Imagine you and your friends are going on a legendary journey from the East Coast all the way to Mexico City. Your friend has given up his car for the trip and you have made plans to change driving. Before you leave, you both want to make sure your auto insurance coverage goes up and down.
Do you need unique protection to own the car? Does he need extra protection for you? Is the insurance coverage good in Mexico? Is short term car insurance the right way to go?
I’m here to help untangle the hassle of short-term auto insurance so you can enjoy your trip to the supermarket or to Mexico City with coverage!
What is Short Term Car Insurance?
Short-term car insurance is insurance coverage that covers a car that you will only own for a short period of time, usually 6 months or less. But the point is, such plans don’t really exist—at least from reliable insurance providers. The only exception is car rental packages (I’ll cover those listed below).
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But if you only need car insurance for a few days or months, you’re not completely out of luck. There are several ways you can navigate the need to purchase a six-month full coverage policy—and it’s easier than you might think. Let’s see!
Getting a friend’s car for a week while you yourself stay in the shop, buying a car you know you’ll likely have for a few months, renting a car—understanding that there are so many situations where short-term car insurance can be useful! Here are some circumstances to think about.
Non-Owner Car Insurance
Non-owner car insurance is a type of plan that provides coverage when you don’t own a car but still need insurance. Practically, this is not short term car insurance as you will still need to purchase a six or 12 month plan. But it protects you when you use someone else’s car for a while. When can that happen? Well, maybe you travel a few days or weeks a month and use a lot of rental cars. Or maybe you need to get a family member’s vehicle for 2 months. In these circumstances, non-owner car insurance can be the best way because it is cheaper than regular coverage.
An important point to remember about non-owner auto insurance is that it usually only provides liability coverage. This type of protection protects you if you cause physical injury or property damage to other people or their vehicles. Car insurance suits you, not the car. So whether you’re driving your mom’s car, a rental car or something else, you’re covered.
Car Rental Insurance
When it comes to short term car insurance for rental cars, you have a choice. As I mentioned earlier, you can choose to get non-owner car insurance coverage if you don’t own a car but use rental cars frequently. But if you own a car, chances are your current car package will include rental use. So if you have an accident while driving a rental, your current coverage will also be applied to the rental car. (Again, car insurance is up to you, not the car.)
If you’ve rented a car before, you know you get a sales pitch for buying rental car insurance from the rental company. Car rental insurance purchased directly from the rental company can be expensive, and if you currently own your own vehicle, it may not be necessary.
Depending on their plan, the rental company’s insurance may limit coverage, which could keep you in trouble. But you can get a deductible — the amount you pay before coverage begins — with a rental plan as opposed to your own personal plan. You may also have the ability to purchase a larger coverage limit if you are concerned about a dangerous or unknown location you may pass or pass. Finally, if you don’t carry your own extensive or collision insurance for your personal vehicle, you can include it in your car rental plan just to be safe. This way, if the car is damaged or destroyed, you have protection.
Many credit cards, especially those that charge an annual fee, include car rental coverage as part of their solution. Right now, to be clear, I don’t recommend using a credit card for a rental car just to get insurance coverage. Actually, I don’t recommend using a credit card rating, for anything!
In most situations, rental car insurance is not required. Whatever you decide to do, contact your insurance company before you rent a car and find out what your coverage will be like.
Changing Current Scope
So we’ve covered non-owner car insurance and rental car insurance, but how about adapting your current car plan for everything else? Let’s dive into some situations where changing your current coverage might be a smart idea.
- For relatives who got your car. Many insurance providers will require anyone of legal driving age who lives in your home to be included in your car package. This immediately ensures (and guarantees) that the spouse and children with the SIM are protected without the need to set up a unique plan for each person who purchases to own your vehicle. In fact, with many companies, you have to specifically eliminate someone in your immediate family to buy so they are not covered by your plan. Remember, including additional drivers can increase your price, so talk to an insurance representative before joining a filled line.
- When non-family participants get your car. There is a point that is included in most auto insurance coverage called “liberal driver.” Basically, if someone has your consent to own your car, they are covered by your car insurance. But if this ends up being a more regular or long-lasting arrangement compared to a few days or weeks, your insurance company may want to see them listed as an additional driver in the plan.
- For an intern driver at your home. If you do have kids who are going to university and recently returned home due to institutional breakdown, you may be able to upgrade your plans. They will still be protected when they are home and driving and you can get a discounted rate.
Some other times you may need special insurance coverage are if you plan to buy a car and resell it afterwards, if you are driving to Canada or Mexico, or if you are between cars and buying a car from several people in the meantime. . Whatever the situation, be sure to sign in with an insurance representative you can trust.
How to Buy Short Term Car Insurance
Since we’ve been through so many different situations, the next question is, “How do I buy short-term car insurance?” Well, you kind of don’t. Remember earlier when I said that most U.S. auto insurance providers. only write plans for six months or 1 year each time? Reliable insurance providers are not in the business of writing interim plans for days or weeks.
Our initial advice is to see what your current plan includes. It’s much more protected than you might know, especially if you work with a strong and credible insurance company. And second, you always have the option of purchasing a non-owner plan if you don’t have current car insurance but still plan to drive a variety of other people’s vehicles. But just going out and buying 5 day car insurance? Yeah, not really going to happen.
10 Best Car Insurance Packages in Singapore
While it may be attractive to simply restore your current auto insurance plan and get the task off track, you may be missing out on the better deals out there. For starters, you may get more affordable auto insurance premiums with other insurance providers. (You will need to get a quote online, as the cost of insurance depends on the driver’s account, the make and model of the car.)
Today, many auto insurance plans come with great features that cater for a variety of needs, be it individual roadside assistance, youth driver coverage, or a long list of conveniently located repair shops. Don’t lose to that either.
