Although the majority of insurance policies are still sold annually, due to the growing needs of drivers, the increasing number of vehicles owned by individuals and families and a more flexible approach to driving, auto insurance is now available from as little as 24 hours.

Short term car insurance is usually referred to as policies ranging from 1 to 28 days although there are a number of specialist insurance companies who now offer flexible cover for between one to six months and even pay-as-you-go options allowing drivers to setup and manage their policy online and switch off the temp cover when they know they will not be on the road.

There are many reasons and situations where drivers may take out a temporary insurance car policy and a few are given below:

1. Ensuring you are insured when visiting family and friends.

2. Cover for an additional driver so driving can be shared on holiday or a longer journey

3. Insuring a foreign guest who will be visiting

4. Purchasing a new car and requiring drive away insurance to get it home

5. Taking a test drive and requiring cover for a day or weekend

6. Wanting to protect a No Claims Discount on a main policy while borrowing a friends car

When moving house, some people borrow a van from a friend and colleague and require short term van insurance. Temporary van insurance or rolling monthly cover is also useful for contractors who may need a van for a specific job they are working on for a short period of time.

Temporary bike insurance is also popular for riders who, for example, may be planning a summer biking holiday with fellow bikers but who usually drive their car when at home and are looking for better value than taking out annual insurance cover.


More and more of us have found ourselves in the position of needing insurance protection for a car or van for a short period of time. Until the last couple of years, it was actually very difficult to get a temporary car insurance deal as the major providers only had offerings for 10 to 12 months.

Fortunately, there are now many specialist insurers with specific products available online tailored to individuals needs, whether it be short term car insurance, over 50 life insurance or even specialist cover for events and entertainment. With regards to getting short term cover for a vehicle, there are now policies available online that will protect you from as little as one day up to a month. This allows a quick solution to getting covered at short notice with no need to worry when you have finished using the car or van. Before you would have probably had to take out an annual policy and then have to cancel this when you no longer need the cover. One of the main downsides here was not only the hassle of having to remember to cancel the policy but also the administration fees incurred.

The internet is a great platform to compare the different providers now offering temp cover as you can quickly see the various deals on offer and get instant quotes from many companies. Using a price comparison website will aid in this as quotes from many different insurers can be viewed by just submitting your details the one time.

It's important to not just automatically choose the lowest priced quote without checking the terms and conditions. If you travelling with others, it is also worth taking note if the insurance can cover additional drivers on a short term basis. Many companies give you the option to insure an additional driver, on your vehicle, separately. This gives the advantage of not losing your no claims bonus should an incident happen, which may occur if you just add an additional named driver to your existing insurance policy.