Temporary Car Insurance in Michigan: What You Need to Know (2024)
Michigan has more short-term car insurance options than you may expect.
Excellent
)
Written byAngela Brown
)
17+ years in insurance and personal finance writing
In-depth knowledge of home and real estate topics
Angela is an insurance and personal finance expert who uses her experience to create content that helps readers understand important and complex topics.
Featured in
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
Edited byChris Schafer
)
15+ years in content creation
7+ years in business and financial services content
Chris is a seasoned writer/editor with past experience across myriad industries, including insurance, SAS, finance, Medicare, logistics, marketing/advertising, and many more.
Featured in
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
Updated November 21, 2024
Why you can trust Insurify: Comparing accurate insurance quotes should never put you at risk of spam. We earn an agent commission only if you buy a policy based on our quotes. Our editorial team follows a rigorous set of editorial standards and operates independently from our insurance partners. Learn more.
Advertiser Disclosure
At Insurify, our goal is to help customers compare insurance products and find the best policy for them. We strive to provide open, honest, and unbiased information about the insurance products and services we review. Our hard-working team of data analysts, insurance experts, insurance agents, editors and writers, has put in thousands of hours of research to create the content found on our site.
We do receive compensation when a sale or referral occurs from many of the insurance providers and marketing partners on our site. That may impact which products we display and where they appear on our site. But it does not influence our meticulously researched editorial content, what we write about, or any reviews or recommendations we may make. We do not guarantee favorable reviews or any coverage at all in exchange for compensation.
Table of contents
Table of contents
Short-term insurance policies, or temporary car insurance, provide you coverage for less time than the period of a typical policy. Temporary insurance usually lasts about a month. You’re most likely to use temporary insurance when you’re renting or borrowing a car and aren’t otherwise covered.
Most insurance companies don’t offer temporary insurance policies, and insurance companies aren’t required to provide coverage to drivers who don’t plan to live or drive in the state for a minimum of 30 days. However, despite these limitations, you aren’t without options that could help keep you covered for a short period.
Quick Facts
A nonowner insurance policy can be helpful if you’re a rideshare driver who rents your vehicle, you travel regularly, or you borrow someone else’s vehicle.
Most insurers will let you cancel a six- or 12-month policy early without penalty, but you should always read your policy to be sure.
If you have a student traveling from out of state to attend college in Michigan, contact your insurer to make sure your coverage still works.
Is temporary car insurance available in Michigan?
Most major insurance companies won’t allow consumers to purchase car insurance for less than a six- or 12-month term. When insurance companies underwrite policies for drivers, they’re taking on the risk that the driver could be involved in an accident or otherwise need to file a claim. The premiums the company charges to help cover other drivers’ losses outweigh some of that risk. Temporary policies don’t last long enough to help offset the risk an insurance company would take by writing the policy.
If you need a temporary policy, you do have some options. Each option below outlines different situations where you might need a temporary policy and what you can do.
Find Michigan Car Insurance
Secure. Free. Easy-to-use.
Based on 3,806+ reviews
4.8/5
Getting nonowner car insurance in Michigan
A nonowner car insurance policy provides liability-only coverage when you rent a car or borrow a car from a friend. When you purchase a nonowner policy, the coverage only applies to vehicles you rent or borrow, and the policy only offers liability protection (coverage for damage to another party’s property or body). Full-coverage policies offer more protection, including personal injury and damages.
Nonowner policies typically last between six months and a year, like a traditional policy. But these policies are typically less expensive than a traditional policy since they have less coverage. You can also cancel a nonowner policy early if you need it for only a short amount of time.
Some everyday situations where you may need to purchase a nonowner policy include:
You work for a rideshare service (like Uber or Lyft) and use one of its rental vehicles.
You rent vehicles regularly for travel.
You borrow a friend’s, family member’s, or roommate’s car regularly.
You don’t own a car, but you need to avoid a lapse in coverage (for example, if you have an SR-22).