Here are the best auto insurance plans in Singapore so you can see how your current plan stacks up. For easy contrast, we will cover each insurance company’s extensive plans only.
What to pay attention to when buying car insurance?
1 type of car insurance
The first thing to consider is the type of car insurance. There are usually 3 types of car insurance plans:
3rd Party Just: One of the most basic auto insurance plans, it covers injury or death to a third party, plus damage to other people’s property. This does not cover damage to your own vehicle.
Third Party Stopping and Theft: In addition to what Third Party car insurance offers, this also includes stopping the breakdown or theft of your vehicle. Again, this does not cover the cost of various other troubles for your own vehicle.
Extensive: Consists of what Third Party Disconnection and Theft covers, plus coverage for repairs or replacements required for accidental problems with your vehicle. It may also consist of individual accident and clinical expense coverage.
3rd Party Just is the bare minimum you should get for your car. If you are looking for more complete coverage, you should opt for an extensive package that covers your vehicle’s problems in the event of an accident.
2 How much extra are you prepared to pay?
Extras describe the maximum amount you can anticipate paying out of your own pocket in the event of an insurance claim. However, these extras are only payable during the circumstances for which you were liable. For example, if your extra plan is S$500 and your claim is S$2,000, you will only have to pay S$500 while your insurance company pays the remaining S$1,500.
How much you are prepared to pay in extra plans in the event of an accident will affect the car insurance plan you choose.
Generally, the bigger the extra, the lower the cost and vice versa. This is because you are dealing with a higher ‘cost’ by paying a larger extra in the event of an accident and will therefore be awarded a lower fee. This is one way to lower your insurance costs.
3 Authorized workshop only, or workshop of your choice
Most auto insurance plans motivate you to make repairs among the many authorized repair shops approved by the insurance provider. This assures you and your insurance provider of the quality and price of the repair.
However, if you really have a preferred repair shop, or if you have the versatility to have your car repaired at any garage, you should choose a strategy that provides those options. Usually, auto insurance plans that allow repairs at any repair shop will cost you more.
Additional factors to consider when choosing a car insurance plan:
Additional driver: Will someone else drive the vehicle? If so, you will need to include a ‘named driver’ or ‘additional driver’ into the plan which will also be guaranteed to have a car. The ‘named/additional’ driver usually has the same amount of coverage as the main driver and will be charged an additional fee.
Roadside assistance: Does it guarantee you to have access to roadside assistance any time of the day if you have an accident? If the answer is yes, see if a car insurance plan offers 24/7 roadside assistance. This can be especially useful for newer drivers who are unsure of maintenance in the event of an accident.
No Claims Discount (NCD): How much is your NCD? The NCD gives you a discount rate on the cost of your auto insurance and is determined by how many claims you made (or didn’t make) during the previous year. If your NCD is between 30% to 50%, you might consider adding a rider such as an NCD protector to protect your NCD in the event of an insurance claim.
Daily transportation allocation: This is the allocation you will receive from the insurance provider for each day the vehicle is repaired. This allocation is based on the terms of the insurance company and can be added.
Overseas coverage: If you need coverage overseas, for example if you have frequent in and from Malaysia, you will need a car insurance plan that offers such coverage. Keep in mind that most insurance providers have a fairly standard geographic location that they provide coverage for – especially West Malaysia and Southern Thailand.
Lastly, if you are a young driver, anticipate the costs and extras will be greater due to your lack of driving experience.
MSIG Car Insurance — MotorMax: Best for a tight budget
Why it’s great: MSIG is one of Singapore’s longer established insurance providers for auto insurance, and has a well-established network of over 30 authorized repair shops. More conservative and brand-conscious drivers will definitely want to think about this provider.
Apart from a strong reputation, we also like that MSIG offers the benefits of vehicle loan protection. If the car owner dies, MSIG will repay the loan so that those who support the family do not have to worry about financial obligations. Given that cars in Singapore are very expensive, this feature is definitely a good one to have.
What plans are available: MSIG has 2 extensive car insurance plans: MotorMax and MotorMax Plus.
The main difference between them is the workshop plan. For those with old, out-of-warranty cars, the cheaper MotorMax package will suffice as there are more than 30 authorized repair shops across the island.
You should of course choose the more expensive MotorMax Plus to get benefits such as loan protection, transportation allocation and replacement cars.
AIG Car Insurance: Best for protection versus collision related accidents
Why it’s great: AIG is one of the most renowned insurance providers on the planet and is also the best auto insurance provider in Singapore.
The Collision-Only package specifically covers collision-based accidents such as accidents with other vehicles, hit-and-run issues, and stop protection (if your car stops as a result of an accident with another vehicle). This plan also offers third party property damage coverage of up to S$5,000,000 and unlimited coverage for death or injury to third parties.
Additionally, you can limit package coverage to drivers aged 30, 35, or 40 years and over to enjoy reduced premiums, or personalize coverage by selecting an estimated mileage usage over the next year.
For those who want more protection, there is also a Complete Car Insurance package that provides additional protection such as coverage from theft, flooding, windshields/windows, and riots. This plan also offers coverage of up to S$5,000,000 for damage to third party property, and unlimited coverage for death or injury to third parties.
What packages are available: Collision Only Car Insurance and Complete Car Insurance.
Annual premium: S$1,024.07 (Collision Only), S$1,172.97 (Completed)
SingSaver Special Promo: Enjoy up to S$350 Covering e-voucher when you purchase AIG Car Insurance coverage. Valid until June 30, 2022. T&C used.
Plus, enjoy up to S$20 Cash via PayNow in addition to the current promo. Valid until June 26, 2022. T&C used
