If you’re a learner driver practising with friends or family and not a qualified instructor, you will need your own insurance policy. But as a learner driver, you probably won’t need cover constantly – instead, choose an insurance policy that’s flexible to suit your needs.
With temporary learner’s insurance, you only pay for the cover you need, when you need it. From just 12 hours up to 28 days – find a policy that fits around you.
With temporary car insurance for learner drivers, you get the highest level of cover as standard. With fully comprehensive cover on every learner policy, you’ll have complete peace of mind while you hone your driving skills.
Yes. Any learner driver will need insurance cover to drive their own car. Buying your own car as a learner can be a great way to get comfortable with the car you’ll be driving long term.
If you find a car you love before you’ve passed your test, nothing is stopping you buying it. But you wouldn’t be able to drive it yourself yet – unless you got short-term learner car insurance for your own car, that is.
This policy will give you a few days to get used to your new vehicle, and it’ll mean that when you pass, you can hit the ground running. You could even use it to get some test practice.
Just remember that, as with a provisional driver in any vehicle, you still can’t drive the car without an experienced driver present until you pass.
The spiralling cost of tutored driving lessons means private lessons are a more affordable and increasingly popular way for newcomers to get some much needed on-road experience. But you’ll need the right cover to do it and learner driver insurance can cover you for a few days, weeks, or months – however long you need.
If you’re a parent or friend of a learner driver, adding them to your existing insurance can be expensive. Understandably, learner drivers are seen as a higher risk because of their lack of experience. As a result, adding them to your policy can increase your premiums plus you’ll have to pay an admin fee to make the change.
Other downsides to adding a learner driver to your insurance are that many insurance providers simply won’t allow you to do it at all because of the increased risk.
You’ll also face the risk of losing your No Claims Discount should the learner in your life have an accident behind the wheel. This is not only expensive in the short term, but without a long-standing record of no claims, buying your own insurance will be more expensive long term as well.
Temporary learner insurance is cheap car insurance for learner drivers without the risk of impacting No Claims Discount. It’s a separate standalone policy that won’t impact any existing policy on the car. With no price increases for you and no risk to your No Claims Discount, it’s likely to be the best option for you.
With temporary insurance, they’re covered to use your vehicle for 12 hours up to 28 days, but policies can be purchased at any time. That way, their practice can fit around your schedule, and you’re not paying for cover you don’t need.
You can find cheap provisional insurance by choosing the right insurance for your situation and only paying for cover when you’re actually behind the wheel.
Without road experience, insurers will always increase the cost of provisional drivers insurance. To get cheap learner driver insurance, you will first need to choose the right type of insurance:
Temporary learner driver insurance – The ideal option for learner drivers who want something more flexible and don’t want the huge expense of an annual policy. If you only practice on weekends, insurance for one day, or weekend insurance is likely to be the best option. If your test is in a week or a month, getting just one weeks insurance or one month’s learner insurance will be more cost-effective than an annual policy.
With temporary learner insurance, there are no long-term commitments, so if you pass your driving tester sooner than expected, you aren’t left tied into a contract.
Become a named driver – Being a named driver on your parents or other family members policy can be a better option if you’re planning on learning for a long time or aren’t sure exactly when you’ll be practising. There are however a few drawbacks including the risk to the vehicle owner’s No Claims Discount and the likelihood that the cost of their insurance will go up to cover you.
Annual learner driver insurance – This is a long term option for learners who aren’t planning on taking, and potentially passing their test in the near future. Once you have passed your test, you can update the details of the policy and continue with that insurance provider or cancel the policy (both actions will come at an additional cost).
Choosing the right policy for your needs is the best way to get cheap provisional insurance. You can also reduce the cost of your policy by taking the following steps:
Temporary insurance for learner drivers is the ideal solution for many newcomers to the road. It’s incredibly easy to get the cover you need with Tempcover – just follow these 3 simple steps:
Enter a few details about yourself and the car you want to learn in
Confirm you’re happy with the price and details of your policy
Pay for your policy and get your documents emailed instantly
That’s it. And when your policy expires at the time you selected, we’ll just send you a little reminder in case you need another policy. If you do, it’s just the same simple process every time.
