Temporary Car Insurance in Wisconsin

One way to create temporary car insurance is by buying a regular policy and canceling it within six months. You can get a full refund for the unused premiums if you cancel your policy early. On average, the cost of a three-month policy in Wisconsin is $233.

If you’re visiting Wisconsin or if you don’t have a car but you need to drive around in Wisconsin, rental car insurance may be your best option.

MoneyGeek also assessed other scenarios when you might need temporary car insurance. This includes purchasing non-owner insurance to help reinstate your license or getting additional coverage as a rideshare driver.

In Wisconsin and other states, temporary car insurance can mean different things and be obtained in different ways. If you’re a car owner, you can buy a regular car insurance policy and cancel it within six months. If you don’t own a car, you can get rental insurance or non-owner car insurance.

In Wisconsin and other states, reputable insurance companies only offer car insurance policies with a six-month minimum coverage. On average, a six-month car insurance policy in Wisconsin costs $467.

To get coverage for a shorter period, you can obtain a six-month policy and cancel it early. Most insurance providers will give a refund for your unused premium for the remainder of the term.

For example, you can purchase a six-month car insurance policy and cancel it after 90 days. A 90-day policy in Wisconsin costs an average of $233, which is half of what you would pay for a six-month policy.

If you’re using this strategy to get temporary car insurance, make sure to avoid having a lapse in insurance coverage as this can cause your rates to increase by hundreds of dollars per year.

MoneyGeek calculated car insurance rates in Wisconsin for a regular six-month policy. We also estimated the cost of temporary car insurance policies that cover a three-month and one-month period.

On average, these insurance providers offer Wisconsin’s cheapest car insurance for a 90-day policy:

• GEICO: $158 per 90 days
• AAA: $182 per 90 days

The rates quoted above do not include cancellation fees. Most insurance companies do not charge cancellation fees and provide full refunds for unused insurance premiums.

Altering your car insurance policy may be your best option if you already have Wisconsin car insurance and you need to temporarily add or remove coverage.

Certain circumstances can make temporary car insurance the more cost-effective solution such as: storing your vehicle, lending your car to a friend or when your teenage child goes away to college.

In Wisconsin, you’re required to include your child in your car insurance policy if they live with you. This can be costly. MoneyGeek found that the average cost of adding an 18-year-old to a car insurance policy is $2,379 per year.

You can temporarily adjust the cost of your car insurance by removing your child from your policy for part of the year if they live more than 100 miles away, using a distant student discount or keeping them on your policy. The biggest savings often come from temporarily removing the student from the parents' policy.

It costs an average of $397 to add your child to your car insurance policy in Wisconsin for two months of the year in the summer. This is about $1,983 cheaper than having them on the policy for the whole year.

If you’re temporarily storing your car in Wisconsin, you can save money by switching to a comprehensive-only policy or asking for a vehicle storage discount.

Removing liability insurance coverage and switching to a comprehensive-only policy is a great way to reduce your insurance premiums while your vehicle is in storage. Comprehensive and collision insurance with a $1,000 deductible costs an average of $314 per year in Wisconsin. On the other hand, the average cost of a policy that includes liability insurance is $757 per year.

If you are an active-duty military personnel, USAA can be a good option. This insurer provides a car storage discount, and offers one of the most affordable car insurance policies in Wisconsin at $432 per year on average.

If you let someone else in your household drive your car, they need to be insured on the same policy as you. On the other hand, if you allow someone from outside your household to drive your car, they will be automatically covered by your policy without you having to adjust it.

If you’re temporarily renting a car in Wisconsin, buying rental car insurance from the rental company is sufficient. Most rental companies offer basic liability insurance plus the option to add collision damage waivers, supplemental liability insurance and personal accident insurance.

In Wisconsin, the average cost of adding all these coverages ranges from $49 to $60 per day depending on the company. You can mix and match based on your needs for cheaper coverage.

MoneyGeek collected data in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and found that rental car insurance in the city costs anywhere from $49 to $60 per day.

The average daily cost of rental car insurance is $49 from Enterprise, $57 from Avis, and $60 from Hertz. These policies include supplemental liability, collision damage waiver and personal accident insurance.

If you already have a car insurance policy, you may already have liability, collision and medical payments coverages, so you don’t need to add those to your rental car insurance.

Many credit card companies also offer collision damage waiver coverage for rental cars. If it’s available from your credit card provider, you can decline this coverage from the rental company to save money.

Non-owner car insurance is ideal if you don’t have a car but you need proof of insurance and an SR-22 filing to have your license reinstated. Non-owner car insurance costs an average of $265 per year in Wisconsin.

Non-owner car insurance is the cheapest way to get temporary car insurance in Wisconsin for drivers who don’t have a car but need proof of insurance to file an SR-22.

Rideshare drivers in Wisconsin are covered by insurance when they accept a fare or transport a passenger. However, there is a temporary gap in coverage if they haven’t accepted a fare.

Rideshare drivers can buy rideshare insurance, but it has limited availability across states. If you’re in the market for the best rideshare insurance in Wisconsin, MoneyGeek compared the companies that offer such a policy to help you find the best offer.

MoneyGeek answered some of the most frequently asked questions about temporary car insurance in Wisconsin to help you determine if it is a good fit for you.

MoneyGeek, in collaboration with Quadrant Information Services, collected car insurance and non-owner car insurance quotes across Wisconsin. The policies in this guide are for a 40-year-old driver and full coverage as described on our methodology page. Quotes for student drivers represent the average cost of adding an 18-year-old driver to an existing policy.

Figures for one-month and three-month policies were calculated by MoneyGeek on a prorated basis and on the assumption of a full refund from the insurance company. MoneyGeek manually collected rental car insurance quotes using the online tools of Avis, Enterprise and Hertz.