Before you drive it away, you'll need insurance
A lot of people like to look at insurance options before purchasing car. This way, they are able to know what the rates are like in the market and which company has the best offer.
However, sometimes, it takes much longer to find the right cover for the kind of car you need. You can do two things in this case: postpone the purchase of the car until you find a suitable insurance policy or purchase drive away car insurance, which is the only type of insurance needed to transport the car from the forecourt to your garage, as you continue your search for a long term policy.
Option one would be all right if you didn't need to use the car so badly, which makes option two the only choice you have. Drive away car insurance is availed as a temporary car insurance cover and can last between 1 and 28 days. You must ensure that the cover you buy can last long enough to give you ample time to purchase a full time car insurance policy.
Short term insurance is sometimes a better option than buying full time coverage. A good example is when you have found a cool deal on a car you've been planning to buy for a long time. The only problem is you have to fly out of the country right away on a job assignment and won't be back for at least 6 months. There is no guarantee that you will find the car for the same great price on coming back. In fact, chances are you never will find a deal as good as this one. This is something you have just bumped into so you had not even checked insurance policies and rates for the said car.
What you can do is purchase the car, purchase drive away car insurance, drive home, cover your dream car and lock it up safely in the garage, fly out and worry about full time insurance when you come back. That is the beauty of drive away insurance. You will not have to worry about expiration, renewal or premiums. It is there to serve the purpose when you need it.
The same applies when you buy someone a car for a gift. You want them to enjoy the freedom of choosing the insurance policy they prefer but do not want to spoil the fun by bringing them to the car dealer's forecourt. Solution: buy them the car, along with enough drive away car insurance to last a week or more and pleasantly surprise them.
Drive away insurance enables you to use the car for a while as you find a more suitable policy. During this time, you may discover things about the car that could affect its insurance requirements and consequently insurance rates.