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Is Temporary Car Insurance Fully Comprehensive?

31 August 2022 | Author AvatarAndy Moody

Temporary or short term car insurance is a quick and easy, cost-effective way to insure your car or someone else’s car, so you to drive for a few hours, days or weeks.

Affordable, temporary insurance from GoShorty provides flexible cover without interfering with your existing annual insurance policy or no claims discount.

Just like an annual insurance policy, a short term car insurance policy from GoShorty can provide fully comprehensive cover so you can go ahead and get behind the wheel with peace of mind.

What is comprehensive car insurance?

Comprehensive cover is the most complete level of insurance policy available for your car. In the case of a road traffic accident, third-party coverage covers damage to other cars and often fire or theft of your own car as well. With comprehensive cover, you also have the option to make a claim even if the accident was your fault.

A comprehensive policy provides cover for yourself and the car you are driving, as well as offering compensation to any third-party potentially involved in an accident.

Temporary car insurance

Temporary car insurance, or short term cover, provides necessary temporary insurance documentation for you to drive a car not listed on your annual policy. It can include hourly, weekly, or monthly insurance.

Temporary insurance provides flexible cover for exactly the length of time you need – so you are not paying unnecessary premiums or adjusting an annual insurance policy for as little as one day car insurance.

Types of temporary insurance:

GoShorty offers short-term cover for exactly the time you need. You can compare temporary car insurance quotes to get the length of comprehensive temporary cover you need for as long as you actually need it.

When might you need short term car insurance?

Any time you get behind the wheel, you need to be insured.

Your annual policy might include a driving other vehicles clause but this is increasingly rare. If you need to drive a vehicle other than one on your policy, you either need to add an extra vehicle or take out temporary insurance.

Buying a new car

If you are looking to buy a new car, short term cover will enable you to take it for a test drive without worry.

If you go ahead and buy that new car, a temporary insurance policy enables you to drive it straight home even if you have not had a chance to get your annual car insurance policy up-to-date.

Borrowing someone else’s car

You need insurance if you are driving a hire or rental vehicle, or borrowing a friend’s or a family member’s car. It can be costly and long-winded to add a second car to your annual policy and can even increase your insurance premiums. Instead, deciding to get short term car insurance is a quick and easy solution with minimal cost and the same outcome.

Applying for as little as hourly car insurance or one day car insurance lets you borrow a car or share driving without impinging on your existing policy or the car owner’s policy. This means if there is an accident, neither existing no claims discount will be affected.

Is temporary car insurance comprehensive?

It can be. If you are applying for insurance, then a comprehensive policy affords you the greatest protection in the event of an accident. 

Of course, you can opt for a car insurance policy which only includes third-party cover, or third-party fire and theft cover. While that might work out cheaper right now, ultimately you will have to spend more to cover any accrued damage to your vehicle.

Temporary car insurance cover is no different. Sure, you can seek out a temporary car insurance policy with just the minimum third-party coverage, but why not go all in and make that temporary insurance work for you?

Just because you are driving the car temporarily, it doesn’t mean you are any less likely to have an accident. In fact, if you are driving a rental vehicle or family member’s car, you will likely be less familiar with the controls. This unfamiliarity might even increase your chance of being involved in an accident.

FAQs

What if your annual insurance policy provides fully comprehensive cover?

Your annual policy will provide coverage for the vehicle(s) listed on the insurance documents, but no other. You can ask your insurance provider to add a second car temporarily but this is likely to take longer and cost more than if you get temporary insurance from an insurance provider like GoShorty.

Choosing to get temporary car insurance means that your no claims discount will remain unaffected in the event of an accident.

Do you really need comprehensive cover to borrow a friend’s car?

You can legally get away with the minimum cover required. However, why not opt for a policy with fully comprehensive cover and make that temporary insurance work for you by placing yourself in a better position should you need to claim.

Whether you are applying for hourly car insurance, daily car insurance, or weekly car insurance, you can save yourself and the vehicle owner a lot of trouble by opting for a temporary car insurance policy with fully comprehensive cover.

Get fully comprehensive insurance with Go Shorty

So, are temporary car insurance policies fully comprehensive? Yes… with a temporary policy from GoShorty.

Temporary car insurance is a quick and easy solution allowing you to borrow a family member or friend’s car, without altering your annual policy.

With GoShorty, anyone holding a valid UK licence with a good driving history could be eligible for fully comprehensive temporary insurance. 

Get a temporary car insurance quote today for costs and to compare policies, so you can get behind the wheel without worry and know that in the unlikely event of an accident, you have already made the claims process that much easier.