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Is Short Term Car Insurance A Useful Product For Students

Students home from college or university during holidays can create problems when they want to use a motor car to get about. Usually they are not independently mobile as a result of limited finances and the cost of insurance for younger drivers.

Their parents have usually committed significant financial resources to supporting them in higher education which, in most instances, does not leave enough to assist in the purchase and running costs of a car for the student. That can lead to a dilemma when the returning student asks for permission to borrow their parent’s car.

They must have proper insurance which entails the parents contacting their broker or insurer direct to carry out a mid term adjustment to their annual car insurance policy to include the student as a named driver.

That takes a lot of time and effort, not to mention the additional premium for the adjustment. The worse bit from a parent’s perspective is that any claim whilst the student is driving usually impacts on the parents no claims bonus, resulting in increased premium at annual renewal. Now you can see why it presents parents with problems.

Short term car insurance can, in certain circumstances, provide a solution to the parent’s dilemma. The basis of the temporary car insurance is you can take out separate short term cover for up to 28 days by completing an on line, simplified application and making payment for the period selected.

The process is through the internet searching against the companies URL or search terms such as short term car insurance or temporary car insurance. The day insurance certificate can be printed off at home and the policy is registered with the MID.

In addition, most short term car insurance providers offer uninsured loss recovery as part of the insurance and one company offers dayresQ which is daily roadside recovery. The most important feature of temporary insurance, from a parent’s perspective, is any claim under the policy does not affect the parent’s annual policy no claims discount.

The policy is separate car insurance in the name of the student. It is flexible and can be taken out as frequently as desired even just for the odd day every now and then.

It cannot be all good news can it? Unfortunately it is not, there are strict age restrictions on most policies with the youngest age that is eligible of 21 years of age. The driver must also have had their UK or EEC license for a minimum of 12 months. Clearly this would exclude a lot of returning students from being able to take out the insurance.

However, it does leave most students in their later university years eligible and that may not be such a bad thing as they are able to borrow the car with a little more maturity under their belt. After all would you trust your 19 year old student with the keys to your car, I know my parents did not trust me to drive safely at that tender “I’m bullet proof” age.

So in answer to the question posed by this article, short term car insurance is a great solution to the problem of returning students wanting to borrow the parents car to take all their mates to Glastonbury, provided they are over the age of 21 years.

However there will still be the need to undertake mid term adjustments on the parents annual car insurance policy to insure younger students under the age of 21 years. As they say, you cannot have it all.

When Temporary Car Insurance Is Useful

When might you need temporary car insurance? Let me give you three scenarios.

First up, you don’t have a car of your own but you are borrowing your brother’s for a road trip.

Second, you just bought a car and haven’t had a chance to purchase permanent auto insurance yet.

Third, your auto insurance expired and you haven’t had time to do the research to select the best new auto insurance package yet.

In most jurisdictions, if you don’t have liability insurance while driving you face a huge fine. In some, you lose your license. In each of these cases, temporary car insurance is a measure that keeps you legal while driving.

Temporary car insurance lasts from 1 to 28 days. It is relatively cheap, though on a pro-rata basis is more expensive than longer term insurance would be. If you are going to get it by calling around, start with a company where you already have insurance (say perhaps your homeowner’s insurance or your life insurance company).

But the best place to start is on the internet. While temporary insurance is a relatively new online offering, there are more and more companies offering it.

Some of the factors considered in whether you qualify for insurance include your credit score, driving record, and criminal record. Some companies consider your age or the age of the car. There are a number of different scenarios under which it makes sense to get temporary car insurance. Fortunately, it is now easy to find and secure in this internet wired world.