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- Temporary Van Insurance
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Temporary Van Insurance
Get short term van cover
- Flexible cover from 1 hour to 28 days
- No long-term contracts
- Comprehensive with no impact on no claims discounts
What is temporary van insurance?
Flex more with temporary van insurance. It’s the quick and easy way to get the cover you need when you need a van.
- Borrowing a van to move house
- Transporting large items for a business
- Your van is off the road and you still need to get around
- Sharing a long journey in a van
When would I need temporary van insurance?
Moving home
Need a larger vehicle to transport all your belongings. Borrow a van, take out instant insurance and start moving.
Borrowing a van
Get the cover you need for the time you're actually driving. No long-term commitments.
Buying or selling a van
If you're changing van, you may only need a few hours, days, or weeks of cover. Give yourself time with a short-term policy.
Can I get temporary van insurance?
To get temporary van insurance, you must:
- Be aged 17-77 years old.
- Hold a full UK or EU driving licence with no more than 7 points in the last 3 years.
- Have been a permanent UK resident for the last 12 months or be a British expatriate.
- Have no criminal convictions.
- Not had a previous policy of insurance declared void by an insurer.
To get temporary van insurance, your van must:
- Be valued between £1,500 and £65,000.
- Be taxed and in a roadworthy condition with a valid MOT.
- Have no modifications other than the addition of the manufacturer’s optional extras (signage, roof racks, ply lining, interior storage) or those designed to aid disabled drivers.
- Be a right-hand drive vehicle with no more than 5 seats.
- Not weigh more than 7.5 tonnes.
Each insurer on our panel has its own eligibility criteria. Please pay close attention to their Proposer’s Declaration.
What does short-term van insurance cover?
Your temporary van insurance policy comes with comprehensive cover as standard. If there’s an accident during the duration of the policy, you, your vehicle, and any other third parties involved are covered.
What’s covered with short-term van insurance?
- Fully comprehensive insurance on policies from 1 hour to 28 days
- Accidental and malicious damage to your van
- Loss or damage to your van caused by fire, theft, or attempted theft
- Legal liabilities for injury or damage to another person or their property
- Personal belongings (definitions may differ by insurer)
- Driving in the UK
- In some instances, driving in the EU with the third-party or equivariant level
What's optional with short-term van insurance?
- Excess Reduction Cover, reducing your policy excess to as close as £100 as possible
What’s not covered with short-term van insurance?
- The excess you agreed to pay
- Release from an impound (unless you buy impound insurance)
- Additional drivers – we can only cover the driver named on the policy
- Cover for the loss or damage to a vehicle, trailer, trailer-caravan or broken-down vehicle when being towed by the insured van
- A sole claim or separate cover for broken/damaged glass including the windscreen
Tempcover works with a panel of insurers. Because of this, the full details of cover may differ depending on the insurer. Please double-check the policy wording before purchasing to confirm what is specifically covered in your policy.
If you do have to make a claim on the policy, contact our helpful team. We will be happy to guide you through the claims process.
There are instances when drivers with the above details may be unable to get temporary van insurance. These include:
- Vans used for exportation – any vehicle that leaves the UK must return within the period of cover and this would only cover them in the EU.
- People looking to insure a hire or loan vehicle.
How does short-term van insurance work?
Flexible
No long-term contracts.
Cost-effective
Only pay for the time you need.
Fast
Quotes in under 2 minutes.
Peace of mind
No impact on no claims discount.
For more information on how we can help you get temporary van insurance, get in touch with us at a time that’s convenient for you. Apart from Bank Holidays, we’re open seven days a week!
How much does temporary van insurance cost?
Get your price estimate
It couldn't be simpler to get a short term insurance policy.
You can buy a policy online anytime you need it, and with our straightforward quote process, you can get a price in under 2 minutes!
The price for your selected duration is from:
just £42.80
Prices based on the average price 19,765 policies for the displayed durations (January 2023)
Get your quoteHow to get temporary van insurance
Simply check to see if you're eligible against our criteria, which you'll find on this page.
All you need to do is enter a few details, such as the van registration number and how long you need your insurance to last. You can do this on our website or even via our handy Tempcover app.
Buy your policy and we'll email all the documents you need directly to your inbox.
What details do I need to get a quote?
