A Guide To Temporary Car Insurance
The UK has approximately one percent of the worlds population however the UK insurance industry is the third biggest in the world. It is the biggest in Europe, it controls seventeen percent of investment in the London stock market and employs 339 000 people, almost one third of all financial sector jobs.
In 2005 seventy-two percent of all households in the United Kingdom purchased motor insurance with an average spend of 556GBP. This statistic might have something to do with the fact that Britain has one of the lowest car-owner to population ratios on the planet and that all motor vehicles that are on the road in Britain must have at least third party motor insurance.
This typically means an annual contract with an insurance provider to protect them against unforeseen incidents. However there are other types of car insurance available, including short term insurance that covers a named driver to operate a vehicle for a period between 1 and 28 days, this is known as short-term car insurance or day car insurance.
Day car insurance can be obtained by most providers and covers any temporary additional drivers including overseas visitors and temporary additional cars. It can also covers unaccompanied vehicle demonstrations, the use of courtesy cars, the lending of a car to another named driver and immediate drive-away insurance if you have just bought a car.
Some providers offer free day car insurance for this purpose through vehicle vendors as an incentive for the customer to renew on an annual agreement, however the customer has no obligation to do this. Temporary or short-term car insurance is available for any car which is taxed and legal to drive with a UK driving license providing the named driver has a full UK, European other valid driving license.
The only other stipulation is that the divers must be aged over 24 years old or 23 for the secondary driver. These requirements are standard for most providers although premiums vary based on provider and standard risk assessment.
One oversight that many drivers do not consider is that when borrowing a vehicle from another party, even if you are both fully comprehensive, you will only have third party cover on set vehicle which in effect means that the actual vehicle you are driving is not insured. In the event of an accident you will be covered for the third party s losses but not for the damage to the car and persons or property in the car.
This is where day car insurance is useful because you can pay a one-off fee to ensure that you are covered under a fully comprehensive policy for as little as one day. Fully comprehensive typically covers damage to the insured vehicle due to an accident, damage or loss caused by fire, theft or vandalism, legal costs and emergency medical fees. Each policy differs and should be read carefully however the previous list is an overview of a standard temporary fully-comprehensive policy.
The insurance industry is regulated by the Financial Services Authority or FSA, who operate under four basic statutory objectives expressed in three broad aims, to promote efficient, orderly and fair markets, to help retail consumers achieve a fair deal and to improve our business capability and effectiveness. If a consumer has a complaint with any financial service they can contact the FSA via their website.
Shaun Parker is an experienced underwriter with over a decade experience in the motor insurance consolidation loans industry specialising in temporary policies.