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Temporary Car Insurance
Borrowing a car, sharing the driving or taking a trip for work? Temporary car insurance is an easy, flexible way to get short term cover. You can be on the road within 15 minutes.
Temporary car insurance allows you to pay only for the time you need – an hour, a week, a month. Want longer? No problem. You can top up instantly online to get up to 30 days. Temporary car insurance can be taken out alongside an annual policy. The vehicle owner's No Claims Discount won’t be affected if you make a claim.
We also cover vans, motorhomes and cars for temporary business use.
Say hello to flexible short term car insurance from the RAC
Available for 1 hour to 30 days. And add extra hours online if you need to.
Get covered within 15 minutes. Or buy up to 28 days in advance.
Super flexible
How does temporary car insurance work?
Temporary car insurance is a flexible type of motor insurance. It allows you to drive a car, van or motorhome for a short period of time, without needing to take out an annual insurance policy. Our short-term policies provide comprehensive cover from as little as 1 hour up to 30 days at a time. So you can borrow a car, or share the driving on a long trip.
It only takes a few minutes to apply and you can manage your policy online 24/7. Add more hours or days as you need them.
There’s no annual contract, so when the policy expires that’s it. If you’re borrowing someone else’s car, it means they don’t have to pay more to add you to their policy. If you need to make a claim, their Protected No Claims Discount won’t be affected either.
What is temporary car insurance for?
Even if you’ve got comprehensive car insurance, you may not be insured to drive another car. And even if you are, you might only be covered for damage to other people and their property (third party cover).
A flexible short-term car or day insurance policy is useful if you’re:
- Borrowing a car – using your parents’ car while you’re home from university, or if you’re car sharing with a colleague
- Sharing the driving – if you’re planning a road trip
- Driving your new car home – from a garage, auction or private seller
- Planning a test drive – make sure you have cover to test drive a car
- Taking a business trip – if you need to use your personal vehicle for occasional short business trips
- In between annual policies – if you’re in between annual car insurance policies and need cover for a few days.
This policy also covers vans, motorhomes and campervans.
Looking for Learner Car Insurance? Take a look at our cover for provisional drivers |
Comprehensive
What’s included with temporary car insurance?
Everything you'd expect from an annual car insurance policy. Business† and leisure usage are included as standard.
RAC Breakdown assistance with Onward Travel options
Comprehensive cover while you’re on the road in the EU
So you're not out of pocket if you need to make a claim
Quick and easy
Why choose RAC Temporary Car Insurance?
Our partners Dayinsure have a 4.8-star rating on Trustpilot and our policies are underwritten by Aviva, the UK’s largest general insurer. And we’ve the RAC has been looking after drivers for over 120 years. So you know you’re in safe hands with our short-term car insurance.
What our members say
What are the alternatives to temporary car insurance?
If you’re borrowing someone else’s vehicle, they could add you as a named driver on their policy. Or you could take out an annual policy on another vehicle and cancel it when you no longer need it. However, these options are likely to cost more for you or the car owner. And they could impact the owner’s Protected No Claims Discount in the event of a claim by the person driving it.
Other alternatives include:
- Temporary van insurance: it could be that you need to borrow a van to move house or transport furniture. Our temporary van insurance works much like our short-term car policy, where you only take cover for the time you need. We also cover motorhomes and campervans.
- Temporary car insurance for business use: if you need to take a business trip but aren’t covered to use your car for business on your existing annual policy, our temporary car insurance will cover for temporary business use.
- Test drive insurance: if you’re buying a car privately and want to test drive it, or if you’re setting up test drives for a car you’re selling, we’ll cover that.
Temporary Car Insurance Explained
Q. Can I get insured on a car for a day, a week or a month?
Yes, you can. RAC Temporary car insurance policies can be bought for as little as 1 hour up to 30 days at a time. If you need more time, you can always top this up online or take out another policy. You can top up to a maximum of 30 days. Once you’ve reached 30 days, you’d need to buy a new policy.
Q. How much does temporary car insurance cost?
The cost of a temporary car insurance policy varies on several things. These include:
- the length of time you take the cover out for
- the type and age of the vehicle
- your driver history
- your location
- where the vehicle will be kept overnight
Q. Can I get temporary insurance if I already have an annual policy?
Yes, that’s not a problem. And if you needed to make a claim on your temporary policy, it won’t affect the no claims discount on your annual policy. You just need to make sure you declare the claim to your annual insurer.
Q. Can I insure myself on someone else's car temporarily?
Yes. If you need to insure yourself on someone else’s car for an hour, a day, or even up to 30 days, temporary car insurance is ideal. With us, you get comprehensive cover as standard.
Q. Can someone else insure themselves temporarily on my car?
Yes. Someone else can insure themselves on your car with temporary car insurance. It can be useful if you and a friend are sharing the driving on a road trip, or a family member is borrowing your car. They can buy cover for 1 hour up to 30 days.
Also, if the person insured on your car was to damage it, it wouldn’t affect your annual insurance policy.
Q. Can I get temporary car insurance when learning to drive?
No. RAC Temporary Car Insurance only covers qualified drivers who have held a full and valid driving licence for over a year. Read our full requirements for temporary car insurance.
If you only have a provisional licence, you can get RAC Learner Driver Insurance for your car or a friend or family member’s car. Cover is available from 2 hours to 5 months.
Q. Can I tax my car with a short-term certificate?
Yes. Just keep in mind that, if you’re taxing your car online, you’ll have to wait for the Motor Insurance Database (MID) to update. We notify the MID of all new insurance policies within 24 hours. It’s still legal for you to drive during these 24 hours – but it’s always worth double-checking that you’ve received and checked your insurance documents.
Q. Can I get RAC Temporary Car Insurance for more than 30 days?
Q. How old do you have to be to get temporary car insurance
To be eligible for a temporary car insurance policy, you’ll need to be aged between 18 and 75.
Q. Does temporary car insurance cover business use?
Yes, as long as you’re not using your vehicle for transporting goods or people for hire or reward (for example, a taxi service or courier).
Our short-term cover is ideal if you’re insuring a car for a few days away at another office or business conference. It’s also a good solution if you only travel for business now and then, as it can be more cost effective then adding business cover to your annual car insurance.
Q. Will I build up my no claims discount with temporary car insurance?
No. RAC Temporary Car Insurance is a flat-rate policy for a short, fixed period. This means you won’t build up any no claims discount on this policy, even if you don’t make a claim.
Q. Can I use temporary car insurance to drive in Europe?
Only if you buy our additional cover for Europe (this is an optional extra). Journeys must start and finish within Great Britain, Northern Ireland or the Isle of Man, and cover is only available for cars registered in the UK.
Q. Will I need a Green Card to drive in Europe?
No, from 2 August 2021 you don’t need to have a Green Card, please see our Brexit related FAQs page for more information on driving in Europe.
