Download the app: Earn Points & Get Temporary Insurance Fast
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Temporary vehicle insurance is a highly flexible, short-term policy designed for situations where annual cover or adding an extra driver to your policy simply doesn’t make sense.
It’s a short-term solution that keeps everyone protected without affecting any existing policies, allowing you to borrow a vehicle or let someone use yours with complete peace of mind. Whatever the reason, we can get you covered in minutes. Temporary vehicle cover provides the kind of flexibility that annual policies can’t. Best of all, because our policies are separate from any existing policies, the vehicle owner’s No Claims Discount (NCD) is never at risk.
We provide flexible, instant short-term cover for a wide variety of vehicle types and uses, including cars, vans, and motorhomes.
Select your required cover below to get on the road in minutes:
Get comprehensive cover on your own car or a borrowed vehicle from 1 hour to 28 days
Get extra private practice in a friend’s or family member’s car without risking their NCD. Available from 1 hour to 24 weeks for ages 17 to 75.
Unleash your next adventure. Cover for drivers aged 25 to 70 available from 1 to 28 days.
Specialist 30-day policies, designed to help you secure the release of a seized vehicle.
Courier Insurance
Temporary courier car insurance and van hire and reward insurance available from 1 hour to 28 days.
Temporary car insurance provides comprehensive cover for a car you own or someone else’s. Our temporary car insurance is specifically designed to offer maximum flexibility without the typical admin fees or long-term commitments of annual policy amendments. Perfect for lending or borrowing a car, or when you need to use your own car for something your existing insurance doesn’t cover.
You might need it to lend your car to someone else, share the drive on a long trip, take a private test drive, drive to a meeting, or borrow a car in a pinch.
Key features & policy limits:
MID Reporting: We submit all temporary policies to the Motor Insurance Database (now known as Navigate) four times a day, 365 days a year. Learn more about askMID here. We still recommend keeping a copy of your insurance certificate with you; we always email this directly to you.
Temporary cover makes it so much easier to let someone borrow your car. The single biggest worry for car owners who lend their vehicles is their No Claims Discount being ruined by an additional driver on their policy.
By getting someone who needs to borrow your car to use a temporary insurance policy, there is zero risk to your (the vehicle owner’s) NCD.
Our short-term policies operate as a completely separate, standalone policy. It has its own policy schedule, certificate of insurance and reference numbers. If the temporary driver is involved in an accident:
Need to run a short errand or let a friend borrow your vehicle for a few days? Taking out a standalone temporary policy is the safest solution, ensuring the vehicle owner’s No Claims Discount (NCD) is never at risk if an accident happens.
If you’re buying a second-hand car privately, you can’t rely on the seller’s insurance to cover you. An hourly car insurance policy gives you the comprehensive protection you need to test drive the vehicle safely.
Don’t rush into a costly annual contract at the forecourt. Use our instant driveaway insurance to legally drive your new wheels home and give yourself time to research the best long-term deal.
Going on a long holiday or driving to a festival with friends? Instead of putting the pressure on one designated driver, take out a daily car insurance policy to easily and safely share the driving load.
If your everyday car isn’t quite big enough to load up your belongings, a 24-hour car or van insurance policy allows you to borrow a larger vehicle for the day to make your move hassle-free.
Perfect for university students back for the holidays who need temporary access to a family car without the expense of being added to a permanent annual policy.
Most annual policies only cover social use and your standard commute. If you need to drive to an off-site meeting or a work conference, our short-term policies include Business Class 1 cover as standard to keep you legally protected.
While some car sellers give you drive-away insurance, many don’t. Make sure you’re covered when picking up or dropping off a car.
Be sure to check your Policy Wording and Insurance Product Information Documents for specific details on what your chosen temporary insurance covers, as terms can vary slightly across our panel of insurance providers.
When purchasing a short-term car insurance policy from us, you can generally expect the following:
Build your policy to fit your plans. You can easily add these optional cover upgrades when purchasing your policy.
Learn more about these optional extras to build a temporary car insurance policy that fits your journey.
Our temporary car insurance offering is all about providing you with flexible insurance options, so you can get behind the wheel whenever you need to. We have short-term car insurance options to suit everyone:
Daily Car Insurance
Insurance by the day; get covered for a full 24 hours, the weekend, or for single days at a time.
Cheap temporary insurance for a full week. Get covered from one week to four weeks at a time.
Short-term car insurance by the month. Get insured for 28 days at a time in a few simple steps.
Traditional pay-as-you-go insurance policies are usually annual contracts that require a black box tracker to charge you by the mile. If you have to drive further unexpectedly, you can face hefty premium increases.
At GoShorty, we offer a simpler answer to pay-as-you-go insurance: temporary car cover. Instead of tracking your mileage, you simply buy comprehensive insurance as and when you need it, from 1 hour up to 28 days. It gives you true pay-as-you-use freedom with no black boxes, no hidden tracking, and zero long-term commitments.
Please note: In the UK, a vehicle must be continuously insured unless it has been declared SORN with the DVLA. Therefore, using temporary cover as a PAYG solution is perfect if you are regularly borrowing someone else’s car, sharing a household vehicle, or bridging a short gap between annual policies.
We work with a trusted panel of insurers to offer competitive prices for short-term insurance. The exact cost of your cover depends on several factors, including:
The car you’re insuring.
Your personal details (like age and address).
Your driving history.
