Motorhome and campervan cover, one to 28 days

Temporary Motorhome Insurance

A comprehensive policy for a motorhome or campervan you borrow or have just bought, for the days of the trip, with the owner’s no claims discount untouched and the certificate in your inbox the moment you pay.

1 to 28 days on one policy
Up to £40,000 and 3 litres
Owner’s no claims untouched
Europe at the legal minimum

In partnership with GoShorty

FCA-regulated cover

Every policy is arranged by an authorised UK insurance broker
1 to 28 days

One policy, a day to four weeks, no hourly cover
Certificate emailed to you

Your policy number and documents, minutes after paying
MID updated four times a day

So a roadside check shows the vehicle as insured

What Is Temporary Motorhome Insurance?

Temporary motorhome insurance is a comprehensive policy for a motorhome or campervan that runs for a fixed number of days, from one to 28, instead of a year, on its own certificate.

It is made for the trip rather than the year. A friend lends you their motorhome for a fortnight in Scotland, you hire a campervan privately from an owner for a week in Cornwall, or you have just bought one and the annual policy does not start until next week. In each case the owner’s annual policy does not cover you as the driver, and your own car policy almost certainly does not cover the motorhome. A temporary policy covers you for the days you have it, and leaves the owner’s insurance exactly as it was.

It is the motorhome version of temporary car insurance, with limits set for larger vehicles: a value up to £40,000, an engine up to 3 litres, and fixed living facilities. The shortest policy is a day.

How Do You Get Temporary Motorhome Insurance?

Enter the registration, say who is driving and when, choose the number of days, then check the quote and the policy wording before you pay.

1
Enter the registration

The number plate pulls up the make, model and engine size, which is most of what the quote is priced on. If the vehicle is a conversion, the quote may ask what it is converted from.
2
Say who is driving and when

Your licence details, your address and the start date. Cover can start within minutes of paying, or you can set it for the morning you collect the motorhome.
3
Choose the days

From one to 28. Count the days you will have the vehicle, including collection and return, and add a day of slack if the return is a long drive, because a policy that ends at midnight on the motorway is no use to anyone.
4
Check it, then buy

Read what is covered, the excess and the optional extras. The certificate lands in your inbox the moment you pay, and that certificate, not the quote, is the proof of cover the owner will want to see before handing over the keys.

What Counts as a Motorhome or Campervan for This Policy?

A motorhome, campervan, day van or converted van with fixed living facilities, meaning a bed and cooking equipment, worth up to £40,000 with an engine up to 3 litres.

The limits are listed plainly, and it is better to check them against the vehicle before you plan the trip than at the roadside.

An unconverted panel van with a mattress and a camping stove in the back is a van, not a motorhome, however it is being used that week. If that is what you are borrowing, temporary van insurance covers it. At the other end, a coachbuilt motorhome worth more than £40,000 or with a 3.2 litre engine falls outside the criteria for this cover, and the quote will say so as soon as the registration is entered.

Limit	What it means
Value	Up to £40,000
Engine	Up to 3 litres
Living facilities	Fixed, with a bed and cooking equipment
Conversions	Day vans and converted vans qualify if they have the facilities above
Excluded	Unconverted vans, and vehicles from hire businesses or rental fleets

Ready when you are

See what your trip would cost.

Just the registration to begin. Fully comprehensive, 1 to 28 days.

Get Quotes

Does Your Licence Cover the Motorhome?

A category B car licence covers a motorhome up to 3,500kg maximum authorised mass. Between 3,500kg and 7,500kg you need category C1, which a licence issued before 1 January 1997 carries automatically and a later one does not.

GOV.UK sets out the categories: category B covers vehicles with up to eight passenger seats and a maximum authorised mass of 3,500kg, and category C1 covers vehicles between 3,500kg and 7,500kg. The older licence categories show that a car licence issued before 1997 includes C1, so most drivers over 47 can drive a heavier motorhome, while a driver who passed later needs to pass the C1 test first.

Most campervans and many coachbuilt motorhomes sit under 3,500kg, but a six-berth with a full tank, a full water tank and four people’s luggage can creep over it. The figure that matters is on the weight plate, usually inside the driver’s door or under the bonnet. An insurance policy covers you to drive the vehicle; it does not change what your licence entitles you to drive, and driving outside your licence category is itself an offence with its own penalties.

When Is Temporary Motorhome Cover the Right Choice?

