Concerned about driving a car registered in my wife’s name

The car could get involved in an accident or a traffic/legal issue and it could cause unnecessary inconvenience and hassle to my wife.

BHPian sushantk recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Greeting BHPians,

My car was bought in the name of my wife as the car company had significant corporate discounts for select companies and my wife is an employee with one of them. However, I drive the car all the time.

I am not very comfortable with this arrangement. There is a possibility of the car getting involved in some unfortunate accident or traffic/legal issues and usually, the car owner will have to be available in such matters. This will be an unnecessary inconvenience and hassle to my wife.

I have been thinking of transferring the ownership to me. The only drawback is that the RC will show up me as the second owner of the car and future resale value will be impacted. However, I am not much concerned about this as I am going to keep the car for a long time (7-8 years +).

Am I being paranoid here? If I am the owner (and I am the driver anyway), my wife could be fully out of the matter.

I am very much inclined to change the ownership but would like to hear your experiences and view on this matter. Thank you!

Here's what GTO had to say about the matter:

You are definitely overthinking it. All of us have driven cars registered in our immediate family member's name, whether its parents, spouse or sibling. As long as it's a family member, don't sweat over it. However, it would definitely be concerning if the car was registered in the name of a cousin, friend or previous owner (very common in the used car world).

P.S. If anything, it is your wife who should be concerned, not you. Very noble of you.

Here's what BHPian ninjatalli had to say about the matter:

To an extent, yes. My car is in my wife's name. My previous car (in my name) was used by my better half for several years (while I was overseas). No issues faced ever till date - even when we had to get insurance claims and other matters.

It's hardly a big deal given how the current industry around automobiles work. Insurance claims and the affairs are usually okay between family members - I have had (and have the knowledge of similar cases in my network) the experiences of accident(s) within the family where the owner wasn't the driver and post-accident processes went just fine.

Insurance renewals, service maintenance and all vehicle-related aspects get handled completely fine if you are able to provide the necessary documentation and some close relationship with the owner if asked.

My suggestion - Just continue with the current setup.

Here's what BHPian ani_meher had to say about the matter:

I think this is unnecessary paranoia. If the car would be in someone else's name, then it would be ok to consider the transfer of ownership. But changing it from your wife's name fearing just in case something happens by your hands is unnecessary drama. Legally too, you are in the clear for driving your wife's car.

For minor matters, the car owner need not be present. Only the driving license of the driver is sufficient. Only for severe insurance claims, the owner may come into the picture.

Here's what BHPian aargee had to say about the matter:

Cool boss! All evidence is captured right at the scene of the incident. So whoever is driving the car at the scene of any mishap is responsible for it. Yes, the owner might be called to verify if the car was driven with their consent or not, nothing more than that.

Here's what BHPian EshanS had to say about the matter:

Should not be a problem. My current setup is all in my wife's name because we were getting some amazing discounts on the Ciaz through her organization (RIL). The kind of service you get at SVC just because the owner is a woman is completely different. To give you an example, the Ciaz is from NEXA and they have 'free' pick and up and drop plus a few concierge services especially for women. My previous WagonR was on my name and I didn't even get a free coffee heck a nice place to sit during servicing. So, whenever there is a request, she makes the calls and I execute it.

Now, coming to the point where I'm driving and I get involved in a mishap or a situation where the onus is on me. In such scenarios, the driver (me) is accountable, not the owner. This has been vetted extensively as my wife is a lawyer! She would only have to be present to pass a signed statement that she wasn't driving when the situation occurred and is completely fine with the husband on the wheel.

Here's what BHPian RoadAtlas had to say about the matter:

Here in Kolkata, driving a car registered in someone else's name creates a problem during the random checks by the authorities. These are very common.

Very recently, a friend who is an emergency services worker was going to his workplace (a hospital) during the night curfew times when he was stopped in a Naka checkpoint. They checked all his documents which were fine, however, they found out that the car was registered in his father's name and demanded that he pay a fine.

So technically, according to the cops, he should have gotten a notary agreement signed by his father allowing him to drive the car. I checked the MV Act, there is nothing mentioned like this. So I suggest you make a notary agreement and talk to the local cops once before driving your wife's car. Just to be sure.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.