Car sharing insurance

Car sharing insurance can be an affordable way to get on the road insured. If you only need to share the drive for a short amount of time, a single trip or just a few days then temporary cover to drive a shared car can be ideal.

Because temporary car sharing insurance is in your own name rather than on the car owner's annual policy, any claim you make is handled separately and will not affect their no-claims discount. This makes it a cleaner arrangement than being added as a named driver, particularly for one-off or infrequent journeys.

The cost of a car sharing insurance quote will will depend on things such as your age, experience, where you live, when you need cover, the car you'll drive and how long you need to drive it for.

Getting temporary car sharing insurance is a straightforward process. You enter the vehicle details and the period of cover you need, and the quote is returned without unnecessary form-filling. Because the policy is in your own name, you are covered as a driver of that specific vehicle for the period you select, regardless of who owns it.

Our simple quote process for temporary car sharing insurance means you can get a quote in no time with just a few simple steps...

Before sharing the driving for any journey, it's important that you have the right insurance in place. Not all comprehensive insurance policies allow you to drive another car so don't make the mistake of assuming this

If you already have an annual comprehensive car insurance policy in your name, you might be covered to drive someone else's car under the 'Driving Other Cars' (DOC) rules.

However, this is not standard and not everyone has this cover in their Comprehensive policy. If you do have DOC, it is only meant for emergencies and not regular use.

Drivers under the age of 25 will not usually have DOC cover, so make sure you check with your insurer before choosing the share the drive without taking out a separate specific policy.

It's important to be aware that when you share the drive using someone else's car under Driving Other Cars, the cover changes from Comprehensive to only covering damage to the other car or other people if you have an accident - referred to as Third Party Only (TPO).

If you don't have your own insurance then you can be added as a second driver or 'named driver' to another person's policy.

However, if a second driver has to make a claim on this policy then it would impact the main driver's No Claims Discount (also known as No Claims Bonus). It could potentially increase their insurance premium at renewal.

This is why it can be a great to choose temporary car sharing insurance for one off trips or events.

Our car sharing insurance can provide you with specific cover from one hour to a few days, a couple of weeks to 28 days and takes less than a minute to get a price.

If only one person needs to drive, borrowing car insurance is the simpler option - cover for one driver, one policy, without a sharing arrangement.

If you only take out the exact amount of time on cover that you need to drive the car you're sharing, then you can keep your car sharing insurance premium to a minimum.

There is no obligation to commit to cover in advance. You can get a quote at any time and purchase it when you need it, right up until the moment you want to start driving. Premiums reflect your driving history, the vehicle, and the duration, so comparing quotes for different lengths of cover can help you find the right balance.

Choose from as little as one hour all the way up to 28 days. If you need more time after one policy ends, then you can take out new temporary car policies to cover your car sharing.

The arrangement that comes up most often is a car shared between two or three people - flatmates, siblings, or a couple where only one person's name is on the registration. Rather than all of them being added permanently to a single annual policy, each person takes out cover for the windows when they actually need to drive. The same approach works for a car kept at a family home that different people use at different times of year: a parent's spare car, a car left behind when someone moved away, or a second vehicle that does low annual mileage.

Covertime Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under Firm Reference Number 1022738. You can verify this on the FCA register. Covertime is also a member of the British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) - the UK's leading professional body for insurance brokers and intermediaries. You can view our BIBA listing in their broker directory.

Over 700 customers have rated us 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot. Our temporary car insurance is also listed on Compare the Market, GoCompare and MoneySupermarket - each of which independently vets the providers they feature before making them available to customers.

Our car insurance policies are underwritten by a panel of FCA-authorised UK insurers, including First Underwriting, Allianz, KGM and Somerset Bridge.

Buying insurance from an FCA-regulated firm means you have defined protections. If you have a complaint that Covertime cannot resolve to your satisfaction, you have the right to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service - a free, independent service for consumers. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) may be able to provide compensation if a regulated firm cannot meet its financial obligations. If your policy has not started, you can cancel for a full refund.

Car sharing works best when each driver holds their own separately documented policy. Regulated cover from a firm listed on Compare the Market, GoCompare and MoneySupermarket means each driver's policy is legally independent, protecting the car owner and every driver from gaps in cover.