Temporary car insurance
From 1 hour to 28 days
Short term car insurance for hours, days or weeks
Extend instantly in the app
Sort it in under 5 minutes
Protect the owner's NCB
What is Temporary car insurance?
Temporary car insurance is an easy way to share a long drive, or borrow someone's car, without needing to be added to the owner’s policy.
It’s fully comprehensive cover for when you need your own insurance policy fast. You can get temp cover for as little as 1 hour, and sign up in less than 5 minutes. It’s a good short-term alternative to an annually paid policy. Whether it's car insurance for an hour, a day or longer, you'll only pay for what you need.
There’s no waiting around for days for the policy documents to arrive in your post, it’s all sorted on your phone instantly.
Plus, if the worst happens and there is an incident, the vehicle owner’s no claims bonus will be protected.
Short term, flexible car insurance from Cuvva:
Only pay for what you need
Flexibility
Get temp cover for as little as 1 hour
Instantly extend your cover in the app if you need more time
All your policy docs sent to your phone via the app
Get insured in less than 5 minutes
Made easy
Sign up in the app or online
Drive straight away
Faster than being added as a named driver
Fully comprehensive cover
Peace of mind
The highest category of insurance available
The car owner’s no claims bonus will be protected
You’re covered for damage to the vehicle, damage to other people’s vehicles, personal injury claims plus much more
How does Temporary car insurance work?
It’s a short term car insurance policy, seperate to your (or the owner’s) annual car insurance. There are no deposits or credit checks like annual policies usually have. You just pay up front, then you’re free to drive.
Unlike adding a named driver to an existing policy, a Temporary policy protects the vehicle owner's no claims bonus in case of an accident.
Heads up: you won’t get a no claims bonus from a Temporary car insurance policy, though you can get this with pay-monthly car insurance policies, like Cuvva’s monthly Subscription.
Can I get Temporary car insurance on any vehicle?
Pretty much. You can use Short term car insurance to drive a friend’s, colleague’s or family member’s vehicle, and they won't have to cover the cost.
With Cuvva you can insure most UK-registered cars and vans in your name, as long as it's in insurance group 40 or lower, and valued at less than £40,000.
Lots of modifications are accepted, but some aren’t allowed. If it’s covered by a fleet policy, owned by a hire car company or is a courtesy car, it can’t be covered.
What's the cost of Temporary car insurance?
It varies by driver and car, but here’s an example of how much the average Citroen C1 driver pays for their short term car insurance:
• £10.83 for 1 hour’s car insurance
• £17.54 for 1 day’s car insurance
• £46.80 for 1 week’s car insurance
• £65.38 for 28 days’ car insurance
These are the average prices over the last 12 months that Cuvva’s drivers pay for their temp cover as of January 2023.
How long does Temporary car insurance last?
Hourly insurance
Hourly car insurance is perfect for the morning milk run, moving a car, sharing a long drive, test driving a car or driving one home from the dealership.
Daily insurance
Daily car insurance is great for when you’re moving house, need full coverage without a current annual policy, or for those all-important trips to IKEA.
Weekly insurance
Weekly car insurance could suit when you’re borrowing a car or van regularly. Perfect for using your parents’ when visiting home, sharing a car on campus or even driving the North Coast 500.
What's included, and eligibility criteria
You get the highest level of cover on Temporary car insurance - fully comprehensive, just like you would with an annual policy.
What you’re protected against
Damage to your vehicle up to £40k
Damage to third party property up to £2m
Your legal liability to other people arising from an accident
Attempted theft
Theft
Fire damage
Carriage of own goods business use - for vans as well as cars
Up to £400 for after-fit audio equipment and £100 for your things
Driving after 10pm
Who is eligible for temp cover
For full licence holders, you’ll need to be aged 19-65 to use Cuvva for the first time. If you’re under 21, you’ll need to have held your licence for at least 13 months
We can insure existing customers up to the age of 71. You just need to have a policy with us before the age of 65
If you’re a provisional licence holder you’ll need to be aged 17 - 40 and not have held your licence for over 5 years
A GB licence holder (that means issued in England, Scotland or Wales)
There’s not a fixed number of accidents, claims or licence points that would stop you from insuring with us
Your car or van must
Be under 20 years old
Cars need to be worth less than £40,000
Vans/commercial vehicles must be worth less than £20,000
Meet our modification rules. We accept lots, including any to aid a disability, but there are some we can't insure
Not be in an insurance group higher than 40. If you have a car in a higher group, you might be able to use our subscription (pay monthly) cover
Not be scrapped or impounded temporarily
Not be a company car, a hire car or a vehicle on a fleet policy
What's not included
If you’re looking for extra cover with your Temporary car insurance, you may want to consider a Cuvva rolling monthly Subscription, which also covers:
EU driving cover
60 days fully comprehensive cover and then minimum third party afterward.
