All you need to know about Temporary Car Insurance
Need to borrow a friend’s car for the weekend? While you could go through the rigmarole of adding your name to their motor insurance policy, that can be a costly and time-consuming process.
Thankfully there’s an alternative, temporary car insurance, sometimes known as short-term insurance, is an increasingly popular option. It takes less than a couple of minutes to buy and, in most cases, provides fully comprehensive cover to drive another vehicle for between one-hour to 28-days.
What's more, buying short term insurance has no impact on either the driver's or the vehicle owner's no claims bonus.
Prices usually start from around £20 per day, and vary according to:
- the type of car being insured
- the driver's age - some policies will only cover drivers aged over 21
- How long you want the policy to last
- Your job
- Your claims history and points on your licence
- Where you live
- Whether you’re willing to pay a “voluntary excess” contribution towards a claim
Get a temporary insurance quote with MotorEasy.
Purchasing a policy is simple, just specify the precise vehicle you need to be insured for, and the time you need your cover to start and finish. Once your time is up, you’ll no longer be covered to drive, although it is simple to revisit the provider’s web site to extend cover if needed.
When to buy Temporary or Short-Term Insurance
Temporary cover allows you to quicky get short term insurance cover for a car, motorbike, van or motorhome. Typical reasons to buy cover include:
- Sharing the driving – helping a friend out on a long road trip
- An alternative to renting a car – according to research from insurance specialist Tempcover, short term cover is between 73% to 78% cheaper than hiring a car over a 1 to 7-day period.
- Test driving a new car – most motor insurance providers do not provide third party cover if a vehicle is not listed on your policy. With temporary cover you’ll be insured for the test drive and, should you purchase the vehicle, the journey home as well.
- Moving heavy loads – borrow and insure a larger vehicle or van, for load-lugging bulky items.
- Emergency trips – need to help someone out at short notice? get covered to drive their car.
- Back from university – if you need a set of wheels for a weekend festival or a few days over the holidays, convince a trusting parent and insure yourself on the family car.
- Insure an employee – ideal for insuring temporary staff or a colleague who needs to borrow a car at short notice
When NOT to buy Temporary Insurance cover
Temporary cover is best suited for one-off or occasional journeys. If you’re taking more frequent or longer-term trips, it may be cheaper to purchase an annual policy or add your name to someone else’s. Although, if you are adding your name to someone else’s policy and don’t want to be included in successive years, do remember to remove your name before the policy holder is billed for a repeat period.
What Temporary Insurance won’t cover
In most cases, short term cover will provide fully comprehensive protection for the registered vehicle that you requested, when you purchased the policy. It cannot be used to drive any other vehicle, and can only be used by the named driver on the short term policy. If anyone else wants to drive the car, they will have to purchase separate insurance.
Most policies will also include a list of exclusions that might apply, for example using the vehicle for as a hired taxi. They will also likely exclude cover for negligence, for example leaving valuables in an unlocked car or in full view.
Get a temporary insurance quote with Motoreasy
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