1 hour car insurance from £11.90

Cover from as little as one hour. How will you use your 60 minutes?

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1 hour insurance policy car illustration

What is 1 hour car insurance?

An hour's car insurance is perfect for borrowing or lending a car for a short period. You can use a standalone 1 hour policy to run an errand using someone else's car, to share a long drive with a friend, or to take a potential new car out for a test drive. It's a speedy alternative to getting added as a named driver on someone else's policy, as it’s all sorted in minutes on your phone.

Cuvva's 1 hour policies are always fully comprehensive, and separate to the car owner's main policy. Like an annual policy, 1 hour policies are added to the Motor Insurance Database that police use to check cover. This means you're good to hit the road the second you pay and your policy starts. Starting at £11.90, 1 hour policies are also often cheaper than other options like car sharing schemes, plus there are tie-ins or commitments.

Topics covered:

Hourly cover alternatives

What you need

Car? Check. Here's what else you need for your fully comprehensive, 1 hour car insurance:

Registration plate number

Just type the number plate into the app to get going. We cover most cars and vans. If you can get an insurance quote on our app, we can cover you.

Driving licence

To use Cuvva, you can either use a GB license (one issued from England, Wales, or Scotland) or use a full driving license from Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, or Spain. We also have learner driver insurance for those with provisional GB licences.

Download the Cuvva app

Download the app and join 1 million+ customers sorting their insurance all through their phone. It’s a super handy way to buy or extend policies, store handy details, find driving and insurance tips, and speak to our 365-day-a-year support team.

1 hour insurance cover

Fully comprehensive cover, including:

• Damage to your vehicle up to £60K

• Damage to third party property up to £2m

• Your legal liability to other people arising from an accident

• Attempted theft, theft and fire damage

• Third party cover in Europe, & more

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How 1 hour car insurance works

It's super simple:

Fully comp

We only offer fully comprehensive insurance. You’re covered for damage to your vehicle, damage to other people’s vehicles, personal injury claims and much more. Sorted.

9am to 9pm support

Our world-class customer operations team are available 9am to 9pm, 365 days a year. They’ll also get back to you at an average response time of 1 minute, so say goodbye to all those hours listening to hold music.

Drive straight away

Our temporary cover starts instantly - so you can drive straight away. This is usually a faster way to get insured instead of adding yourself as a named driver to another policy. Plus, you’ll have your own policy, so the car owner's is unaffected in case of any incidents.

1 hour insurance FAQs

How much is one hour's insurance?

1 hour car insurance starts at £11.90, though there are a few factors that can affect your price, including: Your age, how long you've been driving, whether you have any previous claims, what insurance group your car is in, your current location, and what time of day you need cover.

So you can get an idea of what the average driver pays, here is the average price for 1 hour's cover with some of the UK's most popular cars (as of April 2023):

Ford Fiesta - £12.58.

Vauxhall Corsa - £12.92

Volkswagen Golf - £14.78

Vauxhall Astra - £13.60

Volkswagen Polo - £12.63

Ford Focus - £13.03

Audi A3 - £14.57

Toyota Yaris - £12.78

Seat Ibiza - £13.00

Renault Clio - £12.46

Can I drive a newly bought car home with 1 hour insurance?

Yes. 1 hour car insurance is perfectly legit and will register on the MID database (what the police use for their ANPR checks).

Before you drive off, make sure your car is taxed and has a current MOT certificate. Use our free car checker on our website - it only takes a few seconds.

If you have just purchased the car from a dealer or private seller, you should ask the previous owner to give you the green new keeper slip. Don’t worry, though, this isn’t necessary to get 1 hour insurance.

Can provisional licence holders get 1 hour cover?

Absolutely! If you’ve booked a lesson or want to practice those difficult manoeuvres, our learner driver 1 hour insurance will give you fully comprehensive cover.

Make sure you have someone in the car who is over the age of 25 and has held their licence for at least 3 years.

Need longer? You can quickly and easily extend your policy in the Cuvva app at the end of the hour. You’ll be on the road in minutes.

Can I borrow someone else’s car or van for an hour?

Need to move someone’s vehicle, switch seats on a long drive, or take Dad’s car to the shops? You’re all good. Though here are a few things to consider:

Generally, modern insurance policies do not have ‘Driving Other Cars’ (DOC) cover, and if they do, it’s usually only third party insurance (not including fire and theft). The best option is usually to get temporary cover of your own, even if its just for a few minutes.

Make sure their car is taxed and has a valid MOT certificate. You can use our free car checker.

Whilst it's a legal requirement for the vehicle owner to have insurance of their own, if for some reason they don't have it, make sure you've got it covered for the entire time you are using it. If you leave it in 'public land' (like a car park) and your cover runs out for a short while, the car could be clamped or seized by the police. Extend your cover in the app at any time in case you need it for more than an hour.

Can I get temporary insurance on a friend's or family member’s car?

Yes! This doesn’t count as fronting as you’ll have your own policy. Fronting is essentially when a driver pretends to be a named driver, but the driver is actually the person who does most of the driving. This can cause issues when claiming, and insurers could end up cancelling the policy. A lot of modern insurers provide temporary insurance.

Before you drive the car, check it has a valid MOT and tax certificate.

With a Cuvva policy you can borrow someone else's car, or share the driving responsibilities on a long trip. You can set it up in minutes, and it’s perfectly legal.

Unlike with some other temporary insurers, you don't have to have a specific relationship with the owner. But of course, you should have their permission before you drive their car.

Can I insure a car for an hour when I am not the registered keeper?

To save time and money, you may want to get a temporary policy of your own. This way, the owner of the car's no claims bonus won’t be affected in case of an accident, nor will they have to declare to their current insurer if you have an accident.

What is the excess for 1 hour car insurance?

Your excess is shown in the app before you purchase under the policy details section. There isn’t a standard excess, it depends on a few things we use to work out your quote.

What is the maximum fine when driving without insurance?

It isn’t really worth thinking about. If your case goes to court, you can be given an unlimited fine and disqualified from driving whatsoever, as per government guidelines. Ouch!

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The expert's view

Adam Kent, Cuvva's in-house policy and underwriting expert, said: “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 if the Motor Insurer’s Bureau (MIB) have to compensate someone injured as a result of your actions, they're entitled to recover their outlay from you. Uninsured driving - even for a single hour - just isn’t worth the risk.”