Temporary car insurance insures the car from one hour up to 90 days – the least an insurer insures will be one hour and the most will be 30 days (certain exceptions extend 30 day plans to 90 days before mandatory long-term contracts kick-in). Same-day car insurance allows you to bypass annual contracts that car insurers typically require from car owners and expire after 24 hours. Most regular auto insurers require you to sign a contract for at least 12 months, and you must pay for the full amount at once or in 12 monthly installments. To bypass that, you can purchase same-day car insurance.
Same-day car insurance allows you to bypass the annual contract and only pay for the amount of time you intend to drive the car. Getting temporary car insurance is fast and the approval procedure is instant if you gather your documents and present them to the insurer. Temporary insurance provides drivers with a short term cover that they can use on the road if they loan a car. This is practical for drivers who drive cars that don’t belong to them. All regular insurers have temporary car insurance under their website where you can inquire for a rate. If you have an insurance plan you can call your existing insurer and inquire as to temporary insurance on another car.
Benefits Of Same Day Insurance
Temporary insurance carries benefits for day-to-day casual driving and international travel. In essence, it gives you the short term cover you need to insure a car you don’t own. The following benefits are the main reasons to purchase same-day car insurance:
- Expires after 24 hours. Many insurance companies will be able to offer you insurance by the hour. You could technically insure a car for only 1 hour, although people typically insure for a full day to stay safe (and the costs are reasonable!). Same-day insurance will ensure the car has insurance for the amount of time you agree upon signing the contract.
- Extendable up to 90 days. If 1 day is not enough you can arrange 30-day coverage, and you can still extend that up to 90 days on certain providers.
- Instant approval. If you’ve gathered the documents for the car, your driver’s license and other essential documents, the insurance company will approve your insurance on the spot. Research the individual requirements your insurer asks before approving same-day insurance.
- Overseas coverage. If you plan to drive your car in Europe for 30 days, you could technically purchase a temporary monthly plan that will cover you for the extent of your trip.
Temporary insurance arrangements are not required for rental cars: rental agents insure their own cars and you’re automatically insured. Temporary insurance is used for private cars. These policies are ideal for emergencies if you have to borrow another family member’s car while your car is being repaired at the dealer. If you need to drive your boss’s car for a while, you can purchase temporary insurance to keep them safe. If you loan a friend’s car for a weekend road trip, you can insure it using same day insurance. If you borrow a large van that you use for moving, you can purchase temporary insurance on that van. Temporary insurance also provides full coverage for repairs and medical expenses, the same as if you purchased regular insurance.
Requirements: To qualify, a driver has to be between the ages of 18-75 (sorry 16 year olds!) and must have held a driver’s license for at least 6 months prior to applying for temporary insurance. This term is reduced to 3 months if the driver is over 25 years old. There are few insurance companies that make exceptions for drivers and can provide temporary insurance even if you held a license for less than 3 months (of course, at a higher fee!).
Documentation Required For Same Day Insurance
Approval for same-day insurance is immediate if you gather the documents listed below. The insurer will require documentation for the insured person and the car. Prepare the following documents and bring them over to your insurer:
- Driver’s license. You will require a driver’s license. It contains all the information the insurer needs about you: full name, date of birth, address, zip code, SSN number and more. You can provide documents that testify as to your marital status if you’re married for lower premiums.
- Driver’s history. You need to provide records of your driving history if you got into traffic accidents or received any citations. Even if you had a parking ticket you will have to present this or inform your insurer.
- Car VIN #. Each car is assigned a vehicle identification number which is a number that you need to get a quote from the insurer. This number tracks all the history of the vehicle in publically-accessible records, and insurers will be able to determine a premium price based on the VIN immediately. Each car regardless of whether it’s old or taken off the dealership lot will have its own VIN. The VIN number determines the policy price and you won’t be able to get insurance without a VIN. If your friend rents you a car, ask for their VIN number.
- Car history. The current mileage of the car, the date of purchase and the registered driver is mandatory to determine premiums.
Note: The aforementioned document requirements are not written in stone and many car insurers will differ in terms of their documentation necessary. Example: if you purchase a car at the dealership (i.e. it has no mileage) the insurer might only ask you for your own personal identification and not details about the car. If you want to add multiple drivers, you have to call the insurer to add named drivers to the list.
Why Companies Reject Clients For Same Day Insurance
There are a few reasons why an insurer might delay your application or outright reject it. Please check that the following things are in order:
- Lacking documentation. Even if certain documentation is listed as optional on a website, to get approval they might request that you provide those documents in person too. Fill out every form if you apply online because agents will review these documents individually.
- Recent change of address. If you recently moved, your address might have changed and you will have to update the address on all your personal documentation to get approval for the insurance. The insurer will only accept recent documents that have your updated address.
- Previous violations. If you were involved in at-fault accidents, the insurer might refuse to insure you for same-day insurance.
- High-value cars. If you own high-value cars (sports cars and/or rare collector’s cars) you might be rejected for short-term insurance. Those cars are too high-risk for temporary insurance.
Precautions With Same-Day Insurance
The following precautions are ones you need to keep in mind if you’re about to purchase same-day insurance:
- Down payments are non-refundable. If you purchase insurance the company will ask you to pay for a down payment which insures the car for 90 days, however long you decide the term to be. If you cancel your plan ahead of the end date, they won’t return your unused premiums. Early cancelations only yield refunds on long-term contracts.
- State laws mandate you must have car insurance. The only exceptions are New Hampshire and Virginia where the police is not entitled to seek proof of insurance. If you cancel your insurance policy in order to leave the dealership where you purchased your car, you might get a ticket for driving without insurance. This is not the same as a parking ticket and rules vary by state. The worst thing that can happen is your license can be suspended, your vehicle impounded and/or the police can write high fines.
- Leased cars must be insured. If you purchase a leased car, the dealership requires you to purchase auto insurance that will last for the duration of your lease. In many cases, it’s smart to purchase 30-day insurance that will allow you to obtain the lease in the first place and once you’ve researched your options for long-term insurance find the lowest rate for your car and sign a 12-month lease.