Canceling your policy early in Michigan
If you want more coverage than a nonowner policy offers, you can pay for a full-coverage policy and cancel it when you no longer need it. Most insurance companies don’t charge a fee for canceling your policy early.
If you want to cancel your policy, you’ll need to call your insurer. If your payments are automatically withdrawn from your bank account, simply canceling the autopay won’t cancel your policy. You may also be able to cancel online or mail a cancellation letter to your insurance company. If you switch to a different company, it can call and cancel your old policy for you.
If you plan to continue driving your vehicle or use a rental, however, you must have insurance coverage that includes personal injury protection, property protection, and residual liability insurance in Michigan.
Important Information
Drivers convicted of driving a vehicle (or letting someone else drive their vehicle) without insurance coverage face a fine of up to $500 and up to one year in jail. In addition, if you’re in an accident and don’t have insurance, you may be sued and held accountable for expenses.[1]
Getting insurance for a rental car in Michigan
If you plan to rent a vehicle and don’t want to purchase a nonowner policy or a standard policy that you can cancel, you may be able to just pay for rental car insurance. You may also be able to add rental coverage to your current auto policy so that your policy covers any rental you drive.
If you want to purchase an insurance policy through the rental company, you can accept the insurance it offers when you pick up the vehicle. Most rental companies ask if you want to pay for the coverage. If you choose to pay for coverage through the company, review the options and select the one that best fits your needs. The price for coverage varies based on the length of your rental and the type of vehicle you choose.
If your existing policy covers a rental, you may be able to save money by declining the additional coverage. In addition, check with the credit card company you use to pay for your rental. Some credit card companies offer rental car insurance.
Best car insurance companies for short-term car insurance in Michigan
While you won’t be able to purchase a short-term car insurance policy through most major auto insurance companies, the companies below have some of the best rates for shorter-term policies in Michigan.
You can also typically cancel these policies, without any fee, if you no longer need the coverage.
Insurance Company ▲▼ | Average Monthly Quote ▲▼ | IQ Score The Insurify Quality (IQ) Score uses more than 15 criteria to objectively rate insurance companies on a one-to-ten scale. The Insurify editorial team researches insurer data to determine the final scores. ▲▼ |
|---|---|---|
| Progressive | $253 | 4.0 |
| Safeco | $270 | 3.7 |
| Bristol West | $387 | 2.2 |
| Midvale Home & Auto | $580 | 3.2 |
Disclaimer: Table data sourced from real-time quotes from Insurify's 50-plus partner insurance providers and quote estimates from Quadrant Information Services. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer's unique driver profile.
Our editorial team spent more than 350 hours developing the Insurify Quality (IQ) Score and scoring insurance companies. The IQ Score objectively analyzes and calculates a score for insurers using more than 15 crucial criteria. The team weighted criteria by importance to the consumer — factors such as customer reviews and affordability influence the score more than availability and third-party ratings.
We rate each company on a 1 to 10 scale based on five categories: financial ratings, customer satisfaction, affordability, customer support and transparency, and availability. Insurify updates ratings once a year or as more recent information becomes available.
- Third-party financial ratings: Insurify uses data from AM Best, S&P, Moody’s, and more to compare insurance companies’ credit and ability to pay out future claims.
- Customer satisfaction: To calculate this score, Insurify analyzed more than 28,000 customer reviews across 155 car insurance companies. We also consider third-party ratings from J.D. Power, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, and Trustpilot.
- Affordability: Our data scientists analyzed more than 90 million real-time auto insurance rates from our partners across the U.S., as well as available discounts, to calculate an affordability score.
- Customer support and transparency: This measures coverage options, ease of claims filing, and the insurer's transparency surrounding discounts, coverages, and claims process.
- Availability and reach: Insurify scores availability and reach by identifying the number of states in which insurers offer coverage and company size by market share.
How Insurify rates car insurance companies
Insurify uses an in-house, proprietary method to rate and review the best car insurance companies. The Insurify Quality Score uses more than 15 crucial criteria, including average premiums, customer satisfaction, discounts, and third-party ratings, to calculate a final score for a company.