It suits a trip in a vehicle that is not yours, or a gap in cover on one that is, where an annual policy would be pointless and the owner’s insurance does not cover you.

Borrowing from family or friends

Most owners are happy to lend as long as their own insurance and no claims discount are safe. Because the temporary policy is standalone and leaves the owner’s discount untouched, it answers the usual worry, and the owner can see the certificate before you leave.

Hiring privately from an owner

A private hire, arranged with an individual rather than a company, may not be covered by the owner’s own annual policy, so ask what it covers. If it does not cover you as the hirer, temporary cover fills the gap. Hire businesses and rental fleets are excluded, so a motorhome from a rental company does not qualify and will come with its own insurance.

Your own motorhome, between policies

A motorhome you have just bought and need to drive home, or one coming off SORN for a single trip while the annual policy is being arranged. The temporary policy covers the days in between, from the dealer’s forecourt or the storage yard.

Festivals and trying before you buy

A long weekend in a borrowed campervan at a festival, or a week in a friend’s motorhome to find out whether you want one. For a car on the same kind of trip, weekend car insurance and weekly car insurance show how the lengths work.

What Does Temporary Motorhome Insurance Cover?

Comprehensive cover: damage to other people and their property, damage to the motorhome itself, fire and theft, with the owner’s no claims discount untouched.

Liability and damage

Third party liability for injury and damage to others, which every UK motor policy must carry, plus damage to the motorhome itself, fire and theft, subject to the excess on the schedule. The comprehensive level matters more than usual here, because the vehicle is not yours and the person who lent it will expect it back as it left.

Optional extras

Legal cover and excess protection are available as optional extras, priced in the quote. On a vehicle worth £30,000 or more the excess is worth reading twice before deciding.

Contents and belongings

The policy covers the vehicle and your liability. Your luggage, bikes, camping kit and the owner’s loose equipment are not the subject of a motor policy, so check the owner’s own cover and your travel or home insurance for belongings. The detail is set by the broker and the insurer, and it is in the policy wording and the insurance product information document rather than here.

How Much Does Temporary Motorhome Insurance Cost?

It depends on the vehicle, the driver and the length of the trip. There is no fixed starting price for motorhome cover, so the quote is the only way to see your figure, and it shows before you pay.

What moves the price is the same as on any motor policy, and the four things that matter most are below.

What sets your price

1 The motorhome Value, engine size and the type of conversion.
2 The driver Age, how long the licence has been held, claims and convictions.
3 The length Longer policies cost more in total but less per day.
4 Extras Excess protection and legal cover are optional.

Who Can Get Temporary Motorhome Insurance?

Drivers aged 28 to 70 holding a full UK licence, driving a qualifying motorhome or campervan worth up to £40,000 with an engine up to 3 litres.

The minimum age is higher than for temporary car cover, so a younger member of the party cannot be the driver on this policy, and the licence must entitle you to drive the vehicle’s weight, as the section above explains. The standard criteria for temporary cover apply to the rest: a permanent UK address, and points and convictions declared on the form within each insurer’s limits. If you are under 28, young driver insurance explains where the car cover starts, but there is no younger route onto a motorhome.

Can You Take a Motorhome to Europe on Temporary Cover?

Only if the policy wording allows it. Cover abroad depends on the insurer, and where it is given it is usually the legal minimum for the country you are in.

The legal minimum is usually third party only, so damage to the motorhome itself is not covered while you are abroad, and theft from a campsite in France is your loss, not the policy’s. For a weekend in Normandy that may be a risk worth carrying; for three weeks of Alpine passes in someone else’s £35,000 vehicle it probably is not, and the owner should know before you go.

GOV.UK lists what to take when driving abroad: your licence, the log book or, for a vehicle hired or leased in the UK, a VE103 certificate from the owner, your insurance certificate, and in some countries an international driving permit. European car insurance sets out the same limits for cars. Do not assume a country is included without seeing it written in the quote.

Temporary Cover Compared With the Owner’s Policy and an Annual Policy

Three ways to cover a driver who is not the owner: a temporary policy in the driver’s name, a named driver added to the owner’s annual policy, or the driver’s own annual motorhome policy. For a borrowed vehicle, only the first leaves the owner’s insurance untouched.

With the named driver route, a claim sits on the owner’s record. With a temporary policy the borrower carries their own risk, and the owner’s record is untouched.

