Coronavirus car insurance and driving FAQs

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic probably won’t affect your annual car insurance policy moving forward. With lockdown restrictions easing, we are likely to be driving more than we have in the past year so it could be wise to look over your insurance policy and remind yourself of your terms.

There may also be times that your insurance needs to be changed due to the pandemic, whether turning over a car for a friend who is self-isolating, using a personal car for business or sharing the driving on your own car on a UK road trip.

For these instances, our temporary car insurance policies can help you. Your annual policy may insure you to drive other cars (or other’s policies may cover them to drive yours), but this will likely only be the most basic of insurance. With our cover, you get a comprehensive policy that can give you peace of mind that if an accident happens, you are in the best position possible.

All our staff are continuing to work remotely, and the business is still fully operational. If you plan to take out a policy, nothing has changed, it can still be done online in as little as 15 minutes.

It’s now easier than ever to take out one of our temporary insurance policies. With our recently launched Dayinsure car insurance app, you’ll be able to take out a policy on the go and quicker than ever as your information will pre-save.

If you have any questions, our customer services team are available from 9 am – 5 pm every day by email: support@dayinsure.com or phone: 0333 005 0944 from 9 am – 5 pm Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays; and 9 am – 4 pm on Fridays and Sundays. On Saturday and Sunday, our phone lines are closed for lunch between 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm.

If you plan to volunteer your time in light of the pandemic and driving for a voluntary organisation or charity to help relieve some pressure, a normal motoring policy should cover you to do this, but this depends on your annual insurance company.

If you find your annual policy doesn’t cover you for volunteering, then a normal temporary car insurance policy with Dayinsure will ensure you are covered.

We understand that over the course of the pandemic, many people have decided to start commuting in their own vehicles rather than take public transport. If your annual policy covers you for commuting, you will be covered to drive to work instead of taking public transport. If it doesn’t, we can offer temporary business insurance that can start in as little as 15 minutes.

All cars that are not listed as SORN (officially off the road) or kept and used solely on private land must be insured, so you won’t be able to pause your annual insurance if you are self-isolating. However, you can get in touch with your annual provider if you will not be driving for a while to see how they might be able to support you.

If you break down while on the road, you won’t see any difference in service from your breakdown cover provider. Most of the major breakdown companies have ensured all their mechanics only come to work if feeling fit and well, they will all be briefed on the latest hygiene advice and equipped with cleaning products, masks, gloves and hand sanitisers.

If you have temp cover with us and wonder what will happen if you break down during the Coronavirus pandemic, please check the RAC’s website for their latest information.

All driving lessons, theory tests and practical tests are now allowed to resume across the UK.  However, be aware, if you are looking to book a theory or practical test there is likely a backlog and you may find that wait times are longer than usual.

There has also been guidance on lessons and tests:

• driving lessons – Driving lessons are now permitted across the UK. Although not law, it’s highly recommended that both driver and instructor wear a mask during the lesson, the windows are down as far as possible for the duration of the lesson and that air conditioning isn’t used. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, it’s specified that you must stay local during your lessons.
• theory tests – Theory tests are now being taken again and anyone whose test was suspended during the pandemic should have received a notification that they can now rebook. You should wear a face covering unless you have a special exemption. You should not attend your theory test if someone you live with has coronavirus symptoms or you’ve been told by NHS Test and Trace to self-isolate, or you’ve recently returned from a foreign country. In any of these cases, you can change your test date for free.
• practical tests – Practical tests are also continuing. Like with a theory test, if your previous booking was suspended you should have received a notification about a rescheduled date. If your driving instructor booked the test for you, they will receive this. You must wear a face covering unless you have a special exemption, which you must declare when booking your test. If you do not have a face covering and haven’t declared this when booking, your test will be cancelled. If you are found to have made a serious or dangerous fault during your test which will result in failure, instead of continuing your test as usual it will be ended early to limit the amount of time spent in the car. You are asked to not show up for your test more than five minutes before its start time.

For other types of tests and lessons, you can find the current government rules on driving tests here.

When you have been instructed to self-isolate, you must by law and can be fined if you do not follow the rules and so, in this time, you should not be leaving the house or refuelling your car. If your car needs to be turned over or refuelled whilst you are self-isolating, we encourage you to ask a friend or family member to do this (making sure they are comprehensively covered to do this with temporary car insurance).

If you are not self-isolating but just looking for advice on how to make refuelling as safe as possible, there are some steps you can take. If you need to refuel, most supermarket filling stations have self-service pumps that allow you to fuel up and pay without needing to go inside. These are a great option for limiting human contact. Equally, for those with an electric car using a public pump, you can usually pay by app, which is preferable.

We suggest you keep a pair of gloves in the car for refuelling or use any gloves available on the forecourt. You can then dispose of these at a bin on the forecourt before returning to the road.

As all holiday accommodation around the UK is now able to open, including hotels and B&Bs, you are now able to drive for a holiday in the UK provided you’re abiding by all COVID-19 restrictions. Present restrictions also limit group holidays together to up to six people or two households (each household are also able to include their support bubble, if eligible.)

When you are travelling you should also abide by these restrictions. So, your private vehicle should have no more than 6 people in it (except when everyone present is from no more than 2 households.)

For those who may be borrowing a motorhome from friends or family in order to have a safe and distanced staycation, we can offer easy to organise temporary motorhome insurance to get you covered for your trip.

As of the 17^th of May, there are no longer legal restrictions or permitted reasons required for travelling internationally. Instead, a traffic light system has been put in place which offers different rules for returning to the UK depending on the country you travel to. You can see a full list of the countries and their restrictions here.

Due to variants of the virus emerging around the world at different times and different countries responses to the pandemic, we expect that the rules on international travel will continue to change for some time so be sure to check which list the country you are travelling to periodically both before and during your trip.