Temporary car insurance can be a great tool at your driving disposal and can be a real help in a pinch. But, for those who haven’t used it before it may seem like an unusual concept. Although annual insurance is a must, the benefits of temporary insurance can help save you a lot of time and money.
In this guide, we look at some of the key benefits of temporary car insurance and how it can help you. Read on to find out more.
The benefits of temporary car insurance
No impact on your No Claims Discount
A great way to save some money on any annual insurance policy is to have a No Claims Discount (NCD), sometimes called a No Claims Bonus. This discount will reduce your policy cost depending on how many years you have driven for without making a claim through your insurance company. Effectively, it rewards better drivers with lower insurance rates. The reductions can be as much as 70% of the premium so making sure to keep your NCD intact can be a great way to save money.
But you can easily wipe away years of work with just one claim. By adding an additional driver to your annual insurance policy, you also add them into the NCD equation and, if they were to have an accident in your car, your policy price would be affected. Not only can this be unfair, but it can also put pressure on the additional driver. This is where a temporary policy can help.
A short-term insurance policy is a standalone policy which means any claim for the driver will be met by the short-term policy and not the car owner’s annual insurance policy. This means neither the driver nor car owner’s NCD will be affected in the event of an incident.
No need to adjust an annual policy
It can be incredibly difficult to add an additional driver to a pre-existing annual insurance policy. It can often incur an amendment fee and, depending on factors about the driver you are adding, can hike the price of the policy up immensely. If the driver isn’t going to need constant access to your vehicle for the remainder of your policy length, the cost and effort it takes to amend an annual policy will most likely not be worth it.
As well having to pay an amendment fee and a revised policy price, it’s often not a quick and easy process either, with long calls to call centres needed. Once that’s done, an amended insurance policy will need to be sent through and this can also take a few days – certainly not ideal.
With a short-term insurance policy, you won’t need to make any long phone calls or adjust your annual policy at all. As we’ve said, a temporary policy won’t affect your annual insurance at all and is incredibly quick and easy to set up.
LEARN MORE: What do you need to insure a car?
Quick purchase and certification
Sometimes, we know that you might want to get cover quickly or might be in an emergency where you need cover immediately. Another great thing about temporary car insurance is how quickly it can be set up – in as little as 15 minutes! This is much quicker than having to go through the arduous process of amending an annual policy. Even if you don’t need to take a policy in a pinch, you can pre-book your insurance up to 28 days in advance and have peace of mind knowing you are covered.
As well as that, you won’t need to wait days for your certificate to be sent by post like you would with an annual policy amend. When you take out a Dayinsure policy, your insurance certificate will be emailed straight to you and can be accessed by our app. We will also notify the MID of the insurance policy within 24 hours, oftentimes it’s much sooner.
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Only pay for what you need
There are a large range of situations where you just don’t need an annual car insurance policy and paying for one would be a waste of money. With temp cover, you are able to only pay for the time that you need cover, meaning that, for anyone who only needs to use someone else’s car on occasion, it’s a great way to save money.
One such instance is with young drivers. Insuring a young driver is incredibly costly and, especially when sharing a vehicle with parents, they may only want to use the vehicle recreationally and only every-so-often. Whether only needing to use the car whilst home over university holidays, or saving up for a car of their own and needing a stopgap, temporary car insurance for new drivers means you don’t have to fork out for high-cost insurance that won’t be used.
And it’s not just young drivers who have passed their test who have to pay the price. Learner drivers can also end up spending a lot on insurance if they want to practice in their own cars. Not only does this cost a lot, but it can mean you overpay if you don’t need the full policy. Our short-term learner driver insurance starts at as little as one hour and means if you only one to do one quick practice run, that’s all you’ll pay for.
LEARN MORE: Learner Driver Insurance: What you need to know
Flexible policy options
From the vehicle to the person being insured, taking out a temporary policy means that you are not limited with your driving. Especially if you are borrowing a car from someone for a few weeks or months, being limited to just one-person driving can be a lot. But, with a flexible policy, you can easily switch between drivers. And, if you want, you could even switch between the cars you are borrowing.
By adding one person to someone’s annual policy, you are limited with who can drive and the car that they can drive but, by using temporary policies you can switch the driver and car easily with back-to-back policies.
This is especially useful if you are unsure how long you’ll need the car for, as it’s easy to extend your policy and if you don’t need to use it all we can even refund you for the days you didn’t use.
Why get temporary car insurance?
As you can see, there are a wealth of reasons why temporary car insurance can be a great purchase. Save yourself time, money and hassle by using our new car insurance app to get temporary cover in as little as 15 minutes.
What are the benefits of temporary car insurance?
- no impact on your No Claims Discount
- no need to adjust an annual policy
- quick purchase and certification
- only pay for what you need
- flexible policy options
Do you have more questions about short term car insurance? Take a look at our help and support page for more useful guides.