Locks and key cover
Lost or stolen keys up to the value of £400 (subject to your policy excess).
Child seat protection
Up to £150 cover for damage (subject to your policy excess).
How to get Temporary car insurance fast
Get insured and on the road in less than 5 minutes.
1
Get started on the app
It just takes a few clicks
2
Find your car
Enter your registration plate
3
Check your cover and pay
Get cover from as little as 1 hour up to 28 days
4
Extend whenever you need
If you need more time than you thought
Temporary car insurance alternatives
• Getting added as a named driver. This can be a cost effective way to get temp cover, though you could be at risk of illegal ‘fronting’ (when the named driver is actually the main driver). It also doesn’t protect the car owner’s no claims bonus in case the named driver was to have an accident. Both of these problems are avoided with Temporary car or van insurance.
• Cancelling an annual policy within the 14 day ‘cooling off’ period and driving in that time. Whilst this may be possible, your details will be passed to the Motor Insurance Database - and some insurers may use this information to refuse you both annual and short term car insurance in the future.
Multi-driver Temporary coverage
Whilst you can’t get two people on one Temporary car insurance policy (we’re working on it! 😉) if you refer a friend and they sign up to a short term policy (e.g. a day's car insurance), you'll both get £10 worth of discounts on a future policy. You can use the discount to save money on any of our Temporary car insurance products, including learner driver insurance.
To refer someone in the app, tap the ‘Friends’ icon at the bottom of the screen. Then copy and share your referral link, or simply use the ‘invite’ button.
You can refer as many friends as you want, as long as they're brand new to Cuvva.
Other forms of Temporary car insurance
Learner driver Temporary insurance
Hourly car insurance for learners driving with a provisional licence
Up to 6 hours within a 24 hour period between 9am and 8pm
For driving someone else’s or your own car with a supervisor
Extensions in the app instantly
Monthly subscription car insurance
Rolling monthly car insurance
Can be used instead of annually paid insurance
No deposits, credit checks or hidden fees
Cancel with no fees when you need
Earn a no claims bonus as usual
Temporary van insurance
Hourly, daily, or weekly van insurance for commercial vehicles
Payouts up to £20,000 for accidents, theft, attempted theft, or fire damage
Carriage of own goods business use
Why Cuvva is faster and easier
Enjoy a better experience.
Notification reminders
Know when your policy is ending
Apple Pay support
For fast, secure payments
Licence scanner
Get your Temporary insurance set up at the speed of camera
World beating customer service
Get an average 1 minute human response in the app
Temporary car insurance common questions
Can I use Temporary car insurance to borrow someone’s car?
- It's easy to get fully comprehensive Temporary insurance with Cuvva, which you can extend at any time using the app. Unlike some other Temporary insurers, you don’t need to have a specific relationship with the car’s registered keeper.
Can I get Temporary car insurance when moving house?
- Got your eye on your mate’s van or big car? You can use Cuvva to insure it from 1 hour to 28 days to help carry the load. Our car and van insurance includes class 1 business insurance, plus carriage of own goods cover.
- Bear in mind if you’re using a hire van, this usually includes insurance of its own.
Can I get car insurance for 1 week?
- Yes! Cuvva makes it easy. Our customers usually do this when they need to borrow a car or have just bought a new one. All you need to do is download the app, take a picture of your licence and the number, add your personal details and get on the road.
- If you’re not sure how long you actually need it, you can just get an hour and extend it whenever you need, in a few taps.