Want a rough idea of the cost? Check out the table below for an overview of where our temporary car insurance prices start from, based on different durations of cover:
| Temporary Car Insurance From: | |
|---|---|
| Policy Duration | Starting Price |
| 1 hour | From £11.72 |
| 2 hours | From £11.72 |
| 3 hours | From £11.72 |
| 4 hours | From £17.73 |
| 1 day | From £21.87 |
| 2 days | From £26.80 |
| 3 days | From £30.93 |
| 4 days | From £38.11 |
| 1 week | From £46.59 |
| 2 weeks | From £54.11 |
For the most accurate cost, get a personalised quote for temporary cover in under two minutes.
Eligibility varies between our short-term products.
For details of full eligibility criteria, visit our who we cover page, or explore specific eligibility criteria by insurer.
To get temporary car insurance, you need to meet the basic criteria below:
We partner directly with some of the UK’s leading motor underwriters to build a robust, competitive panel. This allows us to offer you some of the broadest acceptance rates and most competitive prices in the market. Get to know the insurers on our insurance panel and how we work with them to meet your temporary insurance needs across our product offering.
Some of our awards that we’re very proud of:
Phil Evans – Managing Director
“When we launched GoShorty in 2020, we had a simple goal: to make short-term cover straightforward and completely stress-free. We knew back then, and still know now, that annual policies don’t always fit the way people actually live and drive. Whether you’re borrowing a mate’s car for the weekend, sharing the wheel on a long road trip, or driving a brand-new purchase off the forecourt, you need flexible cover that works around you, not the other way around.
Since those early days, our team, our expertise, and our community of happy customers have grown incredibly quickly. But our focus hasn’t changed. We’re here to provide top-quality temporary policies that keep you protected whenever you need to get behind the wheel. We’re proud to help you get to where you need to be – with minimal faff and maximum protection.”ur policies are designed to be quick, simple, and hassle-free, letting you arrange comprehensive cover in minutes. Perfect for those moments when you need to get behind the wheel without the commitment of an annual policy. Drive safely, legally, and on your terms, only paying for the time you actually need.”
We’re an FCA Authorised Broker – 751221 and have over 18,000 5-star reviews.
Check out our customer reviews to see how quick and easy it is to get temporary cover.
You can use it as the sole policy on your own car when needed, making it great for bridging gaps between policies or when you’ve just bought a new vehicle. Or, it can be used alongside an annual policy. Keep in mind that in the UK, cars must be insured at all times unless declared off the road with a SORN. Temporary insurance can be used alongside an annual policy, but shouldn’t replace it. Please note that cars insured under a learner policy must also have another policy in place.
You might use temporary cover on your own car if:
It’s possible to insure your own car twice when extra protection is needed, or to have two policies on the same car; either way, temporary insurance is the perfect solution.
Temporary car insurance can’t be used for:
Always check your policy details to ensure you’re properly covered for your needs.
Yes, temporary car insurance is valid in the EU as long as your journey starts and ends in the UK. However, the level of cover while abroad is likely to be third-party only, so check your policy details to confirm exactly what’s included.
Yes, you can use temporary insurance to tax your vehicle, provided you also have a valid MOT. Just ensure your temporary cover lasts long enough to stay insured after taxing, as your car must remain insured at all times unless it’s declared SORN.
Temporary car insurance is often much faster and cheaper than adding someone to your policy; it avoids any mid-term adjustment fees and hefty premium increases. Crucially, a temporary policy is completely separate, meaning the main vehicle owner’s No Claims Discount (NCD) is 100% protected if the other driver is involved in an accident.
Yes! Our daily car insurance options are completely flexible. You can select cover for 24 hours, 2 days, 3 days, or a specific weekend window to suit your travel plans.
No, absolutely not. Unlike typical mileage-based PAYG annual policies that require telematics or a black box installation, our short-term policies require zero tracking devices. You simply pay upfront for the time you need and hit the road.
Yes, you can use temporary daily or hourly insurance to drive a vehicle to a pre-booked MOT test. However, please ensure you check your specific policy wording, as driving a vehicle that does not have a valid MOT can impact your cover depending on the underwriter.
To get a short-term quote in under 2 minutes, you only need: 1) the vehicle’s UK registration number, 2) your personal details (name, UK address, DOB, employment status), and 3) your driving licence number.
No, temporary car insurance from a legitimate, FCA-authorised provider like us is completely legal. It’s an easy way to ensure you have comprehensive cover whenever you need it. However, it is illegal to leave a car uninsured unless it’s declared SORN. So, whether it’s with temporary insurance or an annual policy, make sure your car is always insured.
You are entitled to cancel your short-term policy at any time. Due to the short-period nature of this policy, there will be no refund of premium.
We are an FCA-registered broker, not a single direct insurance firm. We work with a curated panel of the UK’s leading motor underwriters (including Allianz, Ageas, ERS, Haven, and KGM). We show you quotes from insurers that can offer a policy based on the details you provide. You buy directly through us, with your cover underwritten by your chosen insurer. You can find all of the insurers that we work with here.
‘YourGoShorty’ is your personalised, secure online account. From the portal or our mobile app, you can download cover certificates instantly, buy repeat cover in under 30 seconds without re-entering your details, and even earn points if buying on the app, which can be used as money off towards future policies.
No. All GoShorty temporary policies are strictly short-term and never auto-renew. We don’t tie you into long-term contract structures; you pay for just the duration you need. Once your chosen cover window ends, your policy stops automatically. If you need to drive again, you simply need to buy another policy.
Our customer care team, led by Glenn, is entirely UK-based and operates out of our head office in Stockport. You can reach our dedicated team via email at info@goshorty.co.uk or call us directly at 0333 433 0001 during our business hours (Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:30 pm).
Reviewed by Chris Penfold, Director of Underwriting – July 2026
Want to learn more about short term cover? Discover if you’re eligible and take a look at our blogs to see if temporary car insurance is right for you.
