Temporary Car Insurance in Texas

If you are a car owner and need temporary car insurance in Texas, you may purchase a policy and cancel it before six months expire. To get a refund on your premium, you will need to cancel the policy early. An average driver in the state pays about $329 for three months of car insurance.

If you don’t own a car or are visiting Texas using a rental car, you could get rental car insurance.

MoneyGeek also explores other circumstances under which you will need to get temporary car insurance in Texas, such as working for a rideshare company or acquiring proof of insurance so that your license gets reinstated.

Different states define temporary car insurance differently, including Texas. If you are a car owner, for instance, you can convert your full coverage car insurance policy to temporary coverage by canceling the policy before six months. Drivers who do not own cars may, on the other hand, consider purchasing rental car insurance or non-owner car insurance.

In Texas and most other states, you won’t be able to purchase car insurance with a term that’s less than six months. Texas drivers pay an average of $658 for a six-month policy. If you need a shorter term for your policy, canceling your policy before the full term elapses might be the solution. Most insurers will refund the remaining balance of your policy costs after cancellation. For instance, if you cancel your six-month policy after three months, you will pay approximately $329, which is only half of the six-month coverage cost.

When canceling car insurance, you must ensure that you do not have a coverage lapse. Otherwise, you might pay higher car insurance rates in the future.

MoneyGeek determined average car insurance costs in Texas for the standard six-month term as well as three-month and one-month periods.

From this research, the cheapest temporary car insurance providers in Texas for a 90-day policy are, on average:

• Farmers: $205 per 90 days
• State Farm: $231 per 90 days

The costs used in this guide exclude cancellation fees since most insurers do not charge cancellation fees. After canceling your policy, insurance providers give you a refund for the months you have not used in your policy.

Drivers who have already purchased car insurance in Texas but need to remove or add temporary coverage may simply consider adjusting their current policy to suit their temporary needs. The most common questions concerning temporary car insurance are about the available options for teenage drivers going away to college, drivers who wish to store their cars as well as letting people borrow a car.

Can you get temporary car insurance for young drivers in Texas? If you live with your children in Texas, it is essential that you include them on your car insurance policy. However, the cost can be quite high. Typically, you will pay an average of $2,998 to add an 18-year old driver to your policy in Texas.

To save on your premiums, you can opt to remove your teenage student from your policy if they live more than 100 miles away during their school term, retain the student on your policy or ask your provider for a distant student discount.

Parents pay an average of $500 in Texas to add a student to their policy for two months during the summer. That’s cheaper than the $2,998 average rate to keep them on a policy for a full year.

In Texas, the insurer that saves you the highest cost if you exclude a student from your policy is Nationwide.

In Texas, drivers who wish to store their car temporarily may save on their premiums by requesting a vehicle storage discount from their insurer or switching to comprehensive-only coverage.

Comprehensive and collision car insurance with a $1,000 deductible costs roughly $436 annually, which is lower than policies that include the state minimum liability coverage that cost an average of $994 per year.

If you are a current military member, you can also consider purchasing car insurance from USAA. The company offers the lowest rates in the state in addition to car storage discounts. Drivers with a USAA policy pay an average of $885 per year.

If you lend your car to drivers who are outside of your household, it may not be necessary to add them to your insurance since they are already covered in the policy. For members of your household, however, you need to ask your insurer to list them if they plan to drive your car.

Can you get temporary car insurance in Texas if you intend to use rented cars? You can use rental car insurance from your rental car company in this scenario.

In Texas, rental car insurance includes standard liability coverage, and you have the opportunity to purchase extra coverages like supplemental liability insurance, personal accident coverage and collision damage waivers. It costs an average of $55 to $60 per day to add all of the optional coverages to your policy. This rate may vary based on the insurer you choose. Selecting only the add-on coverages you need can save you money.

MoneyGeek collected rental car insurance information from Houston, Texas. Based on the findings, rental car insurance policies cost an average of $55 to $60 per day. On average, Enterprise offers the lowest rate of $55 daily, while Hertz is the most expensive at $60 daily, and Avis costs $57 daily. The rates are for renters insurance that comprises liability insurance plus additional insurance such as collision damage waiver, personal accident insurance and supplemental liability coverage.

If you already have car insurance, you may not need to buy all the additional coverages offered by your rental company because your policy may cover liability, collision and medical payments. Most credit card companies also provide collision damage waiver insurance for rental cars. If you have this, you may decline this type of protection from your rental company and save on your premiums.

Drivers who do not own cars but need to file an SR-22 may have to prove that they have insurance before getting their suspended licenses back. Non-owner car insurance serves this purpose, and you can get it in Texas at $571 per year on average.

This type of car insurance is the cheapest option for you if you do not own a car.

If you work for a rideshare company, you get insurance coverage once you accept fare or as soon as you start transporting a passenger. Before accepting the customer, you will have a temporary lapse in your coverage and might need to purchase rideshare insurance.

Rideshare insurance policies vary from one state to the other and may not be available in all states. MoneyGeek’s rideshare insurance comparison can help you identify the best rideshare options available in Texas.

Temporary car insurance is essential for drivers who need short-term insurance policies. Some of the commonly asked questions about temporary insurance in Texas are answered below.

MoneyGeek gathered car insurance and non-owner insurance data in Texas using a 40-year-old sample driver with a full coverage policy. The policy limits can be found on our methodology page. This research was done in collaboration with Quadrant Information Services.

Car insurance costs for students were sourced using an 18-year-old driver added to their parent’s policy.

MoneyGeek collected 30-day and 90-day policy rates on a prorated basis. The overall assumption in this research is that insurance providers will offer a refund after the policy is canceled.

We also calculated rental car insurance costs manually using online tools from Avis, Hertz and Enterprise.