Regular auto insurance policies provide coverage for a period of one year. But what if you borrowed a car and only needed coverage for a month, a week or even just for a day? This is where you need to consider short-term auto insurance.
When do you need short term auto insurance?
There are many scenarios in which you may want to consider taking out a brief term auto insurance policy.
- Your normal car is in the garage being repaired
- You borrow a car so you can learn to drive
- You’re moving house and can borrow a van
- You want to share driving on a long trip
- You want to take home the car you just bought
Do I need to take out a separate policy?
It is feasible to be added to a friend’s policy as a named driver if you need to drive their car. However, if you do need to make a claim, it will affect their no-claim bonus (affect their future premiums) and this isn’t at all times the cheapest option.
Sometimes your existing insurance policy for your own car will cover you for driving someone else’s car (with permission, obviously). Check your policy details to see if you include this coverage in your existing policy as these optional add-ons used to be fairly common, but are much rarer these days. Also, these types of covers are normally minimal third-party covers, so damage to your own friend’s car may not be covered.
If you are buying a new car, most new car dealers will have some sort of short-term insurance policy that will come with the sale so you can take your car home, but if you are buying privately, you will need to make arrangements. insurance protects itself. Short-term policies can be useful in these situations because you can take the car home before shopping for a better annual deal.
When renting a car or van, you’ll generally be given protection that’s included in the vehicle rental price. So taking a separate policy is not really necessary. However, you may choose to take out a brief term policy in conjunction with coverage provided by the car rental company as many of these companies only offer third party coverage.
Can I save money?
Needless to say, a brief term insurance policy will be significantly costlier than an annual policy if you break down costs on a ‘per day’ basis. However, if you only need the policy for 1, 28, or 90 days, it can be a lot cheaper than spending a whole year.
Plus, if you can find someone willing to lend you their car, borrowing a car and paying for temporary insurance can be a lot cheaper than renting a car. All you need is insurance, as you will not be paying rent (hopefully…)
The main factors that influence how much insurance itself costs are the length required for coverage, where you live, how long you have driven, and your license type.
You’ll still need to pay the surplus if you make a claim, so with an annual policy you will must play around with how much excess you are willing to pay to attain the optimal insurance premium for the coverage you need.
Who can get short term auto insurance?
Most insurance companies will cover anyone between the ages of 17 and 75, but a fair few choose not to insure anyone under the age of 25 – so make sure to compare car insurance policies to ensure you get the best offer.
You’ll even have a hard time finding coverage if you have a history of multiple insurance claims, previous automotive convictions, or points on your license. You are also more likely to find them cheap car insurance if you have held a full UK license for a long period of time with several years of road driving experience.
But obviously, you can generally find insurance companies willing to provide coverage whatever your situation – you just must be prepared to pay a little more.
Can any car be covered by short term auto insurance?
Most cars will be accepted by insurance companies on short-term policies, but there are some cars that tend to be excluded. These are normally cars that have been modified from the manufacturer’s specifications, or cars that have been imported. You will also find that almost all insurance companies will also impose a ceiling on the value of the cars they will consider for short-term insurance (generally around £50,000).
