What is temporary van insurance?

Temporary (or short term) van insurance cover is similar to a regular annual van insurance policy, but the policy will only insure your van, or a van that you have borrowed, for a set amount of time. This is typically from one day all the way up to monthly cover, but can also be as short as one hour. Any policy that’s less than a standard annual policy of 365 days could be considered short term van insurance, but the term is most often applied to van policies lasting for just a few hours to a few weeks.

Short term van insurance policies are typically available from 1 hour up to 28 days. If you need to extend cover beyond your initial period, you can usually add on further units of time.

Short term van policies are often offered on a fully comprehensive basis, which is the maximum level of insurance protection for vans in the UK. This ensures that both you and the van are fully covered for complete peace of mind, whether you’re looking to get insured for 1 hour, 1 day, or 1 month.

Why temporary van insurance?

Temporary policies are perfect when you need flexibility and only need van insurance on a short term basis.

There are many situations where you might need to take out a short term van insurance policy. Examples of why people might need temporary cover include:

Borrowing a van: - Most private individuals own a car rather than a van, but there are many occasions when you’ll want to transport bigger, heavier, or simply more items around. Whether you’re moving house, doing some renovations, or have just bought a large piece of furniture. If you’re borrowing someone else’s van for the day, a flexible comprehensive short term van insurance policy will provide peace of mind for you and the person you’ve borrowed the van from.

Van test drives: - If you’re on the lookout for a new van, a temporary policy will allow you to test drive a van with full cover. If you already have a van insurance policy on your current vehicle, be aware that many policies won’t provide cover for driving other vans. Even if your policy does include this, it will often be on a third party only basis. A temporary policy is great for test drives as you can buy cover for just one hour – perfect for assessing your potential new van.

Sharing the driving on a big trip: – Make lighter work of long journeys by sharing the driving, and insure another driver who isn’t on your long term policy - whether it’s a long distance trip for business purposes, or a single private use trip.

Buying a new van: – If you’ve just bought a new or second hand van from the dealers or a private individual, you’ll need to be adequately insured in order to drive it home. Get quick online cover and save the shopping around for annual insurance for when you get back home.

Temporary business van insurance: – Whether you have a new employee starting, have a temp join your team for the day, or have borrowed a van because yours is in for repair, make sure the wheels of commerce keep turning with a flexible short term policy.

Young drivers: – Van insurance can be extremely expensive for young or new drivers. Temporary van insurance for young drivers can be a way to get cheaper van insurance, especially if a young driver only needs occasional or short term use and can’t afford the higher cost of a yearly premium.

Emergencies: – Any number of unforeseen circumstances could lead to you needing temporary insurance for a van. Make it easy by getting the right cover in minutes – whether it’s a work emergency or a personal matter and you need fast, flexible cover.

Temporary van insurance benefits

• Temporary van insurance cover is a completely separate, stand-alone product which ensures peace of mind for everyone.
• Avoid the hassle and expense of adjusting existing van insurance premiums.
• Your hard earned no claims bonus is not at risk in the event you need to make a claim on the temporary policy (although your future insurance premiums could rise). Someone temporarily driving your van won’t affect your NCB if they have an accident.
• Won’t adjust or affect any existing policies already on the van.
• You can buy temporary van cover online any time you need it, and pay only for the time you need.
• It’s fast & flexible – with documents usually emailed instantly.
• No restrictions on when or where in the UK you can drive the van.
• Cover is usually always fully comprehensive.

What length of cover is available on a temporary van policy?

When buying temporary van insurance, there are usually three time windows to choose from:

One hour van insurance

Insure a van in one hour increments. You can choose between 1 and 12 hours of cover

One day van insurance

Choose from 1 day up to a maximum of 28 days cover

One week van insurance

Decide whether you need one, two, three or four weeks temporary cover.

There are no theoretical limits to the number of short term policies that you can purchase back to back. If your temp policy expires and you need additional cover, you can get another quote and buy more short term insurance to suit.

How much does short term van insurance cost?

As with any kind of van insurance, insuring your van on a short term basis will depend on a variety of personal factors unique to you such as your age, occupation, driving history and more – as well as the type of van you are looking to insure, how you’ll be using the van, and for what length of time.

The shorter the duration, the less you’ll pay. One day van insurance will generally be cheaper than a 7 day policy, because you're covered for less time. Bear in mind that the average daily cost may work out more expensive on a pro rata basis, the shorter your overall policy duration.

How to get short term van insurance

In order to get a temporary van insurance quote, you'll need to follow some steps which may include:

• Provide the registration number of the van that you’re looking to temporarily insure.
• Enter the current value of the van (there may be minimum or maximum insurable values)
• Decide how long you need short term van insurance cover for. The minimum unit of time for insuring a van is 1 hour, with the maximum usually being 4 weeks (or one month van insurance)
• Select when you’d like the short term van cover to start – either immediately or a specific day and time in the future.
• Enter your licence type, how long you’ve held it, name, date of birth and address.
• Declare what the van body type is, and what usage you want the temporary van insurance to cover.
• Enter you occupation – just start typing and options will usually begin to appear.
• Choose your reason for needing temporary van insurance.

Policies will usually be summarised to show the total cost of your short term van insurance, the details of the policy underwriter, any excesses, plus terms & conditions relating to both you and the van.

Many providers will include the option to add legal expenses cover and excess reductions. Make sure you're happy that the price and level of cover is suitable for your needs before paying. Policy documents for the temporary cover will typically be emailed instantly, so you can get driving the van the very same hour or day.

