Best Temporary Auto Insurance in 2024 (Find the Top 10 Companies Here!)

The best temporary auto insurance providers are State Farm, Geico, and Progressive, known for their excellent coverage and customer service.

Temporary auto insurance is available from some providers and is often offered by car dealerships when purchasing a vehicle, providing short-term coverage. Learn more in our “Understanding How Auto Insurance Works.”

Our Top 10 Company Picks: Best Temporary Auto Insurance

This article explores the specifics of these policies, including whether they are temporary or standard, and offers advice on choosing the right insurance for new and used cars.

The best way to get the cheapest auto insurance coverage is to get multiple quotes to compare. Use our free tool to get multiple temporary car insurance quotes.

Temporary Auto Insurance Monthly Rates by Coverage Level & Provider

Allstate, for instance, offers minimum coverage at $67 and full coverage at $160 per month, making it a moderate option among others. American Family and Farmers present slightly higher rates with minimum coverages at $76 and $79 and full coverages at $173 and $181, respectively.

Geico and Liberty Mutual offer their minimum coverages at $85 and $79, with full coverages at $178 and $207, highlighting a more significant jump in full coverage rates. Delve into our evaluation of “Affordable Full Coverage Auto Insurance.”

Nationwide and Progressive are on the higher end for full coverage, costing $217 and $200, respectively, while their minimum coverage stands at $83 and $80. State Farm shows a competitive edge with the highest minimum coverage cost at $86 but the lowest full coverage rate at $153.

Travelers and USAA round out the list with Travelers offering a minimum of $75 and full coverage at $191, and USAA marking the highest rates for both minimum and full coverage at $90 and $222, respectively. This range of rates provides a broad spectrum for consumers to choose from, depending on their coverage needs and budget constraints.

Temporary Auto Insurance Explained

First, let’s clarify what temporary auto insurance is and how it works.

Most auto insurance works on a long-term basis: you buy insurance for a 6-month or 12-month term, and your car insurance is automatically renewed for the lifetime of your vehicle. This is ordinary car insurance. You can pay for monthly car insurance, but you will be buying it from the same company.

Temporary car insurance works in a different way. You can get one-day auto insurance, week-long insurance, or month-long insurance. It will generally provide the same coverages as ordinary car insurance, just for a shorter time.

When Can You Get Temporary Auto Insurance

You must first determine when to buy car insurance and what coverage is needed.

Let’s say you’re renting a moving truck from U-Haul for the day. You might buy temporary car insurance to cover the rental van as moving truck insurance.

Alternatively, you might buy temporary car insurance if you’re only in a location for two or three months. Let’s say you’re flying to Hawaii for work on a 2 or 3-month contract. Rental car insurance can get messy when renting for periods beyond 30 days.

Meanwhile, traditional car insurance providers may require a 6-month or 12-month commitment. You might need special temporary car insurance.

Some people also buy temporary car insurance if they’re away for a long vacation. You might be a snowbird flying south for the winter, for example. You buy temporary car insurance to cover your car up north during the summer months.

There are all sorts of reasons to buy temporary car insurance. Let’s take a closer look at how it’s used when purchasing a car.

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Dealer Temporary Auto Insurance

The automobile dealer’s insurance will cover any vehicles on its lot. Once a vehicle is purchased, the buyer will need to carry insurance on the vehicle.

You will need to know if car dealerships give temporary insurance. If they do not offer it, you would need to ask your insurance company about coverage.

In this section, we will cover some of the most common concerns about car dealerships and temporary car insurance. Keep reading to get your questions answered.

Can I Buy a Car From a Dealership Without Insurance

Can you buy a car if you don’t have insurance? When buying a new car, insurance grace periods will typically cover you for a couple of days until you can get regular insurance, such as Geico’s new car grace period.

Some dealerships, for example, won’t allow you to drive off the lot unless you buy temporary car insurance or have concrete proof that your insurance extends to newly purchased vehicles.

Do Dealerships Offer Temporary Insurance on New Cars

Yes, most dealerships offer temporary insurance on new cars. Some dealers even will require you to have insurance in place when buying a new car.

You can also check with your usual car insurance company for temporary insurance.

Do I Need Insurance Before I Buy a Used Car

Temporary car insurance is typically used when purchasing a used vehicle from somewhere other than the dealership.

You need insurance before you buy a used car from an independent seller. You need to buy temporary car insurance to protect your car on the drive to your home. The car dealership allows you to buy temporary car insurance that covers you for the day or even the week; however, a private seller won’t have that option.

Once your car is safe at home in your garage, you can buy a full-term auto insurance policy. You can compare quotes online as you normally would. Your temporary car insurance expires, and your full-term car insurance begins.

If you are buying a used car, you will also want to check the vehicle’s history to make sure you know everything about it.

Do Car Dealers Offer Temporary Insurance on Used Cars

Yes, they offer the same temporary insurance when you buy used cars and new cars.

Again, check with your normal car insurance company to see what coverages they offer and if you even need temporary coverage.

Do I Have to Have Auto Insurance at All

In most states, auto insurance is mandatory, although the minimum auto insurance that you have to sign up for differs on the amount of auto liability insurance needed by state. Temporary auto insurance will have the same coverage, just for a shorter period of time.

In addition to liability insurance, comprehensive and collision coverage are also common. These coverages help protect your car and people in your car, while liability coverage only extends to the property damage and bodily injury for others in an accident that you cause.

