Temporary car insurance

Tempcover are the UK's leading provider of short term car insurance.

Since our business started in 2006, we have arranged temporary insurance for over one million customers. Our comprehensive short term car insurance is available for most vehicles and is completely flexible. You can simply choose the length of your policy – from as little as 24 hours up to a maximum of 28 days (or 90 days for provisional licence holders learning to drive).

From quote to insured in just 5 minutes

Click the 'get a quote' button now and you can compare short term car insurance quotes in seconds. It takes under 5 minutes from starting your quote to receiving your policy documents and cover can start immediately. Our panel of insurers have been chosen not just on price but on the cover and service offered to you, our customers.

What is temporary car insurance?

Temporary car insurance, sometimes known as temp cover, temp insurance or short term car insurance is a form of vehicle insurance which can be bought for a limited number of days. You can choose to buy a policy for a minimum of one day up to a maximum of 28 days.

There are several reasons why thousands of people each week choose to take out short term car insurance with Tempcover:

Cover is comprehensive

If you have an accident whilst driving someone else's vehicle then you claim against the temporary insurance policy rather than making a claim against the vehicle owner's annual policy and causing them to lose any no claims bonuses they may have built up.

If you already have your own annual policy but wish to drive someone else's vehicle, there is of course the option to drive the car under your own annual insurance policy. However, most policies DO NOT include comprehensive cover as standard. Should you have an accident deemed to be your fault whilst driving a car that is not your own, you will be liable for the cost of repairing or replacing the vehicle.

If you are loaning out your vehicle, temporary insurance for the person borrowing it can give you peace of mind should the worst happen. They will be comprehensively covered rather than being covered on a third party basis or worse, not being covered at all and driving illegally – putting themselves and the vehicle at risk.

If you are buying a new car you can take out a Tempcover policy to cover you until you have time to arrange an annual policy.

If you wish to test drive a car, you can take out one day car insurance, as not all garages will cover you should you have an accident or, if they do, they may have a very high excess.

Taking out a separate insurance policy can also be cheaper and much less hassle than being added to someone else's policy as a named driver.

We can cover most people and most cars

Unlike many other insurance brokers, we can provide temporary car insurance for most drivers aged between 17 and 75 years of age, and for most vehicles valued over £500. Please click the 'get a quote' button to compare the insurance quotes provided by our carefully selected panel of insurers.

As long as you have a provisional licence or hold a full UK drivers licence for 6 months or more, or alternatively hold an EU licence for at least 12 months, we can help you. If you are learning to drive or have young people in the family learning to drive, you could give them up to 90 days of extra practice in your own car without risking your no claims bonus with Tempcover's learner driver insurance.

We can usually offer you cover even if you have points on your licence or have been disqualified – check our 'Who we cover' for more information.

Temporary car insurance can be purchased immediately so cover can start straight away. There are no long forms to fill in and it takes just a few minutes before you can print your certificate of insurance.

If you have any questions about Tempcover or short term car insurance and can't find what you are looking for, then please visit our temporary insurance frequently asked questions page or simply contact us.