We’re confident that if you meet the criteria below, you will be eligible for temporary learner’s insurance.
| To get temporary learner’s insurance, you must | To get temporary learner’s insurance, the person supervising you must | To get temporary learner’s insurance, your car must |
| Be aged 17-75 years old | Be aged over 25 | Be valued between £500 and £30,000 |
| Hold a UK provisional licence | Have held their full UK driving licence for at least 3 years | Be roadworthy with a current and valid MOT (unless you are using our policy to take the vehicle to a pre-booked MOT) |
| Have been a permanent UK resident for 3 years | Have been a permanent UK resident for at least 2 years | Be taxed (unless you are using our policy to get the vehicle taxed immediately after purchase) |
| Have no licence points or have any prosecution pending for any motoring convictions | Have not had any DR coded motoring convictions in the past 5 years | Be insured with an annual insurance policy if the owner of the vehicle is not you, the learner and policyholder. |
| Have never been disqualified from driving | Be used only when you, the learner and policyholder are being supervised to learn to drive. | |
| Have never driven a vehicle that was involved in an accident that was considered your fault; whether partially or fully | Be a right-hand drive car and have no more than 5 seats in total | |
| Have no criminal convictions | Not be modified in any way except for a car designed to aid disabled drivers |
Please be aware that each insurer on our panel has its own eligibility criteria, so you should pay close attention to its Proposer’s Declaration.
No – only your qualified instructor’s insurance covers you as a learner automatically. When you’re in your driving instructor’s car, they have a special kind of insurance policy that automatically covers you so long as you’re paying for their services. If an accident were to happen, it would be for them to claim and sort out, so learners need not worry about insurance at all when paying for classes.
If you’re arranging private sessions with a friend or family member, you will need short-term car insurance for learner drivers. The car owner could try adding you to their policy, but since you haven’t even passed yet, there’s a good chance their insurance provider will say no – and cover could cost a lot of money regardless. Because their insurance won’t apply to you, you’ll need another arrangement. And that’s where a short-term agreement means you can get a one-week or one-month learner insurance policy.
Yes. Any learner driver will have to have insurance cover, whether you do want to add them to your existing policy or not. But if you’d rather eliminate the risk, you could consider special car insurance for learners instead, through a temporary policy.
No, they’ll only be able to drive the car that’s named on the policy. But nothing is stopping you paying for another provisional insurance policy on a different car if you wanted to get some practice by using a second vehicle.
If they’ll only be practising in the car for a few weeks, getting a one-week or monthly learner driver insurance policy would be much cheaper than their own annual policy. You could add them as a named driver on an existing policy, but that would increase premiums a lot.
This is why short-term car insurance for learner drivers is usually the cheapest and best-value option, because you can have it terminated as soon as you’ve passed your test (or stopped learning).
Yes, you can get one-week learner driver insurance. Like other temporary car insurance policies, short-term learner car insurance will allow you to borrow and practise in a friend’s, parent’s or other family member’s car.
You can get cover on a weekly or monthly basis up to 28 days at a time. So, whether you need that last bit of practice before your test or you’re getting behind the wheel for the first time, you can select a policy duration that fits your needs.
No, you probably don’t – unless you’re planning to drive a car other than your instructor’s.
As was the case during your lessons, if you take the test in your instructor’s car, their specialised insurance will automatically apply to you. But if you want to take the test in your car or a friend/family member’s car, you’ll have to arrange temporary learner insurance to do this.
You will need some form of learner insurance if you’re driving someone else’s car.
Potentially, yes. All the same laws apply to drivers learning on ‘private land’. If you are learning to drive in an area the public has access to, for example, a footpath, then you must have the same insurance as you would need to drive on the road.
Without the right weekly or monthly learner driver insurance, not only do you risk having your car seized but you could face fines and see points added to your licence. This can have a big negative impact on your premiums when buying annual insurance after you’ve passed.
Having the right insurance is not only the law, but it gives learners that little bit of extra reassurance when practising on the road.
Since its inception in 2006, Tempcover has been dedicated to providing the best temporary vehicle insurance possible to hundreds of thousands of drivers.
We're currently rated 'Excellent' with a TrustScore of 4.6/5 on the consumer review website TrustPilot, and here’s what just some of the drivers who’ve used Tempcover before thought of our service.
It couldn’t be simpler to get a temporary learner driver insurance policy.
You can buy a policy online anytime you need it, and with our speedy quote process, you can get a price in just 90 seconds.
We all know that comparing prices is the best way to save money.
We compare prices and policies from a panel of leading temporary learner driver insurance providers and show you the cheapest price possible.
After you’ve bought your policy, your documents will be emailed to you instantly so there’s no waiting around.
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