This video goes into detail about the types of car insurance available.

As you can see, there are many different types of car insurance coverage available to you. Pick your coverage based on your specific needs.

What Happens if I Drive Without Insurance

Each state has its own penalties for driving without auto insurance. The table below lists the penalties by state. Use the search box to find your state.

Penalties for Driving Without Auto Insurance by State

As you can see, there are stiff penalties for driving without car insurance. Make sure you are covered, either with a normal policy or temporary insurance.

Can I Drive a Car Without Insurance if I Just Bought It

That depends on if you currently have car insurance. Many companies will give you a grace period where they cover any new cars purchased.  You will want to check with your car insurance company to make sure they have this service. If not, you can’t drive a car without being insured.

How to Find Cheap Temporary Auto Insurance

Many of America’s leading best auto insurance companies also provide temporary auto insurance. Other companies specialize in providing short-term auto insurance.

Is Temporary Car Insurance Expensive

The first thing to consider is just how much is temporary car insurance. Temporary car insurance is not expensive if you are only using it for a short amount of time. It can get very expensive if you keep it long-term.

Temporary coverage is around $15 a day, which is pretty cheap. But if you kept that coverage for a month, that adds up to $450. It can get more expensive the longer you keep it.

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With an ordinary policy, you can qualify for additional auto insurance discounts to help bring down your rates and make your policy even cheaper.

Reasons to Buy Temporary Insurance

In other situations, you might buy temporary car insurance when lending a vehicle to someone else. You might trust your own driving skills but are less certain about someone else’s driving ability. In this situation, you may wish to buy temporary car insurance during the day on which you plan to lend the vehicle to a friend.

You might add supplemental insurance – like higher coverage limits – when lending your vehicle, for example. Or, you could buy an entirely new policy to cover the borrowing period.

Others use temporary insurance when moving RVs, motorcycles, sports cars, or other types of vehicle only driven at certain times of the year. You might have purchased an RV in another state, for example, and are planning to drive it home. You buy temporary insurance to cover the RV while you get it to its final destination. Snowbirds may use a similar strategy when relocating from south to north and vice versa.

Finally, some people use temporary car insurance if they simply cannot afford to buy a 6-month or 12-month insurance policy at this time. If you cannot afford a long-term insurance policy and don’t have enough credit to set up a monthly payment plan with your insurer, then you may need to buy temporary car insurance.

Learn more: Affordable Non-Cancellable Auto Insurance 

When Is Temporary Car Insurance Needed

Some of the most common reasons to buy temporary car insurance include:

• You are in between car insurance policies, but you still need to drive
• You are insuring a rental car or another vehicle for a cross-country road trip; say, when relocating to a new state or driving south for the winter
• Friends, relatives, or house guests are renting your vehicle for a brief period of time
• You only have possession of the vehicle temporarily
• You are leaving your car in storage but still want some level of insurance on the vehicle
• You are preparing to sell a vehicle; you want to temporarily insure it to move it around or show it to potential buyers
• A university student is home for a break and needs to drive the vehicle for a brief period of time
• You give your child a vehicle to put in his or her name
• You just purchased a vehicle from a car dealership and need temporary car insurance to drive it home

In some of the situations above, you may not need to buy temporary car insurance at all. Your car insurance might provide adequate coverage.

When lending your car to someone else, for example, your car insurance should remain active. As long as the other individual has permission to drive your vehicle, your car insurance follows the vehicle.

Do I Need Temporary Car Insurance When Renting a Car

When renting a car, your credit card company might extend coverage. As long as you buy the rental car using your credit card and your credit card has rental car coverage, then you may not need to buy temporary car insurance for your rental car.

Your credit card’s rental car insurance coverage may not cover non-standard vehicles: it would cover an economy vehicle but not a moving truck, for example.

We recommend reading your car insurance policy or contacting your insurance agent to determine if you need temporary coverage.

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Short-Term Car Insurance Factors

Short-term car insurance may be the right choice for you. Other things you need to know about temporary auto insurance include:

• Typically, a temporary auto insurance policy is taken out for a period of 1 to 28 days. If you are planning to have insurance for more than, say, 1 month, then you may want to find a monthly auto insurance policy
• Alternatively, many temporary auto insurance companies allow you to extend your coverage beyond the 28-day limit
• Avoid buying low coverage limits on your temporary car insurance coverage if driving a high-end vehicle; many people buy the cheapest possible temporary coverage, only to get into an accident and find the insurance barely covers any of the costs
• Make sure you understand the temporary auto insurance coverage; some temporary car insurance policies have many exclusions that make it difficult to make a claim
• Check your temporary car insurance policy to verify it has coverage for “Acts of God”, for example; some temporary car insurance policies will not pay out a claim if your car was damaged during a storm, a hurricane, or a similar “Act of God” scenario
• Verify whether the temporary car insurance provides just basic liability coverage or if it’s a full coverage car insurance policy; a full coverage policy would include coverage for theft, vandalism, and environmental damage, while a basic liability policy may only include coverage for collisions with other vehicles

You might already have automatic temporary car insurance through your existing policy, your credit card company, or your rental car company. Make sure you’re not over-insuring yourself and paying for car insurance that you don’t need.

Just like with ordinary insurance, rates, and coverages offered will differ from company to company. The best way to get the coverage and rates you want is to get multiple quotes.

Compare temporary car insurance quotes online to find the right policy for you. Start saving on your auto insurance by entering your ZIP code below and comparing quotes.

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