You can consider buying temporary car insurance if you do not drive daily or you only need to use a car several times a year. These are designed to cover your flexible driving protection needs from 1 to 28 days, which allows you plenty of leeway in planning for cheaper than average car insurance rates. There is no more need to buy an annual plan when you are not driving for the most part of the year. Temporary car insurance and short term breakdown cover are especially popular for UK drivers that take holiday trips into Europe with rental cars, and do not wnat to deal with the matters pertaining to car problems. Note that it is illegal in many neighboring countries to drive without any minimum liability car insurance, however the annual or long term premiums can be very expensive.

This is a good arrangement for the occasional driver, such as students that get to use their parents' cars only during summer break. For new drivers who cannot afford young drivers insurance, these temp plans are also a good way to get some cheap coverage and accumulate driving experience.

Since these are temp car insurance plans, they can be activated instantly over the phone or through the internet once you pay up the necessary premiums. You do not need to wait for the policy documents to be shipped to you, you are covered once you are paid up. Due to the higher risk involved, many UK car insurers such as Direct Line, Churchill etc only allow drivers above 21 years old to apply for their temporary car insurance. However, new and inexperienced drivers who have just gotten their driving licenses are also eligible as long as they meet this age requirement.

Short term car insurance is also useful when you are visiting new European places and would like to explore more thoroughly by driving a rented car. The car rental places will provide you with the necessary temp car insurance as stipulated by the local traffic laws unless you have an applicable international driving insurance. This bundled plan may or may not be the cheapest or the best, but should suffice for you usage over a few days. However, if you intend to actively use the rented car for over 7 days, it may be better to get in touch with a local motor insurer such as Zurich and Allianz Cornhill (both are top Euporean car insurance groups) for a customized plan that may suit your needs better. As you will be driving under unfamiliar road conditions, the chances of causing a traffic accident are considerably higher.

Whether you are overseas or right in your home city, when you need to get temporary car insurance in UK, that means you have not been driving regularly for some time. Good driving habits and skills need to be reinforced day in and day out and when you stopped for some time, you need a break in period to regain your touch. That means the risk profiles of these drivers are slightly higher compared to full time drivers, and can be reflected in the prices for short term car insurance.

One Day Car Insurance Rates

When you calculate the per day cost for temporary car insurance, you will notice that a one day car insurance will cost more than a 7 day plan, which in turn will cost more relative to a 28 day plan. Aside from using bulk discount as an explanation, the longer you use a car, the more smoothed out your risk of causing an accident becomes. That is why the per day cost for a maximum 28 day car insurance plan is still higher compared to a standardized annual policy.

A temporary car insurance will not help you drive more safely or avoid accidents, but the aftermath of such unpleasant events can be rather devastating on your personal finances. The policy cover any payments required for causing bodily injury or death of people in a road incident whereby you have been ruled by the law to be responsible for. This also includes any legal fees incurred to settle the case.

Note that the above only covers liability to third parties, meaning you and your passengers are actually excluded from the policy terms. If you like to extend medical payment coverage and ensure everyone onboard will not face problems with hefty hospitalization bills, you can add an optional rider to your temporary car insurance policy as well.

Short Term Car Breakdown Cover in UK

Besides considering the issues of short term car insurance for accidents, you also need to worry about car problems such as overheating, burst tires, flat batteries, or malfunction of the electronic circuits and computer systems on board that can cause your temporary car to stall on the road. If you are loaning a car from your colleague who has already bought some sort of cheap breakdown cover such as those from AA insurance (Automobile Association), then you are pretty much safe.

Otherwise, you may want to consider some short term breakdown cover from UK car insurers such as RAC and Green Flag etc. These optional coverage are also available together with the temporary car insurance plans from these companies. Since you are just going to use the car for one or two days, you will want to make sure you do not have to worry about any post maintenance issues and can hand over the temp vehicle back to its original owner in one piece.

If you are finding it tough to get affordable daily car insurance from the bigger companies immediately just when you needed to drive, you can also try online quotes comparison websites. You just need to fill in some particular on your driving history and the car to be insured, and you get instant temp car insurance quotations from several providers. It takes just a short glance to see which is more suitable for you, from the viewpoint of cheap & temp liability car insurance rates or full comprehensive protection clauses.

By getting your own temporary car insurance after proper research, it can save you from the issues of buying inappropriate policies at the various UK car rental companies. Even if you are only going to borrow your friend's car for 1 day, it is still the right and responsible thing to do to get the proper coverage and avoid legal and monetary problems should an unfortunate accident arises.

If you are the one lending your car to other people, you may want to take preemptive measures against awkward situations in future by making sure you have gotten temporary car insurance and short term car breakdown cover to absolve your friend from any monetary and legal responsibilities on the use of your vehicle on the roads in UK.