Our Complete Guide to Temporary Insurance Cover

Insurance is a safety net that can protect all corners of our lives. We take out annual policies for our cars, homes, and businesses, but what happens when you need insurance for a shorter period? Temporary insurance cover is the unsung hero of the insurance world, swooping in to offer all the protection you need whether you’re borrowing your friend’s van on moving day or throwing a big birthday bash for a loved one. Our comprehensive guide to temporary insurance will teach you everything you need to know about short-term cover.

What is temporary insurance?

Temporary insurance, also known as short-term insurance, is a type of policy that covers shorter-term risks. From borrowing a car for a couple of days to throwing a one-off event like a charity fundraiser, a temporary policy offers the same types and levels of cover as a standard policy – only over a much shorter timeframe.

Temporary insurance can provide one specific type of cover, like public liability or vehicle insurance, or it can be an umbrella policy that offers multiple covers. Your policy could cover you for just a few hours or up to a month. Although you may hold a number of annual insurance policies, they won't cover all your activities. When there's a gap in your coverage, temp insurance can come and save the day.

When might I need temporary insurance?

We all know that if someone makes a claim against us, it can be eye-wateringly expensive. From the costs of defending the case to potential compensation, medical costs, and legal fees, if you’re not covered by insurance, these financial burdens will fall squarely on your shoulders.

This has made us all a little savvier when it comes to protecting ourselves or our businesses, and short-term insurance cover is one of the ways we can feel financially safeguarded.

Temporary insurance has been growing in popularity because it offers a flexible and often cost-effective solution to a number of commonly encountered scenarios. For drivers, these include:

• Car shares – if you’re going on holiday with your friends in their vehicle, short term insurance will allow you to share the driving.
• Borrowing a vehicle – there are many instances where you may need to borrow a vehicle. A friend's transit may be just what you need when you're picking up a new sofa, or perhaps a family member has a motorhome you'd like to take away for a week. If your car has broken down and you need to borrow someone else's wheels for a few days, this policy protects all party's interests.
• Test drives – you can take out short-term insurance for test drives, whether you’re trying the new vehicle on for size for a few hours or a few days.
• Learner drivers – the insurance you take out as a learner driver is a form of temporary insurance cover. You can use this type of policy to insure the family car for their use or to provide temporary cover on someone else's car when they're taking lessons and practising in it.
• Business use – did you know that you need a different type of motor insurance cover if you’re using your vehicle for business activities? Although for some people an annual business vehicle policy would be a better fit, if you only occasionally use your vehicle for business purposes, temp insurance can be just right for ensuring you have the right level of coverage over that period.
• A SORN-ed or rarely used vehicle – if you own a vehicle that doesn’t get driven very often, short-term insurance cover may be your most cost-effective option for driving it legally and safely.

If you’re throwing a one-off event, temporary insurance cover can offer you and the event all the protection it needs. You might like to consider this type of policy for a:

• Wedding
• Birthday party
• Charity event
• Street party
• Conference or trade fair
• Sports match
• Concert or festival

Finally, if you need to hire equipment, whether you’re using that equipment at home, work, or at an event, you’ll need to take out temporary insurance to protect it against accidental damage, loss, and theft while it’s in your care, or you’ll be liable to pay the associated costs.

What types of cover are included?

Short-term insurance cover tends to be taken out when you're borrowing or temporarily using a vehicle, hosting an event, or hiring equipment. For this reason, you'll most likely be offered the following types of coverage when you seek an insurance policy.

Vehicle insurance

Temporary insurance for vehicles is generally fully comprehensive, offering cover against third-party damage (which includes both the damage to someone else's vehicle and personal injury), damage to the car you're driving (including accidental damage, fire, and malicious damage), and theft. Temporary car insurance usually also covers you for driving in the EU (indeed, it's commonly taken out for this specific purpose), and many policies will include recovery after an accident as standard.

It is a legal requirement to hold valid insurance when you're driving a vehicle in the UK (whether you own that vehicle or not). Temporary car insurance is used in the event of a road traffic accident if your car were to injure a third party or their property, or in the event the vehicle was stolen or damaged by a third party.

Public liability

Short-term public liability coverage is ideal for one-off events that will be attended by or accessible to members of the public. No matter how big or small the event, if you’ve organised it, you can take out public liability to protect yourself against third-party claims for personal injury or property damage.

Imagine you've arranged a 50th birthday party, and one of your guests trips on your sound system cable and breaks a bone. You would be liable if they made a claim for that injury. If you've hired a venue for your event and you spill coffee or wine on their carpets, you will be responsible for the costs of cleaning or replacing them. Even if you're hosting an event in an outdoor public space, if someone gets hurt or their belongings damaged, it's down to you to deal with the claims. Public liability cover protects you financially, handling compensation costs, medical bills, and legal fees.

Equipment cover

Failing to insurance equipment you’ve hired could be a costly mistake. Unless the hiring company specifically includes insurance as part of their hire price, you are ultimately responsible for repairing or replacing that equipment if something goes wrong.