Can you have 2 insurance policies on 1 car?
- If you’re borrowing someone’s car, you’ll probably get an insurance policy in your name even if they already have insurance in theirs.
- It’s also legal to get multiple policies on your own car in your name - but there’s no benefit to it, unless you wanted to temporarily upgrade your insurance for a short period (for example, getting fully comp insurance over third party).
- Insurers won’t pay out twice for the same accident even if you have two policies on your car.
Can I put someone on my car insurance temporarily?
- Sure! One option is to call up your insurer and get them added as a secondary driver - but with that comes risk to your no claims bonus. If they had an accident in your car, it would be tied to you, not them.
- So you may want them to get them their own Temporary policy. One easy way to do this is through the Cuvva app - they can get their own fully comprehensive cover on your car in minutes.
Do you get to build up a no claims bonus (NCB) with Temporary car insurance?
- Insurers usually provide an NCB document when a driver has been insured for a year, without any at-fault or joint-fault claims.
- At Cuvva, our Temporary policies are a maximum of 28 days long, so we can’t provide NCB documents, even if you get 12 policies consecutively. However, with Subscription - our rolling monthly cover - you can add to and protect your NCB.
How can I get 1 day's car insurance?
- You can get cover anywhere from 1 hour to 28 days with the Cuvva app. All you need is a GB licence and a taxed car with an up to date MOT (if you don’t have your own you can borrow a friend’s!). Plus, if you don’t know how long you actually need it for, you can extend your cover with a few taps. It’s all fully comprehensive, too.
Can I use Temporary insurance to drive an uninsured vehicle to a MOT centre?
- Yes, as long as it has an active MOT and doesn’t have a SORN status.
How quickly can I get Temporary car insurance?
- You can get insurance through the Cuvva app or the website in under 5 minutes. We’ve rebuilt insurance from the ground-up to make it as efficient as possible.
Is Temporary car insurance valid for business use?
- Our Temporary car insurance policies cover you for SDP (social, domestic, pleasure), commuting, and class 1 business use. This means that you can use your car to drive to and from work or drive to other places for business (that aren't where you usually work), as well for leisure.
Can I have Temporary car insurance at the same time as having annual car insurance?
- Legally, you can have two car insurance policies on one car - whether it’s an annual policy or a Temporary car insurance policy. But there is no benefit to doing so. It can also make things trickier when it comes to making a claim.
How can I get 1 day, 1 week, or 28 days car insurance?
- Pretty easily with Cuvva! In around 5 minutes you can get a fully comprehensive policy for anywhere from 1 hour to 28 days. You don’t need to contact the vehicle owner’s insurer and the policy documents will be sent to your phone instantly. If you need more time, you can easily extend your short term cover from the app (e.g. extending from 1 day’s car insurance to 1 week).
Can I drive in Europe without a Green Card?
- Good news! For a little while after the UK left the European Union, a Green Card was required to take a British car into the EU. But as of August 2nd 2021, that’s no longer needed.
What is the minimum age to get Cuvva’s Temporary car insurance?
- To use Cuvva for the first time, you'll need to be over 19 and under 65. If you're under 21, you have to have held your full licence for at least a year - and have no at-fault or joint-fault accidents or claims.
- If you're a learner, the age requirements are a bit different. You'll need to be aged between 17 and 40, and have had your provisional driving licence for less than 5 years.
The Cuvva claims process: how does it work?
- Cuvva work with underwriters who will process your claims. If you have had an incident, contact the underwriter of your policy. You can find this in your policy documents. If you’re unsure of who yours is, just message us in the app.
What is the reason for my cover being declined?
- We sometimes can’t give cover if:
- A customer provides invalid vehicle photos
- We think an account is being used by multiple people
- There are some modifications we can’t cover
Can I tax a car with Temporary car insurance?
- Yes, you can use Cuvva's Temporary insurance to tax your car - as long as your policy details show up on the MID (Motor Insurance Database). This can take over 24 hours.
How does Temporary car insurance from the UK work in Europe?
