Car sharing insurance

Why don’t we car share?

In an ever-growing sharing economy where more and more of our everyday activities are being shared with others, car sharing is yet to become a fully-fledged option.

While we’re more than happy to share our homes with others for a holiday (Airbnb), or feel we no longer need to own our own entertainment (Netflix & Spotify) we are less reluctant to share the responsibility of driving a car.

Sure, we’re more than happy to get a lift from strangers (Uber) or even with strangers in the case of UberPOOL but when it comes to sharing our own cars and the sharing the driving responsibility, it just hasn’t caught on.

Issues with insurance

One of the biggest reasons behind the lack of an established car sharing industry is the lack of viable and affordable insurance options.

As all drivers must be properly insured to use a specific vehicle, it can often be difficult to find cover that allows you to simply hop in a car and drive it away without having to adjust existing annual insurance.

Historically, drivers would be able to drive another vehicle with the ‘driving other cars’ clause which was common in most annual insurance policies.

In recent years, however, more and more insurers have either adjusted the cover on this clause, so it only provides third-party only insurance when driving another car, even on a comprehensive annual policy or has got rid of the ‘driving other cars’ clause entirely.

This move has gone widely unreported which means that many drivers who assumed that they have car insurance to borrow or share the driving in another car are in fact completely uninsured and are driving illegally.

Whatever the situation with your annual insurance provider, it’s fair to say that for most people, getting insurance for car sharing isn’t as simple and straightforward as we’d like it to be.

If you’re one of these people looking for cover that provides car sharing insurance and makes car sharing a viable option, then you should try temporary car insurance from Tempcover.

Temporary car sharing insurance

Temporary insurance is ideal for car sharing as it not only covers you to use another vehicle or have someone else use your vehicle for a set duration but as it’s a separate, standalone policy it won’t have any impact on your existing insurance and protects the vehicle owners No Claims Discount if the worst were to happen.

Short term car sharing insurance works in exactly the same way as regular, annual insurance except it’s flexible to suit your needs.

You get comprehensive cover as standard and all policies are available from just one day up to one month at a time, so whether you are car sharing occasionally or on a more permanent basis, you can get the duration you need without having to pay for cover you don’t want.

Getting a policy is quick and easy and takes less than 10 minutes. You just need to enter a few details about yourself (if you’re looking for car insurance for the one borrowing) or whoever you want to drive your car, and some basic information about the car you want insured.

From there you’ll be presented with a range of quotes from our panel of insurers. We compare prices from a number of top insurers to make sure you get the best deal possible and save yourself time and money.

You can customise your policy to suit your situation, from selecting the specific start time you want your policy to begin to add a range of affordable extras from UK breakdown & misfuel cover to gadget protection, you get the policy you want and only pay for what you need.

Whatever your car sharing needs, we are confident that you can get insurance for car sharing quickly, easily, and at a price you can afford.

When could you car share?

There’s no one particular situation where car sharing is the best option, but it could be ideal for a range of everyday journeys. You could be sharing the trip to save money, save the environment or you may just want to share the ride with a friend.

Commuting

The average journey time for UK commuters is around 54 minutes but for most, it’s a lot longer. For almost 4 million of us, a commute of two hours or more is a daily occurrence.

Those long, gruelling trips to and from work can be extremely boring and lonely but one way to beat the boredom and get a bit of social interaction on the way to the office is by car sharing with a colleague or even a neighbour who works close by.

Not only is car sharing on a commute a great way to make friends and pass the time, but it can have great benefits for your wallet and for the environment. It could also be a great temporary solution if you’re ill, injured or pregnant.

You could save thousands of pounds on travel costs by avoiding public transport and by carrying one or more passengers with you, you reduce the number of cars on the road. Many companies will even offer rewards and incentives for employees to car share.

If you feel like a having a bit of company on your commute and don’t mind spending an extra hour or two with the people you work with, then car sharing could be a great way to start your day.

Road Trips

Long car journeys are an unfortunate part of any road trip and unless you have endless panoramic, picturesque views to keep you going, hours spent driving from place to place can soon get tiresome, even if you’re travelling with friends.

Regardless of how entertaining your passengers are or how good the road trip mix-tape you’ve put together is, if you’re spending hours on the road, you are going to get tired and driving tired is incredibly dangerous.

According to Tempcover research, over a third of drivers are unaware of the true impact of driving while tired.

Driving after being awake for an extended period of time, say for example at the end of a long days driving, can make you drive in a similar way to if you had a blood alcohol content BAC) level of .05.

When you consider that a .10 BAC level is the maximum limit for drivers England and Wales and .06 is the limit in Scotland, you can see the true impact of driving while tired.

To avoid driving when tired and the impaired reaction time and decreased performance that comes with it, you could take regular breaks but if you’re keen to keep time, you should consider sharing the driving responsibility.

Sharing the drive on a long journey will allow each driver to get the rest and time away from the wheel they need to ensure they’re alert when it’s their turn to take over.

Ordinarily, this situation would, like all car sharing scenarios be an insurance headache but with Tempcover, you’re able to get a policy for someone to drive your car quickly and easily.

Cover is available instantly and your policy documents are emailed to you straight away, so even if you decide to share the drive half way through your trip, you can get comprehensive cover in a flash.

Wherever you are car sharing, get fast, flexible, and affordable car sharing insurance from the UK’s leading provider of temporary insurance.

Find out how much you could save on car sharing insurance in the UK by comparing quotes now.