6 occasions where you’ll need temporary car insurance
Perhaps the most popular form of transport in the UK is the car. Driving is flexible, convenient, and cheap to run (relatively speaking), and it can be fun, too. The ability to drive will afford you many advantages in your professional life, putting out-of-town employers within reach, and allowing you to work in a position that requires a licence.
There are more than fifty million people in the UK with driving licenses, of which just under ten million are provisional license holders. The number of cars on our roads, however, sits at just forty million. So, how do we explain this discrepancy?
The answer lies in the fact that having a licence needn’t necessarily mean that you own a car. By avoiding ownership, you can sidestep many of the costs associated with it. You won’t need to refuel or tax your vehicle. There’s no need for an annual MOT or servicing. If you live in a built-up area, like Central London, then you might even rent out your drive space, and thereby generate a passive income for yourself.
Of course, just because you’re opting out of ownership doesn’t mean that you can’t occasionally drive. This is where temporary insurance comes in. This is a way of keeping yourself covered without committing for the long term. Let’s consider a few cases where this might be desirable.
Buying and selling a car
You might buy a car to sell it soon afterwards. You might do this for personal or business reasons, or simply because you can smell a profit. Through a temporary license, you’ll be able to drive the car while you own it. This can make the whole process a great deal less complicated.
Borrowing from a friend
You might decide to borrow a car from a friend. In this case, you’d need to make sure that you were covered until you return the vehicle. Temporary insurance does this job nicely.
Sharing the driving
What if you’re going on a long road trip, or an overseas holiday that requires spending many hours on the road? You might want to share the driving duties. By investing in temporary insurance, you can allow several people to chip in, and thereby ensure a more equitable division of driving labour.
Getting cover for your holiday
Even if you’re holidaying alone, or with the family, temporary insurance can ensure that you’re covered in your rental car. This also applies to those visiting the UK from abroad.
Students coming home from university
If you’ve been away at university, you might not have needed to do much driving. Perhaps your accommodation and campus are in the middle of town, and you get everywhere on foot. If this doesn’t apply at home, then having temporary access to a car, and the right insurance can be extremely handy.
Learning to drive
Finally, we should consider one of the most popular uses of temporary insurance: driving practice. You can borrow a friend or family member’s car and practice that reverse parking for a few hours on a Sunday morning, without committing to months of insurance that you won’t use.