- Our Temporary insurance will cover you to drive in the EU, plus Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Serbia and Switzerland. In these countries, all UK motor insurance policies have to provide a minimum level of cover.
- That's not comprehensive cover, though. The level of cover provided is the minimum required by the law in the country - this is often third party but could be less.
- You can’t extend your cover whilst you are in Europe - so make sure you’ll have enough cover for the whole trip.
What do I do if I have an accident while driving on short term car insurance?
- If there is significant damage or any injury, make sure you call the police, record the scene with pictures and get the names of those involved. We’d also suggest you don’t make any admission of fault at the scene.
- You’ll be covered if you have an active policy. Contact the underwriter in your car insurance policy documents to make a claim.
How do I cancel my Temporary car insurance?
- Whether it’s a Temporary or pay-monthly policy, we’ll never charge you an admin fee if you want to end your policy early, though we don’t offer refunds for remaining time on a policy as there are lots of things we have to set up in the background to set up your policy in the first place. You can cancel through the app.
My Temporary car insurance policy needs to be extended. How do I do that?
- Once you've bought Temporary car insurance with us, you can extend your policy in the app on the go - just tap the green 'Extend' button, and then pay. You'll need to have completed at least 25% of your cover (e.g. if you've booked 4 days' insurance, you can extend on day 2).
With Cuvva, can I get Temporary car insurance beyond 28 days?
- With Cuvva’s rolling monthly Subscription, you can get car insurance that renews automatically every month. If you just want a Temporary policy every now and again (e.g. a day’s car insurance) throughout the year, that’s fine too - there aren’t any yearly limits.
Can new drivers get Temporary car insurance?
- With Cuvva, yes. But if you’re under 21, you need to have held a full licence for at least a year. You also need to have had no at-fault or joint-fault claims during that year.
Is Temporary car insurance listed on askMID?
- If your vehicle wasn’t insured before you bought your Cuvva policy, there’s a chance that you might not be showing up as insured on the Motor Insurance Database (MID) yet.
- We update the MID more often than other insurers - but it can still take up to 24 hours to appear. Don’t worry though, you’re still fully insured and you get your policy documents instantly.
What happens if I drive without insurance?
- Don’t break the golden rule - it’s just not worth it. Here’s what what our in-house insurance and underwriting expert Alan Wright FCII has to say: “There are no two ways about it: you need car insurance to drive - even if it’s just for an hour. Breaking the rules could mean more than a fine and points on your licence. The police could seize or destroy your vehicle - even if you’re only moving from one parking spot to another! As well as this, your future premiums will increase, and you may be forced to pay out further if the Motor Insurer’s Bureau (MIB) have to compensate someone injured as a result of your actions. Uninsured driving - even for a single hour - just isn’t worth the risk.”
Is Temporary car insurance a viable option if I’m not actually driving my car much any more?
- If you aren’t driving that often, Temporary car insurance could be a way to save money versus an annual policy. Just remember the car you’re driving must be insured at all times - so you may be better off borrowing someone else’s car regularly.
Any questions?
Forget automated replies and chatbots! Our customer support team is made up of real people - with an average one minute response time. We’re on hand between 6am and 1am every single day. If you have any questions about our short term car insurance, let’s have a chat.
Already have a Temporary car insurance policy?
Get advice and answers from the Cuvva team on all of our short term car insurance policies, payment queries, privacy concerns and much more.
Related articles
How to compare Temporary car insurance?
Different insurers offer different benefits, so it's always worth comparing Temporary car insurance policies in advance. Prices and policy lengths can also vary wildly.
21 tips for cheaper car insurance
We've done the research and crunched the numbers to come up with 21 tips on how to reduce the price of your car insurance policy.
Need to insure someone's car?
In the UK, you can get 1 hour to 28 days cover on a vehicle you don't own. There are a few ways you can do this. Here we explain how.
Need to drive home a car you've just bought?
You can get Temporary drive away cover within minutes, and manage it all from your phone.
What it means when you’re asked: “Are you the registered keeper?”
Hint: your price could increase, and some insurers may decide not to cover you.
Insurance can be expensive for younger drivers
You could reduce your price by driving a car in a low insurance group, tweaking your job title, or even just registering to vote.