Short term or temporary car insurance is a way to get insured to drive without having to get an annual policy. There are a couple of types of policy that you can get including a daily policy and a monthly pay as you go policy.
The first and arguably most popular for young drivers is the daily car insurance option. This allows you to insure yourself to drive a car for just one day or anywhere up to 28 consecutive days. You can however by multiple policies over time, you may get cover for the weekend and then a month later take out a policy to cover you to drive for a week. Generally the more days of cover that you buy the cheaper each concurrent day becomes.
An alternative if you need slightly longer coverage is the pay as you go monthly car insurance policy. This can be taken out for a minimum of 1 month or for as many as 8 months. Rather than having to specify how many months you want cover for you just pay as you go for each additional month. This means you can stop the policy at any time without having to worry about cancellation fees.
Additionally this type of temp car insurance does not require a deposit, you just pay the monthly premium that you are quoted for each month. This type of policy is particularly good for new or young drivers as after 8 months if you have not made a claim you accrue a years worth of no claims. As you know this will greatly reduce your premiums for your next policy by as much as a third.
As a young driver you will most likely had difficulty getting covered for short term driving. Temp car insurance under 25 is getting more and more difficult to obtain, however there are still several insurers who can provide you with temp cover if you need a daily policy. A pay as you go policy is more flexible and you can get covered if you are a driver as young as 17 years old.
There are certain exclusions that you will need to bear in mind such as underwriters no willing to underwrite policies for risky drivers on a short term basis. If you have a modified, custom or high insurance group vehicle you will not be able to get temporary coverage. These days insurers are not willing to risk the exposure to potentially expensive claims.