What conditions are necessary to insure a van on a short term basis?

Most vans and drivers can be covered under a temporary policy, however in order to qualify there might be some conditions, which can include:

You:

• Be aged from 17 to 77 years old
• Hold a full UK driving licence
• Have been permanently resident in the UK for the past 12 months
• Have accumulated no more than 7 points on your licence in the last 3 years
• Not have been disqualified from driving in the last 2 years
• Have no more than two at fault claims in the last three years
• Have no criminal convictions
• Not had any insurance policy declared void by an insurer

The van

• Have a valuation between £1,500 and £65,000
• Be in a roadworthy condition with valid MOT and Tax
• Not have any modifications other than signage, roof racks, internal storage or ply lining etc.
• Be a right-hand drive van
• Have no more than five seats
• Not weigh in excess of 7.5 tonnes

What does a temporary van insurance policy cover?

A temporary van insurance policy will usually provide you with fully comprehensive cover for the duration of your policy. This can include accidental and malicious damage to the van, and loss or damage to the van caused by fire, theft or attempted theft.

You will have liability cover for injury caused or damage to another person or their property, and your personal belongings will be covered (coverage may differ depending on the underwriter).

You can drive your van in the UK, and also may be able to drive in the EU (TPO or equivalent minimum level of insurance in the country you are in).

What isn’t covered on a short term van insurance policy?

If you need to make a claim on your short term van insurance policy, you’ll need to pay the excess amount that you agreed to when buying the policy. Only the driver named on the temp policy will be covered (no additional drivers), and the loss of damage of anything being towed by the van will not usually be covered. Depending on the policy, goods carried in or on the van might not be covered.

You also won’t usually be able to make a (separate/single) claim for broken or damaged glass.

Unless you’ve bought a specific impounded van policy, release from an impound will not be covered on a short term van policy.

In addition, hire or rental vans cannot typically be covered by a temporary policy.

Always read the small print before buying any short term van insurance policy to make sure it meets your requirements and you know exactly what’s included.

Can you compare temporary van insurance?

There aren't currently any temporary van insurance comparison sites on the market. When you get a quote from a temporary van insurance broker, they will usually select the cheapest quote from their panel of underwriters based on your individual circumstances and the information you provide.

Can I drive another van on my existing insurance?

If you have an existing annual van or car insurance policy, then you may be insured to drive someone else’s van. Driving other vehicles is usually only available on fully comprehensive policies, and it’s also a policy feature that’s less common than in the past.

Vans are also quite often excluded from the “driving other vehicles” clause, so always check your policy wording very carefully not only to see if vans are included, but what type of usage the terms cover.

If driving other vehicles is included on your existing policy, be aware that you’ll usually only be covered on a third party basis. If you’re involved in an accident while driving someone else’s van, there could be serious financial consequences.

It’s also worth remembering that if you drive someone else’s van on your own insurance, then the other van must be insured in its own right.

Another option would be to ask if you could be added as a named driver on someone else’s annual van policy, but this might not be so helpful if you need van insurance at short notice.

If that all sounds like hard work, it could be an easier (and possibly cheaper) option to take out a temporary van insurance policy for the duration that works best for you. You can then rest assured that you are covered at the maximum comprehensive level for the duration of your short term van use, with less hassle for both you and the owner of the van.

Should I get short term van insurance or an annual policy?

In theory you could take out an annual van insurance policy, use it for the required time, and then cancel. However, you will typically be faced with a cancellation or admin fee (or both), especially if you are outside of the 14-day policy cooling off period.

If you cancel before the full year is up, you won’t qualify for your No Claims Discount.

Temporary van insurance can be a cheaper way to get insured if you only need insuring for a short period, but becomes disproportionately expensive the longer you use it when compared to an annual policy.

It’s worth weighing up the pros and cons of both annual and short-term van insurance. You’ll be able to compare prices and cover levels, working out which is cheapest for you.

Remember – it is a legal requirement to make sure your van is insured. Whether you have a one day, one week, or one-year policy; as soon as that policy expires you need to make sure a new one replaces it - or notify the DVLA that your van is off the road with a SORN. This is called the Continuous Insurance Enforcement scheme.

You can find out more about CIE at the Motor Insurers Bureau, or on the UK Government website.

Short term van insurance Northern Ireland

Temporary van insurance policies are usually available to citizens who have been resident in the UK for at least the last 12 months. Northern Ireland is part of the UK (Great Britain and Northern Ireland).

Driving licences issued in NI have different numbering formats than UK licences. This can sometimes cause validation issues, so you may be asked to provide further identification such as a passport.

If you drive your van into the Republic of Ireland on a temporary policy, please note that your level of cover will usually drop from fully comprehensive to third party only. Full details of cover do vary depending on the insurer, so check the policy wording before buying to ensure it meets your needs.

Is temporary van insurance the same as pay as you go van insurance?

It depends how you think of it, but pay as you go van insurance is perhaps a term more closely associated with pay per mile insurance schemes, where you only pay for your insurance when actually driving the van. Pay per mile van insurance could involve the use of a tracker or odometer connection.

Short term van insurance is based on buying insurance for your van in units of time, rather than being pay per mile van insurance. You're paying to use, rather than paying as you use.

You're still paying as you go with a temporary van policy, but not quite in the same way. Think of short term van insurance as hour-as-you-go, rather than pay-as-you-go!

Short term van insurance FAQ: