In the UK it is a legal requirement for you to have a valid car insurance policy in place to be able to drive on the road. It is estimated that at least 1 in every 20 drivers are driving without valid insurance.
For the majority of law abiding citizens this means that we have to subsidise the illegal drivers on our roads. This means inflated car insurance premiums so each and every one of us is paying a little bit extra when we get our cars insured. So when you are getting a new policy you want to be able to get the most cost effective option for your situation. A majority of the time this will mean getting a quote for your annual car insurance policy, most likely through one of the online comparison sites.
There are however certain circumstances under which you would not need a full years worth of cover. You may only drive occasionally or for a short period, maybe a couple of weeks in the year. This means that if you purchased a years worth of car insurance you would be paying for more cover than you need.
You may not even have a car and just occasionally borrow a friend or relatives vehicle. In this case you may only need car insurance on a temporary basis, this is where temporary car insurance works out to be more cost effective. A temporary policy allows you to get covered to drive your own car or another car for a period of up to 28 days. You can also get cover to drive a van which is useful if you are moving house or buying a large item for your home that will not fit into your car.
If you drive for a month or more but not a whole year then another alternative is to get a pay as you go monthly car insurance policy. This allows you to obtain cover for a month at a time and can be stopped at any time with no cancellation fees. It is also a good alternative to getting temp cover under 21 as many insurers will not cover anyone under 21 years of age.