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Every state requires insurance or proof of financial responsibility to drive on public roads—even if you're just renting or borrowing a car for the day. There's no such thing as one-day car insurance, but you can get temporary car insurance for one day by purchasing rental car coverage or using the vehicle owner's car insurance.
What Is One-Day Car Insurance?
One-day car insurance doesn't exist; most insurers offer a minimum six-month policy term. However, there are other options for getting temporary car insurance, including buying insurance from the car rental company when you rent a car or using the vehicle owner's policy when you borrow a car. You can also buy non-owner car insurance if you don't own a car but frequently rent or borrow vehicles.
How to Get Temporary Car Insurance
You can find short-term car insurance policies, which typically last 30 days, designed for uninsured drivers who need temporary coverage while renting or borrowing a vehicle. However, these policies usually offer only basic liability coverage. Because purchasing these short-term car policies can be risky, it's generally wiser to use one of the following options when you need temporary car insurance.
If You're Renting a Car
Rental car companies sell collision damage waiver (CDW) coverage, which covers the cost if your rented vehicle is damaged or stolen. You can buy this rental car insurance (sometimes called a loss damage waiver, or LDW) when you reserve or pick up the vehicle. Other rental car coverage you may want includes:
- Supplemental liability insurance: State law usually requires rental car companies to provide a minimum amount of liability insurance for drivers. However, you can also buy supplemental liability coverage from the car rental company if you want more protection.
- Personal accident insurance: The CDW/LDW doesn't cover medical or ambulance costs if you or your passengers are injured during an accident in the rental car. You can buy personal accident insurance from the car rental company to cover these expenses, but you may not need it if you have health insurance that pays your medical costs.
- Personal effects insurance: Personal effects coverage pays to replace items stolen from a rental car. Before buying this insurance, check to see if your homeowners or renters insurance covers the theft of items from a vehicle; many do.
If You're Driving a Borrowed Car
If someone gives you permission to borrow their car, their auto insurance generally covers you even if you aren't listed on their policy. Known as "permissive user" coverage, this typically covers damage to the vehicle, as well as liability coverage for medical costs if you or your passengers are injured while driving the borrowed car.
Permissive users aren't covered if they're using the car for business or aren't licensed to drive. Some car insurance policies specifically limit coverage to the car's owner, so it's important for the owner to check their policy details before lending you the car. There may also be lower coverage limits for permissive users than for someone named on the policy.
If you plan to drive someone else's car frequently and their policy has limited coverage for permissive users, you have a couple of options.
- See if they can add you to their car insurance. Generally, you must either be related to the vehicle owner or live at the same address to be listed on their auto policy, so this may not be an option in every situation.
- Purchase non-owner car insurance. This secondary insurance kicks in after the car owner's insurance pays out and provides basic liability coverage. It may also include uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage and medical payments or personal injury protection (PIP) coverage, which pays for injuries you cause to people in another car. Non-owner car insurance isn't sold everywhere, but if it's available in your state, you can typically buy it for six months for less than the cost of standard auto insurance.
If You Drive Infrequently
If you own a car but don't drive often, purchasing pay-per-mile car insurance could save you money compared to standard auto insurance. Pay-per-mile car insurance isn't temporary insurance and isn't sold in every state. It includes the same coverage as standard auto insurance; however, your monthly payment can vary depending on your mileage.
Pay-per-mile car insurance payments are determined in two parts. Your base rate, which is set when you purchase coverage, is always the same. Depending on your policy, you'll pay the base rate per month or per day that you use your car. On top of the base rate, you'll pay a per-mile fee (typically a few cents per mile) for the distance you actually drive. The insurance company verifies your mileage each month to calculate your payment.
Low-mileage discounts are another way to save on car insurance if you rarely drive. Many insurance companies offer discounts if your annual mileage is less than average. What counts as low mileage can vary from one insurer to another, but you'll generally qualify if you drive fewer than 10,000 miles per year.
Can You Get Same-Day Car Insurance?
You can typically get car insurance within a day from many insurance companies. The fastest way to get car insurance is to purchase it online. You can shop for car insurance online using an auto quote comparison tool.
Choose the policy you want, submit an application and you'll often get approval in just a few minutes. Once you're approved, you can use a credit card or electronic funds transfer to pay your premium and download your insurance card to your digital wallet or print out a copy right away.
Purchasing insurance through an insurance agent may take a little longer than buying a policy online. Check with the agent to see how quickly they can get approval and activate your coverage.
Protect Yourself Whenever You Drive
Although there's no such thing as one-day car insurance, there are plenty of ways to get temporary coverage for short-term driving needs. Your credit-based insurance score may affect the price you pay for auto insurance. In many states, insurers can use these scores when setting your premiums, which means having a good credit score could save you money on car insurance.
Experian's auto insurance quote comparison tool can help you save on car insurance too. You'll get quotes from multiple top insurers all in one place, making it easy to compare prices and coverage.