Criteria are weighted by importance to the consumer — factors such as customer reviews and affordability influence the score more than availability and third-party ratings. With the Insurify Quality Score, Insurify is able to provide quantitative ratings for drivers to better compare car insurance companies and make informed decisions to meet their coverage needs.
Recent Insurify quotes for Michigan drivers
Drivers in and around Michigan have found policies from Chubb, Direct Auto, Safeco, and more, through Insurify in the last few days.
*Quotes generated for Insurify users within the last 10 days. Last updated on November 21, 2024
Rates shown are real-time Insurify user quotes from 100+ insurance companies and Quadrant Information Services data. Insurify’s algorithm excludes anomalous quotes and anonymizes personal details, then displays refined quotes by price, date, and insurer popularity up to 10 days ago from November 21, 2024. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer’s unique driver profile.
*Quotes generated for Insurify users within the last 10 days. Last updated on November 21, 2024
Rates shown are real-time Insurify user quotes from 100+ insurance companies and Quadrant Information Services data. Insurify’s algorithm excludes anomalous quotes and anonymizes personal details, then displays refined quotes by price, date, and insurer popularity up to 10 days ago from November 21, 2024. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer’s unique driver profile.
Car insurance for students in Michigan
If you’re a student or you have a student headed to a college in Michigan, you may need to purchase or modify your auto insurance.
If your student heads to college and no longer intends to use your car, you may still want to keep them on your policy in case they need to borrow or rent a car while away at school. However, if your student will no longer drive your vehicle or any other, you may be able to ask your insurer to remove them from your policy as a driver.
For students who just moved to Michigan for college and intend to drive their car, you should contact your insurance company to determine whether you need to change your policy. Most who have student status in Michigan can maintain coverage from their home state. You should inform your insurance company that your student will be out of state so you can be aware of any coverage differences.
Michigan is a no-fault state. This means that, in most cases, each driver’s insurer will pay for their medical expenses and lost wages through personal injury protection (PIP).
You may also want to increase your coverage on your student driver if you’re concerned they could get in an accident in Michigan and be responsible for the cost of damages.
Temporary car insurance in Michigan FAQs
If you still have questions about getting temporary car insurance in Michigan, you’re not alone. Finding the right auto coverage can feel overwhelming. Here are some quick answers to the most commonly asked questions about temporary car insurance in Michigan.
Can you get temporary insurance in Michigan?
Most insurance companies won’t offer temporary policies. Drivers may opt to secure a nonowner policy, purchase rental insurance through a car rental agency, or pay for a standard policy. Policyholders may also cancel a standard policy early without any fees.
Is temporary car insurance legit?
While some smaller companies claim to offer temporary car insurance, most of these policies don’t provide adequate coverage. Some offers may even be scams. Consider purchasing a six-month policy from a major insurance company for the best protection for both you and your vehicle.
Can you drive a car without insurance if you just bought it in Michigan?
Drivers with an existing insurance policy have up to 30 days after purchasing a vehicle in Michigan to obtain coverage on the new vehicle.
How long can you be without car insurance in Michigan?
Drivers have up to 31 days following the cancellation of a previous policy to obtain insurance without facing a fine. If you drive while uninsured, you could face a penalty of up to $500 and one year in prison.
Related articles
More cities in Michigan
Sources
- Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services. "What if I am currently uninsured?."
)
Angela Brown
Angela Brown is a freelance writer with 17 years of professional writing and editing experience.
She specializes in finance, real estate, and insurance content. Angela uses her experience to
create easy-to-understand content that helps consumers understand tough topics better. When
she’s not working, she enjoys spending time with her family and planning vacations.
15+ years in content creation
7+ years in business and financial services content
Chris is a seasoned writer/editor with past experience across myriad industries, including insurance, SAS, finance, Medicare, logistics, marketing/advertising, and many more.
Featured in
)
)
)
)
)