with pcps. Do insurance companies classify people on pcps as being legal owners because the alternative seems to be that it is a lease contract which I don't think it can be. At the same time Skoda would be the legal owners of the car until the full balance was settled.

As I say a bit of a grey area, not helped by the generalised questions asked by comparison websites.

Edited 31 January, 201412 yr by jonnybgood

If your name is on the log book your the legal owner, are' t you...!!!!

Nope, name on the lot book means you're the registered keeper that's all.

But for the purposes of insurance with PCP you are the legal owner, the same as you are with normal HP.