The details you will need:
- The van's reg number
- Your details (name, address, D.O.B etc)
- Your licence type and how long you've held it
- The value of the vehicle
- Your email address
- When you'd like the policy to start and end
Temporary van insurance for business use
Own a business and need fast, short-term cover for one of your fleet? Temporary van insurance keeps you running…
From unexpected breakdowns to covering new employees, temporary van insurance is comprehensive cover that suits your needs.
Find out more on our temporary business van insurance page.
Marc Pell
Managing Director
What our expert says
"You can get temporary van insurance for many everyday situations. When you only need to insure a van for a few hours, days, or weeks, it keeps you moving with peace of mind."
Marc Pell
Managing Director
Temporary van insurance FAQs
As they are different vehicles with differing risk levels, you will need to purchase separate policies for both your car and your van. It will take under 2 minutes to get a quote for either vehicle, so you can enjoy the peace of mind temporary car insurance and van insurance policies give you in next to no time.
You can get a policy that allows you to drive a van for at least one hour up to 28 days at a time. There are no restrictions on the number of policies you can buy. If you need a van insurance policy that covers you for six months, you can easily buy six monthly van insurance policies or get them on a monthly basis if you think your situation may change.
Whatever duration you’re looking to buy, make sure you consider all options before buying to ensure you’re getting the best deal possible.
Hire and reward insurance is another term for courier insurance. This is a form of cover that’s essential for anyone who moves someone else’s property as part of their business operations – namely couriers, hauliers and furniture movers.
Temporary courier insurance covers the unique risks of this kind of work, such as:
- The varied value of any cargo.
- The varied nature of the cargo.
- The frequency of stops during trips.
- High day-to-day mileage.
Taking this into account, specialist hire and reward insurance should cover:
- Any damage caused to your van and other vehicles.
- Public liability.
- Employer’s liability.
Our temporary van insurance cannot provide cover for hire and reward purposes, but our temporary courier insurance can.
Every insurance policy is different, but you’ll rarely be covered to drive a hired van in addition to the car named on your policy. And even if you are, you’ll likely only have third-party cover for driving a van. That’s why short–term van insurance is the sensible choice for most people.
Yes, as long as your van hasn’t been declared as SORN (in which case there is no need to insure it), you can get temporary van insurance.
This can be useful if you are driving a van back to your property after buying it but want a little more time to consider your long-term insurance options.
It might also be helpful if you want to temporarily insure a friend or relative to drive your van, without having to make them a named driver on your main policy.
If you have an accident when you’re covered by one of our temporary van insurance policies, don’t panic:
- Stop at the scene as soon as you can and turn on your hazard lights.
- Check that everyone involved in the accident is safe.
- Don’t apologise or admit responsibility, but do exchange details with the other parties involved and any witnesses.
- Do this as calmly as possible.
- Make sure you take pictures of any damage.
- Call your insurer as soon as you can to start your claim (you can find the number of their dedicated claims-handling team on your Certificate of Motor Insurance or policy wording).
No, you will only be covered for this if you have taken out specific impound van insurance.
Yes, once you have purchased your temporary insurance policy, your insurance details should be passed to the Motor Insurance Database (also known as Navigate).
Tempcover is obliged to supply the Database with these details within seven days, so please note that if your temporary van insurance has expired before seven days are up due to its short-term nature, your policy details may not appear on askMID while you’re using it.
For this reason, we recommend that you print your Insurance Certificate and keep it with you while driving the van.
Yes, in most cases you will be able to drive your van in Europe. Tempcover’s temporary van insurance allows you to drive in Europe for the policy’s duration, providing the vehicle is in the UK at the beginning and end of its policy.
While driving in Europe, you will receive the minimum cover required by law in the country you’re driving in. To ensure you’re properly covered, make sure you know which countries you’ll be driving in and what the minimum level of cover you’ll receive is.
You will need the following documents to drive in Europe:
- Your full and valid driving licence
- Your passport
- Proof of insurance to drive the vehicle
- V5C certificate
- European breakdown cover documents (not required but strongly recommended)
Aside from documentation, you will also need to have some equipment with you to ensure you follow European driving law. The required equipment you will need include:
- Reflective jackets
- A warning triangle
- Headlamp deflectors
- GB car and number plate stickers
- First aid kit (compulsory in Austria, France and Germany)
- Breathalysers
- Headlamp adapters
Before driving in Europe, please double check your policy wording.
