Dumb Newbie? Any advice

[thejonesey]

I am trying to sort out my boat paperwork after owning the boat for six months! I have the original bill of sale to the previous owner -should I have got one from him? Any suggestions what I ought to do?

I know it is probably a stupid question but I have struggled to find a straight-forward answer on this and other sites.

Cheers Jonesey
PS Had a great trip out on Monday in Poole -promise to take the camera next time and post something a bit more interesting!

 

[enterprise]

In short yes you would need a bill of sale from him which is proof title has passed to you, when you come to sell the boat how are you going to prove you own it if you dont have one?

Contact previous owner and complete a standard Bill of sale, available as download from either the MCA website or from the RYA website.

 

[MapisM]

If you paid through bank transfer, indicating "purchase of boat model XXX, HIN# YYY" as the reason of the transfer, that's much better than nothing. Though filling this as the previous poster suggests, and getting the previous owner to sign it, is definitely recommended.
If you paid cash and the previous owner doesn't want to sign a BoS, you have very good reasons to worry.

 

[thejonesey]

Thanks

Many thanks for the advice. I have proof of the sale in the form of an invoice and receipt but am contacting the seller to get a bill of sale. I have everything else so I hope that this won't be a problem.

 

[Nick_H]

As far as I know, a Bill of Sale is only a way of ensuring that all the transaction details required by the MCA are recorded. The MCA need this information to change the registered owner of a UK registered vessel. If your boat isn't registered, than the receipt will suffice, though obviously best if it has HIN numbers on to avoid any doubt.