Temporary Car Insurance: Find Short-Term Coverage (2024) (2024)

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Verify whether or not your provider charges cancellation fees. Even if it does, it may make more sense to get a car insurance policy for a month and pay a small cancellation fee or lose a deposit than to figure out other transportation.

Non-Owner Car Insurance

A non-owner car insurance policy can be a good alternative to temporary insurance if you often drive vehicles you don’t own. Perhaps you travel around and use a car sharing service or regularly use a friend’s car. You can get non-owner insurance from major companies for six- or 12-month increments.

The nice thing about a non-owner policy is that it’s cheaper than standard car insurance. This is because it usually only includes liability coverage for injuries and property damage if you cause an accident. Non-owner insurance is useful if you:

• Use car sharing services
• Don’t have your own car
• Want to save on standard car insurance costs
• Rent cars often and don’t want to pay for rental insurance
• Drive a family member or friend’s car often

To get non-owner coverage, you’ll need to speak with an insurance agent.

Permissive Use Coverage

Most car insurance policies cover a primary driver along with anyone who might drive the car occasionally. That means you’d be covered if you drove someone else’s vehicle. However, if you plan to drive another person’s vehicle often, consider getting non-owner coverage or adding yourself to their insurance policy if you live at the same address.

Usage-Based Car Insurance

Safe drivers can get discounts with usage-based programs like Progressive’s Snapshot® or . These programs, also known as telematics insurance, track driving habits like acceleration, cornering, braking and time of day. They also track mileage, which often makes up a large part of the overall score.

That means people who don’t drive often can save more on insurance costs with usage-based programs compared to people who commute every day.

Mileage-Based Car Insurance

Mileage-based car insurance, also called pay-as-you-go or pay-per-mile car insurance, is a subset of usage-based insurance. But with this option, the only thing that matters is your mileage. If you only drive occasionally, you could save a lot of money since you don’t put many miles on the odometer. A few examples of this coverage include:

• Metromile
• Allstate Milewise®
• Nationwide SmartMiles^®

With these programs, you often pay a low monthly base rate plus a rate per mile. Pay-per-mile programs also have daily mileage charge caps so you can take a road trip without paying a huge amount of money.

Be aware that some pay-per-mile insurance programs may require you to drive your car or at least move it occasionally to keep the sensor active. This is the case with Metromile.

Use Distant Student Discounts

If you’re a college student, most companies will give you a discount on your family insurance plan if you leave the car at home and go to school more than 100 miles away.

When Would You Need Temporary Auto Insurance?

When it comes to auto insurance, there are a few situations where it would make sense to adjust your coverage or go for a shorter policy term.

If You Need Coverage for Student Drivers

If you have a child who is attending college and drives a car, they will likely need ongoing coverage. However, if they only use a car during winter, spring or summer break, it’s worth adjusting your insurance coverage for a temporary period to reflect those changes.

If you remove car insurance coverage for your student during the semester, you can save a few hundred dollars as car insurance rates for young drivers are more expensive — average annual full-coverage rates for an 18-year-old driver total $5,669 in 2024, according to our rate data. Don’t forget to add your child back to your insurance when they return for longer breaks, as driving without insurance is illegal.

If Someone Else Regularly Drives Your Car

If you have a friend or relative who will be driving your car for a short time, consider adding this person to your car insurance policy. You’ll need to call your insurer and provide the following information about them:

• Name
• Date of birth
• Gender
• Social security number
• Occupation
• How long they’ve had their driver’s license

When your friend or relative stops using your car regularly, you can have them removed from your policy. Expect your rates to increase during the time you have someone else added to your coverage.

If You Need Temporary Insurance for Rental Cars

If you’re using a rental car and don’t have your own insurance, you can get coverage through the rental company. Rental car insurance won’t be the cheapest option available, but it will cover you while you use the car and help you avoid getting an entire insurance policy. If you opt for extra insurance from the rental car company, you might not need to pay a deductible if you get into an accident.

If You’re Storing Your Car

If you store your car while you aren’t using it, you may be able to get a comprehensive-only policy from your insurance provider. This covers events that could damage your vehicle while it’s parked in one location, like a hailstorm or vandalism. But it doesn’t cover accidents, so you can’t drive your car. Some companies may require you to store your car for at least a month to get this coverage.

If you’re storing your car long-term, you can remove the registration from your vehicle and then stop insurance entirely. Contact the DMV to remove your registration before canceling insurance or you’ll have a lapse in coverage.

When you’re looking for temporary car insurance options like the ones listed above, there are a few things to keep in mind. These include the following:

Avoid a Lapse in Coverage

However you decide to solve your temporary insurance requirement, make sure to avoid a lapse in car insurance coverage. This happens when you have a vehicle registered in your name and don’t have insurance. Car insurance companies report directly to the DMVs in each state, so your state will know if you drop insurance but still have a registered vehicle.

Ask About Cancellation Fees

Some providers charge cancellation fees of up to 10% of your car insurance premium, but it varies by company and state. If you’re looking for temporary insurance, it can be worth paying a small fee to avoid the expense of future premiums.

However, if you’re shopping around for a new policy you intend to cancel, know what fees you may have to pay when you decide to terminate your contract.

Consider All Options for Temporary Insurance

While temporary insurance doesn’t exist, there are still plenty of other options to choose from. When you decide what kind of coverage you want and need, take into account how much coverage you’re actually getting for the price.

Temporary Insurance: The Bottom Line