Find the right short-term car insurance with our partners[1]
Cuvva offers short-term insurance for drivers aged between 19 and 65 from as little as one hour up to 28 days. Sign up in a few minutes using their app to get comprehensive cover.
Dayinsure, which is backed by Aviva, offers comprehensive short-term car insurance cover for drivers aged 19-75. You can quickly get covered for UK driving, with the option to add cover to drive in Europe too.
Tempcover compares comprehensive short-term car insurance policies from well-known UK insurers. UK drivers aged between 18 and 75 can easily find cover – plus learners from 17. You can get cover from one to 28 days, with flexible payment options and easy access to online documents.
Collingwood offers award-winning learner driver insurance, with temp cover periods starting from seven days and running to 24 weeks. This cover is for provisional licence holders, aged between 17 and 65 driving their own car, or someone else’s.
Short-term car insurance lasts from as little as one hour, up to several months. Most policies are fully comprehensive. But you can get third party, fire and theft cover too.
You might also hear it referred to as temporary car insurance or pay-by-day cover.
Whichever policy you buy, make sure it gives immediate cover for short periods.
It can be cheaper to take out temporary car insurance than to make changes to your existing policy. For example, to add a car you only need to drive for a day or two.
If you need to claim on your short-term car insurance, it won’t affect your no claims bonus.
You can also add extra cover, like driving in Europe, for an extra charge. Just make sure you check what cover you’ll have, as it might only be the minimum level which is third party only.
It’s quick and easy to get temporary cover for your car. There are four simple steps to get your quotes:
Your name, address, date of birth and driving history
Information about the car you want to cover. Its make and model, for example
Choose how long you need cover for, from as little as one hour to 24 weeks
Pick the policy that works for you, with the right cover and at the right price
A temporary policy is separate to an annual policy, so it won’t affect your no claims bonus.
You’ll get the same level of cover as standard car insurance policy, but for a shorter time.
Once your temporary cover expires, you won’t be able to drive the car on public roads. If you own the vehicle, you'll need to make a SORN or take out another insurance policy.
Insurers might limit how many policies you can get in any rolling 12-month period, so it’s best to plan ahead.
If you’re going to be insuring a car multiple times during a year, you might find a better deal by comparing car insurance quotes for an annual policy. You’ll be able to build up a no claims bonus with this policy too.
You told us that the cost of insurance was your second biggest car-related worry.[2] Would you be better off with short term or annual cover?
Your temporary car insurance could last for as little as one hour, or for as long as 24 weeks:
Cover that lasts for between just one hour and one day gives you flexibility for one-off or short journeys.
It’s ideal if you’re borrowing a friend’s car, driving a new car home from the dealership, driving in an emergency, or car sharing.
To get hourly or daily cover, you’ll need your registration number and a full UK driving licence. Most cars are covered, but expensive or powerful cars are usually off the table unless you’re very experienced.
The policies are usually comprehensive but check the paperwork. Damages to the car and any other third parties are all protected. If there’s a fire or the car’s stolen, you can claim too.
If you’re going to be driving the same car for a short amount of time within seven days, you could get a weekly temporary car insurance policy.
A comprehensive weekly policy covers damage to your car caused by a collision or fire and damage to other cars if you’re involved in a traffic accident. You’re also covered if the car’s stolen.
If you’re borrowing a car for the week and it’s already insured by another driver, a short-term insurance policy won’t disrupt the other driver’s cover or affect their premium.
If you need to drive the car for longer, you can usually extend the policy for just a few more hours, or days, depending on the insurer.
If you need cover for 28 days, you can buy a monthly car insurance policy.
A month’s worth of cover is particularly handy for kids who are home from university and need to regularly drive the car over the Christmas or summer holidays.
Just like hourly, daily and weekly policies, you’ll need the reg plate of the car and a full, clean UK driving licence to get a quote and comprehensive cover.
