What does owner, holder and driver of a car mean?

Questioner

If I borrow a car from a friend am I legally the owner, holder or driver of that vehicle. What is the legal difference between these three items.

Lawyer

If you are the owner, you have the most comprehensive right to the thing. Ownership is not further specified in the law, but possession is. You are the possessor of a thing when you keep the thing for yourself. By keeping you can mean: managing it. If you keep the thing for someone else, you are the holder of the thing. The Civil Code states that whoever keeps a good is presumed to keep it for himself. So if you manage a thing, you are presumed to be the possessor of it. Some examples: when you borrow a car, you keep that car for the owner. You are then called the holder by lawyers. When you also drive that car, you are also the driver. However, the owner of the car always remains the possessor, because he/she keeps the car for himself/herself. Owning and holding one and the same thing cannot be combined in one person. Once you are the holder (for someone else), you cannot make yourself the possessor. Being the driver of a car is completely separate from these two concepts and can therefore go together: an owner of a car can be a driver (or not), a holder of a car can also be a director (or not). So do not confuse the concept of driver with the director of a company, who is also mentioned in the Civil Code!

Questioner

Herbert, thanks for your answer. According to the Rdw, you are responsible for the MOT as the owner. Can you be fined as the holder without having driven the vehicle 1 mm? When checking this vehicle, it turned out that the MOT of this vehicle had expired.

Lawyer

The RDW is right: the fine is for the owner. Having it inspected is namely an act of possession, which belongs to the owner of the car. Usually the owner is the owner, which is why the terms owner and possessor are used interchangeably in practice. The fine will therefore be delivered to the address that belongs to the owner according to the vehicle registration. A holder cannot commit acts of possession and therefore cannot arrange an inspection.