Ensuring
safe payment
Ensuring safe payment is essential for both the buyer and
the seller. Sadly there are fraudulent bank notes, banker's
drafts and of course fraudulent credit and debit cards around,
so prudent checks and procedures are simply both necessary and
wise. There are also a number of clever scams where sellers
are pestered by prospective buyers offering an advance payment
by email - these scams tend to come from Nigeria and East European
countries and are often characterised by poor English. Now assuming
you have viewed the car in person and have agreed a deal, so
what are the safe ways to pay? |
Paying
cash for a private sale
A buyer should hand over the cash payment for the car in a bank
so the seller can go the bank counter and pay it in straight
away. More on
cash |
Paying
cash to a trader
Unless a trader is registered as a High Value Dealer or
HVD with HM Revenue and Customs, payments in excess of the Sterling
equivalent of €15,000 cannot be accepted in cash for amounts
greater than the limit above. More
on HVD |
Paying
by banker's draft
Payment using a bank or building society cheque or draft has
been a popular vehicle payment method but sadly the fraudsters
are active.
More on banker's draft |
Paying
by bank transfer
An immediate bank transfer can be made using the CHAPS system
for a nominal fee. Just a note of caution with bank transfers
- this is an area for many attempted scams. More
on bank transfer |
Paying
by a credit or debit card
A trader will be concerned by the card issuer's percentage fee
and they will need to ensure that the card account will permit
a large payment. More
on card payment |
Safe
trading cautions and advice
See the Metropolitan Police and VSTAG advice online. More |
What
do car buying scams look like?
See an example. Scams
|