But, if you need cover for just a few hours over a whole month, make sure you compare monthly policies with the cost of hourly cover just to make sure you're not overpaying.
It’s compulsory to keep your car insured at all times unless you keep it off the road and have a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN)
You might want to consider temporary car insurance if you’re:
If you’ve got access to a friend or family member’s vehicle, you might just want to drive it when you’re home from university.
Some short-term policies last up to 24 weeks - ample time to practise driving before your test. Check whether hourly cover or a 24-week policy is the most cost-effective for you.
Don’t waste money by taking out a car insurance policy for longer than you need.
You might only be able to take occasional lessons, so short-term cover could be handy.
You may be able to get temporary car insurance for a day or so, to cover the short trip.
Buying from a private seller? Take your potential new car out for a spin or drive it home when the deal’s done.
If your car is in for service or repair and you’re offered a courtesy car it’ll need cover.
Split driving duties with friends and family on a long journey.
If you’ve got a classic or sports vehicle you rarely drive, you can insure it just for the weekend.
Short-term car insurance can help you get covered quickly so you can get on the road when you need to borrow a car in a hurry.
If you’re an expat and coming back to the UK for a short visit, temporary insurance is an easy and quick way to get covered. To get the insurance, there could be some extra criteria to meet.
For example, some providers ask that you’ve previously lived in the UK for 36 months and have a permanent address abroad, while others will cap the age of the driver they’re willing to insure. You’ll need to have the details of your driving licence and usually it must be a full UK, EU, NI or EEC licence to get cover.
Each insurer will have its own set of restrictions. Insurers might insist that drivers are over 19 and have held a full UK or EU driving licence for at least a year. Age restrictions differ between insurers and many have an upper age restriction too - 75 is typical.
If you need temporary cover to drive in Europe, it’s unlikely that your daily, weekly or monthly policy would give you the same level of comprehensive protection as it does in the UK.
Once you arrive in Europe, your insurance could drop down to third party only cover. If you’re involved in a traffic accident, you’d have to pay for your damages and the costs of transporting the car back home for repairs.
If you’re planning to drive abroad, tell the insurer and see if you can extend the short-term policy to include European driving.
However, you can buy a comprehensive short-term European car insurance policy. For a fee, you can usually add on cover for additional drivers and breakdown too.
To get quotes and buy a policy, have the car’s registration number to hand, plus your driving licence and passport details.
If you claim on your short-term European policy, it would have no impact on any other separate policy you have at home. It’s a good option if you’re on holiday and driving a friend’s car just for the day.
Typical exclusions include:
It might also be difficult to get temporary car insurance if you have previous motoring convictions or points on your licence.
Insurers consider your age, address, driving experience, driving history and the vehicle you want to insure when calculating the cost of cover.
Becoming a named driver on another policy is an alternative to short-term car insurance and you can also look into arranging cover to drive other vehicles.
If you’re hiring a car, remember to check whether insurance is included as part of the hire deal.
No. The short-term insurance will be an additional policy to their main cover, so it shouldn’t impact their NCD.
Page last reviewed: 8 August 2020
Next review due: 28 January 2021
[1]We do not offer a full comparison service on short-term car insurance at Gocompare.com but instead have provided links to some companies that offer short-term car insurance. These companies are not listed in an order that indicates that one is better than another but are instead ordered in line with our commercial arrangement with each one. Please remember, as different companies offer different policies, it is up to you to choose the one that best suits your needs. Gocompare.com introduces you to Cuvva, Dayinsure.com Ltd, Tempcover and Collingwood to provide short-term car insurance quotes. All providers are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Gocompare.com’s relationship with Dayinsure.com Ltd, Cuvva, Tempcover and Collingwood is limited to that of a business partnership, no common ownership or control rights exist between us.
[2]On 30 January 2019, Bilendi conducted an online survey among 2,000 randomly selected British adults who are Maximiles UK panellists