	Temporary policy, 1 to 28 days	Named on the owner’s policy	Your own annual policy
Whose policy	Yours, on their vehicle	Theirs	Yours, on your vehicle
Owner’s no claims discount	Untouched	At risk if you claim	Not involved
Cost	Priced per day, shown before you pay	Often an admin fee, and a higher renewal if you claim	An annual premium, whatever the use
Cover abroad	Depends on the insurer; see the policy wording	Whatever the owner’s policy allows	Whatever you buy
Typical use	A borrowed or newly bought motorhome	A regular second driver the owner trusts with their renewal	A motorhome you own and use often

What Happens If You Drive It on the Owner’s Policy or Your Own Car Policy?

If neither policy covers you to drive that vehicle, you are driving uninsured: a fixed penalty of £300 and six points, or an unlimited fine and disqualification at court, and the motorhome can be seized.

GOV.UK sets out the penalties for driving without insurance, and they apply whether the vehicle is yours or not. The two assumptions that catch people are that the owner’s comprehensive policy covers anyone they lend the vehicle to, which it does not unless the driver is named, and that the driving other cars extension on a car policy stretches to a motorhome, which it almost never does.

A collision in a borrowed motorhome with neither policy responding leaves the owner’s vehicle unrepaired and the other driver’s losses pursued against you personally. Check the certificate before you turn the key, and if it does not name you and that vehicle, buy the cover first.

Questions

Temporary Motorhome Insurance: FAQs

Can I drive a motorhome on my car insurance?

Almost never. A car policy covers the car named on it, and the driving other cars extension most policies carry is third party only, applies to cars, and usually excludes motorhomes, vans and anything over 3,500kg. Driving a borrowed motorhome on the strength of your own car policy is, in nearly every case, driving uninsured.

Is there a difference between motorhome and campervan insurance?

Not on this policy. A motorhome, a campervan, a day van and a converted van all qualify as long as the vehicle has fixed living facilities, meaning a bed and cooking equipment, is worth up to £40,000 and has an engine up to 3 litres. An unconverted panel van with a mattress in the back does not, and needs temporary van insurance instead.

Does my driving licence let me drive a motorhome?

A category B car licence covers a motorhome up to 3,500kg maximum authorised mass, which is most campervans and many coachbuilt motorhomes. Between 3,500kg and 7,500kg you need category C1. A car licence issued before 1 January 1997 carries C1 automatically; one issued after it does not, and you would need to pass the C1 test. Check the weight plate inside the door before you borrow.

How long can I insure a motorhome for?

From one day up to 28 days on a single policy. There is no hourly motorhome cover, so the shortest policy is one day, and a longer trip is covered by choosing the number of days you need, including collection and return.

Can I insure a motorhome I am hiring from a company?

No. Hire businesses and rental fleets are excluded, and a rental company normally includes insurance in the hire price anyway. This cover is for a motorhome or campervan you borrow from someone you know, or have just bought.

How old do I have to be?

Drivers must be aged 28 to 70 and hold a full UK licence. That is a higher minimum than for temporary car cover, so a younger member of the party cannot be the driver on this policy.

Can I take a temporary motorhome policy to Europe?

It depends on the insurer, so check the quote and the policy wording before you plan a trip abroad. Where cover abroad is given it is usually the legal minimum for the country you are in, so damage to the motorhome itself is not covered, which is worth weighing before a long continental trip.

Will a claim affect the owner’s no claims discount?

No. The policy is standalone, with its own certificate and policy number. A claim is handled under the temporary policy, and the owner’s annual policy and no claims discount are untouched, which is usually the owner’s first question.

How much does temporary motorhome insurance cost?

It depends on the driver, the vehicle and how many days you need. There is no fixed starting price for motorhome cover, so the quote is the only way to see your figure, and it shows before you pay.

What is the lowest-cost way to insure a borrowed motorhome?

There is no single lowest-cost route, but there are two expensive mistakes. Being added as a named driver to the owner’s annual policy puts their no claims discount at risk and often costs them an admin fee. Driving on your own car policy is usually not cover at all. A temporary policy for the exact days sits alongside the owner’s policy without touching it.

What is the 3-3-3 rule for motorhomes?

A touring rule of thumb, not an insurance one: drive no more than 300 miles a day, arrive by 3pm, and stay at least three nights. It is worth following on a borrowed vehicle, because a tired driver in an unfamiliar motorhome is where most of the claims come from.

Does it cost anything to get a quote?

No. Getting a quote is free and you are under no obligation to buy. We may be paid a fee by the broker if someone takes out a policy after being introduced by us. It does not change the price you are quoted.

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