If you’ve been involved in a car accident or your car is off the road for a significant amount of time, your annual insurance provider or the garage you’re using will usually provide you with a courtesy car. This is normally a like-for-like vehicle that helps you to get around while your car is repaired or any outstanding issues with your insurance company are resolved.
Your way of getting where you need to go while your car is being repaired! A courtesy car is a replacement vehicle that your insurance provider or garage can provide while your car is in the garage for repairs, servicing or an MOT.
Whether you’re driving a courtesy car due to your own motor being out of action for a while or to get around while waiting for a regular MOT or annual service, it’s important you are fully insured to drive it. If you’re driving on a public road in the UK, you need insurance.
Although most comprehensive insurance policies offer breakdown cover with a courtesy car as standard (but please, as always, check the terms and conditions), the less inclusive third party policies don’t tend to include this. As you’ll be driving a new car on what can be busy roads, the chances of an accident can increase, making it even more important that you’re fully insured in case the worst happens.
You may assume your insurance provider would offer a courtesy car to tide you over until your car is fixed or written off but things are not always that simple. As with most insurance products, it’s all in the fine print (make sure you check your car insurance) and each individual insurer will have their own rules on what constitutes a replacement vehicle in times of need.
This inconsistency means many drivers are left in the dark over how they’ll get around while their car is in the garage. If you have received a courtesy car with your annual insurance policy, then you need to check the level of insurance you get with the replacement vehicle.
You’re not guaranteed the same level of cover on your courtesy car as with your annual policy. Some insurance companies provide a replacement vehicle but won’t offer insurance as standard.
Whether you’ve had an accident or not, you should check your policy wording to be sure you have courtesy car insurance included in your annual policy. If your car has been written off, you may face certain restrictions on how long you have a courtesy car for. If you’re unable to get a new vehicle before that time ends, you could be left stuck without a car and unable to get around.
If your annual policy doesn’t offer cover for the courtesy car, you won’t be able to use the vehicle unless you add it to your existing policy, which comes with admin fees and potential impact on future premiums, or you can get temporary courtesy car insurance cover from Tempcover.
Temporary car insurance is not only a fast, flexible, and affordable option but it’s also a great way to guarantee a certain level of car insurance while using a courtesy car. Tempcover’s courtesy car insurance cover comes with comprehensive cover as standard regardless of why you have the courtesy car.
Separate from any existing cover you may have, you can get a policy for the duration you need (from 1 hour up to 28 days) while your car is being repaired or until you purchase a new vehicle. Get a quick and easy courtesy car insurance quote now.
How to get the best value out of motor insurance to suit your needs
Yes, you need insurance to drive any car on a public road in the UK. Many courtesy cars will already have this provided when you drive them but it’s always worth checking to make sure.
This will depend on your policy. Most comprehensive policies do include a courtesy car, but it’s worth reading the small print to ensure this is the case. Most third-party policies do not include a courtesy car as standard.
This will depend on your insurance policy. The contract will state the duration for which your courtesy car is provided. There may be further restrictions if your car has been written off.
Yes, Tempcover offers flexible temporary courtesy car insurance, ranging from 1 hour to 28 days. Tempcover provides comprehensive cover as standard, independent of your existing policy, ensuring you’re covered while using a courtesy car.
We also currently hold an ‘Excellent’ rating on Trustpilot with over 30,000 reviews.
UK Business & Innovation Awards
Best Customer Service
Insurance Times Awards
B2C Marketing Campaign of the Year
British Insurance Awards
Brand Management Award
UK IT Industry Awards
Best User Engagement Project of the Year
UK Customer Experience Awards
Online Customer Experience Award
Insurance Times – Tech & Innovation Awards
Best Use of Technology for Customer Experience
UK Broker Awards
Customer Service Award
Digital Broker Award
UK Digital Experience Awards
Best Digital Team
Online User Experience Programme Award
UK Business Awards
Insurance/ Banking and Financial Services Award
After you’ve bought your policy, your documents will be emailed to you instantly so there’s no waiting around.
We use essential cookies to make our website work. We'd also like to use non-essential cookies to help us improve our website by collecting and analysing information on how you use our website and for advertising purposes.
You can agree to accept all cookies by clicking 'Accept all cookies' or you can change your preferences by clicking 'Manage Cookies' below. For more information about the cookies we use, see our cookies policy
We use essential cookies which are necessary to ensure our website works correctly.
We'd like to set non-essential analytics and marketing cookies that help us provide a better experience to our users. These help us improve our website and marketing by collecting and reporting information on the campaigns and web pages you interact with. It also helps us to target our marketing campaigns to people who are most likely to be interested in our services.
We'd also like to set a non-essential cookie which enables us to playback your journey on our website to assist with troubleshooting and to help us improve our website based on the behaviour of our customers.