Perhaps you're hiring some top-of-the-range cleaning equipment for the week to spring clean your home. If you're a builder, you may hire heavy plant on a temporary basis, or as a keen DIY-er, you may lease expensive tools and equipment for your latest project. If you're hosting an event, you may rent a range of equipment, from tables and chairs to lighting and sound systems. Temporary equipment cover keeps all these hired items safe while they're in your care and prevents you from being landed with a hefty bill should the unexpected happen.

Cancellation cover

Most applicable to those who are hosting an event, cancellation cover can protect you against non-refundable losses like deposits and loss of earnings if your event is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. You can take our cancellation cover for both non-profit and profit-making events – if you stand to lose out financially if the event can’t go ahead, it’s worth considering this coverage.

Professional indemnity

If you're responsible for organising a one-off event for someone else or only offer your professional services on the odd occasion, short-term professional indemnity cover can protect your finances and reputation. This type of temporary insurance cover can be taken out for the duration of your contract with a client, and it safeguards you financially should they claim that your work caused them to lose money.

Perhaps you mismanaged their budget, gave poor advice, or accidentally shared confidential information. Be prepared for claims with short-term professional indemnity insurance, but be aware that this is a "claims made" type of insurance policy. This means that you're only covered while the policy is still active. You won't be covered if a claim is made once the short-term policy period has expired. To counter this issue, you can take out a run-off policy, which deals with claims made once your short-term policy has ended.

What isn’t covered?

Temporary insurance cover offers you the peace of mind that you’re financially protected should the worst happen – but are there common omissions you need to be aware of? Absolutely. It's great to understand what you are protected against when you take out short-term insurance, but knowing what isn't covered as standard is just as important.

For temporary car insurance, you may not be covered against:

• General wear and tear
• Using the vehicle as a taxi (or other business activities)
• Additional drivers
• Driving other vehicles (in other words, it is not an “any vehicle” policy)
• Negligent loss or damage – for example, if you left the vehicle unlocked or the keys in the ignition

For event-based temporary insurance, you generally won’t be covered for:

• Cancellation due to low ticket sales
• Cancellations where you were aware at the time of taking out the policy or making non-refundable bookings that there was an issue that could lead to a cancellation

If you’re taking out temporary equipment cover, be aware that you may not be compensated for:

• Theft, loss, or damage of equipment that was left unattended or in an unlocked vehicle

Do I need short-term insurance cover?

If your current vehicle insurance only covers you for the vehicle you own and you want to drive someone else's car, van, or motorhome, to drive it legally, you must take out temporary vehicle insurance, amend your standard vehicle insurance, or ask the vehicle owner to amend theirs to provide the correct coverage. In some instances, temporary vehicle insurance will be the most cost-effective route to obtaining this legal level of coverage.

Do you need to insure your one-off event or your hired equipment? Although you may not have a legal obligation to do so, you must ask yourself, could I afford to handle the costs of a claim made against me? If the answer is no, consider taking out insurance.

Standard insurance vs short-term insurance

Short-term insurance is the same as standard insurance in terms of everything except the duration of the policy and the price. Most standard insurance policies run for 12 months from their start date, whereas temporary insurance could run for as little as an hour and generally no longer than a month.

While short-term insurance coverage will cost less than the annual equivalent, it's not always the most cost-effective route. An annual policy will probably save you money if you run several one-off events a year. If you're going to regularly borrow a car over a year (for example, a young adult borrowing one of their parent's vehicles), it may work out cheaper to take out an annual policy or amend the owner's policy.

How to find the best short-term policy

You can take out short-term policies for most types of insurance cover and you can also bring together different packages of cover to insure your short-term risks. Although the policy may cover a very short period, it's important to include the correct types of coverage and set these at the right level. A specialist insurer like Park Insurance will have the experience you need to tailor the best short-term policy based on your unique needs.

How much does temporary insurance cost?

The cost of your short-term insurance premium for a car will vary based upon why you need it, the duration of coverage, your age and where you live, and more specific factors such as what type of car you want to insure, how far you’ll be driving it, and the vehicle’s insurance bracket.

For short-term coverage of an event, your costs will be determined by the level of coverage you take out, the location of the event, the number of attendees, and any hazardous activities taking place (such as fireworks, sporting activities, or inflatables).

The cost of equipment hire is based on the value of the equipment, where you will be using it, your experience using it, and the duration of the hire period.

FAQs

Can you get temporary car insurance without a main policy?

Yes! If you have a driver's license, it doesn’t matter if you don’t have an annual policy.

Can I get temporary car insurance on any vehicle?

Most cars under the value of £75,000 and registered in the UK can be insured with a short-term policy, but there may be exclusions, so always double-check with your insurer. You need to be at least 18 to take out temporary car insurance.

Can one-off event insurance last longer than one day?

Yes. Just because your event may only last a few hours, there may be a day of setting up prior to the event and you may need the day after for clearing away. This type of temporary insurance can be tailored to meet your unique needs; remember to cover those additional days, as incidents can still occur even when your guests aren't around.

If you’re feeling a little uncertain about how to get the right insurance to meet your needs, get in touch with Park Insurance to receive expert advice on short-term coverage. By finding out why you need coverage and for how long, we can provide you with a bespoke policy that balances the right level of protection with affordability, helping you achieve financial security in every situation.