Short Term Motor Insurance

Operating your own vehicle, you know about the need for auto insurance. In situations where you’re operating someone else’s car for a short period of time, you also need insurance. The policy that you’ll be getting will be different from your auto insurance if the policy you already have doesn’t really cover for driving a rental car for example. And from the terms itself, you’ll know that it provides you coverage for a limited time. You wouldn’t really be driving someone else’s car forever. Just in case your policy runs out and you’re still using the rental, you can always extend the coverage time.

There are mainly two coverage options that short term motor insurance offers you. One would be when you’re renting a car and the other would be where you go off and borrow your friend’s car. For whatever reason, there will be times that you couldn’t use your own car. You might be driving out of state for business and it’s better to fly to that state and rent out a car to get around in that area. When you have auto insurance, it might provide some sort of coverage for rental vehicles but then it can be very limited.

This is where short term motor insurance comes in. This insurance policy will give you the protection you need when driving a rental vehicle. In cases where you get involved in an accident, it might be your fault or another driver’s, you wouldn’t have to pay such exorbitant fees in penalties and you wouldn’t be putting yourself at risk of losing your driver’s license. Most auto insurance policies provide coverage when you’re driving in your home country and your home state but then going out of it, it might not. Here, you need to get short term motor insurance.

As for the other coverage option where you borrow your friend’s car, he or she might have gotten a policy where coverage is extended to guest drivers. Again, this coverage might be limited and it’s not always straightforward. It can offer protection for your friend but then you, as the guest driver might not be covered for medical expenses, liabilities or both. Simply stated, your friend’s policy might only cover damage to your friend’s car in the event of an accident. Make sure that you read on your friend’s car insurance (or ask him about it) before you drive off in it. If it doesn’t explicitly cover you for liability and medical, short term motor insurance is your best option.

It’s not all the time that you’ll be driving your own car to get around. Maybe you’ve taken your car to the garage for some maintenance and borrowed your friend’s car or maybe you’re traveling too far that a rental vehicle is the best choice. In cases where you’re not driving your own car, you’ll get a good amount of protection from liability, medical expenses and other fees when you have short term motor insurance. Remember that accidents happen – even if you’re driving a borrowed car.