Can I use short term insurance to tax my car?

Let’s say you’ve just bought yourself a brand-new set of wheels and you can’t wait to go out for a spin. But there are still some annoying life-admin tasks standing your way. For instance, you need to insure the new car and then tax it. Yup, in that order.

And if you haven’t had time to find an annual car insurance policy, it might feel like you’re rushing into this big commitment just so you can get on the road. There are so many different car insurance providers out there, and you’re well within your right to get as many quotes as possible before you make a bigger commitment.

Yet, finding car insurance often feels like a stressful rush job or a box to tick. But, it doesn’t have to be this way. Short term car insurance can be a great way to tax your car and take your time choosing an annual car insurance policy.

Short term car insurance, also known as instant car insurance or temporary car insurance is exactly what it sounds like. It provides cover for a set period of time – anywhere from an hour to a few weeks – and can be arranged in minutes.

Temporary car insurance is designed to be a fully featured car insurance policy offering comprehensive cover. There are some important differences between comprehensive cover offered by short term insurance and fully comprehensive insurance cover offered by annual policies. As is always the case, you need to check the details before buying to make sure the policy meets your needs.

There are all sorts of reasons why people might need temporary car insurance. You might use it when you’re borrowing a friend’s car, sharing the driving, or when you’ve just bought a new car and haven’t had time to find an annual insurance policy.

So if you’re still shopping around for annual car insurance, short term cover could be a great option in the interim.

How you can use short term car insurance to tax your car

Taxing your car is a legal requirement if you’re planning on driving it in the UK. There are very few exceptions to this rule.

If you’ve just bought your new car, all you need is the green “new keeper” slip from the log book to tax it online. You can do this before you apply for a new log book as long as you were given the slip when you bought the car.

It’s fairly easy to do, but you need insurance in place to complete the process. The DVLA will check their Motor Insurance Database when you try to tax your car, and you won’t be able to do so if it is untaxed.

Rather than rushing to buy an annual insurance policy, you can take out short term car insurance through Zixty to tax your car. Our insurance policies take minutes to arrange, and can last anywhere between an hour to a few weeks.

All you have to do is download our app and you can arrange cover in just a few taps. This gives you the opportunity to tax your car and take your time to find the best deal on the market. It’s worth knowing that it can take the Motor Insurers Database (MID) up to 48 hours to be updated with your policy, and longer at weekends. So, you may not want to leave this til the last minute.