Moving House or Going On a Road Trip? Temporary Car Insurance Makes Sense

Susan Difford - Clean Green Compare Personal Lines Insurance Expert
Written by Susan Difford
Updated 9 April 2025
2 min read

There are times when you might need the use of a car for a specific purpose, whether you’re going on a road trip or moving house. In such cases, you might not necessarily need a long-term policy and can benefit by getting temporary car insurance instead. In this guide we’ll be looking at temporary car insurance in more detail, including why you might need it and the factors that affect cost.

Key points

What Are The Main Uses For Temporary Car Insurance?

  • One-off trips: Temporary car insurance is ideal for any one-off trips, for example if you’re moving house.
  • Emergencies: Another thing that temporary car insurance is useful for is emergencies. For example if you had to drive a friend or family member to the hospital.
  • Road trips: It’s also great for road trips although it’s important to know that you cannot get temporary cover for hired cars.

stack of twenty pound notes

What are the main types of temporary car insurance?

The main types cover you can get are:

  • Third party only: This will make the car legal to drive but doesn’t provide cover for your own car if it were damaged.
  • Third party, fire and theft: The same as above but fire damage and theft are both covered too.
  • Fully comprehensive: This will cover your car for all types of accidents, including those where you are liable.

How much does temporary car insurance cost?

The cost of a temporary car insurance policy depends on a few factors. The main ones are:

  • Length of the policy: You can get temporary cover for as little as one hour and as much as 28 days. Of course the longer you need it for, the more it will cost.
  • Level of cover: As you would expect, a third party only policy is cheaper than a fully comprehensive one.
  • The value of the car being insured: The value of the car you’re getting cover for will be a big factor that affects the cost of cover too.

Can I get cover on a friend's car?

Yes, provided the car isn’t hired, you can absolutely get temporary cover on a friend’s car.

In Summary

  • You can choose the exact level of cover you want with a temporary policy, just as you would with regular car insurance.
  • The cost depends on things like the length of the policy and the value of the car being insured.
  • You can get cover from one hour up to 28 days.

Compare Temporary Car Insurance Quotes!

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