Car hire abroad... Be Aware - New Licence rules!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-32481382

What a PITFA

Seems more of a scare story to me (was a full-on panic story on the Daily Mail site before the BBC picked it up).

I've never had to show the paper part of my licence when hiring any car abroad, in Europe or the US. Most of them don't even know it exists as they don't have any equivalent. I don't understand how it will cause any issues for car hire companies as surely they will process it in exactly the same way as they do with drivers from every other country with only a plastic card licence.

no idea really.
However, this code thing that is generated & only valid for 72 hours is a bit Naff.

I would rather be at a rental place prepared with everything needed & not use it, than be there without it & then getting asked for it.

I'll file this one under sods law.

no idea really.
However, this code thing that is generated & only valid for 72 hours is a bit Naff.

I would rather be at a rental place prepared with everything needed & not use it, than be there without it & then getting asked for it.

I'll file this one under sods law.

But why would a car rental company need access to the code for longer than it takes you to pick up the car?
They don't currently keep your license?
(we have never been asked for the paper counter part anyway!)

I currently still use the old fashioned paper license, which shows my single speeding endorsement. Do you think we are heading towards the new card license being compulsory?

I have a worry one day that I will present my paper one at the car hire desk and they will say that it is no longer accepted.

[mitchja]

I've also never yet come across a hire car company that asks for the paper counter part of my licence anyway (even though I always take it with me when I'm hiring a car) so I cannot see this making much difference anyway.

I've also never yet come across a hire car company that asks for the paper counter part of my licence anyway (even though I always take it with me when I'm hiring a car) so I cannot see this making much difference anyway.

I've been asked numerous times for the counterpart (which I carry with me as routine)- most recently in Australia a couple of years ago.

DL

no idea really.
However, this code thing that is generated & only valid for 72 hours is a bit Naff.

If it were a longer period there would be a temptation to grab a code before you got any points added.

Interestingly I turned up at Edinburgh last year and thought I had forgotten my licence. The girl on the National rentals desk said, "No worries we can check the details."
Obviously not going to work abroad though.

Dick D

So, I've just been on and put my details in to view my license. It all works fine but I can't see anywhere to get a code from to take away with me. Has any one managed to find one of these?

I've been on and viewed my license so that bit works. But I also can't see where this code is generated, perhaps it'll be there in June.

I can only imagine the one time code is generated so that these companies can access your driving license without you giving away too many personal details. But as your license number and post code is already on your licence all you'd need to do is type in your NI number for them to view? Seems a bit pointless to me.

And speaking of pointless, glad to see I've got none!

I've also never yet come across a hire car company that asks for the paper counter part of my licence anyway (even though I always take it with me when I'm hiring a car) so I cannot see this making much difference anyway.

I've been asked numerous times for the counterpart (which I carry with me as routine)- most recently in Australia a couple of years ago.

DL

Never asked for in NZ, but to be fair nobody can drive to any standard here anyhow..

Do you think we are heading towards the new card license being compulsory?

Let's hope so. It's absured a driving license consists of a piece of paper with no photo.

Also finally ditching the stupid paper counterpart too. Many other countries happily have driving licenses without any bits of paper.

Never asked for in NZ, but to be fair nobody can drive to any standard here anyhow..

Too true lol . Mind you given the state of the major road infrastructure in NZ ( or rather lack of) it's not surprising .
DL

no idea really.
However, this code thing that is generated & only valid for 72 hours is a bit Naff.

I would rather be at a rental place prepared with everything needed & not use it, than be there without it & then getting asked for it.

I'll file this one under sods law.

But why would a car rental company need access to the code for longer than it takes you to pick up the car?
They don't currently keep your license?
(we have never been asked for the paper counter part anyway!)

I have a car booked for my upcoming trip.
I leave home on the Wednesday, Fly on Thursday & have a car booked for collection on the Sunday.

I will need to give a code so the rental company can access my licence electronically. Something I will now have to do while on holiday, rather than something I can do at home.

I've just copied this from DVLA site:

Paper driving licences issued before the photocard was introduced in 1998 will remain valid and should not be destroyed....

All very confusing.....I think I will hang on to mine just incase, maybe not destroy it just yet??

I've just copied this from DVLA site:

Paper driving licences issued before the photocard was introduced in 1998 will remain valid and should not be destroyed....

All very confusing.....I think I will hang on to mine just incase, maybe not destroy it just yet??

They mean the paper-only licences that used to be issued before the photocards were introduced. They are still valid as there is no plan to force people to get a photocard licence unless they need to change details (such as their address).

If you have a photocard licence, the paper counterpart will become redundant on June 8th. You are then free to destroy it (personally I'll keep mine as a memento).

This removal of the paper counterpart was initially due to happen in January of this year, but was delayed because car hire companies moaned that they weren't ready. Six months later, they seem to be saying the same thing.

I'm a little amused by all of this.
Not saying it never happens, however, I have rented cars all over the globe over the past ten years or a pretty regular basis, even in some "in the middle of nowhere" places" and never been asked the counterpart. I used to carry it but gave that up years ago. I have however seen an agent dive under the counter and produce a book that has information on every driving license issued around the globe, for that year, pretty cool book, if your that way inclined. Personally, I would file this in a chance for advertising for the AA and slow news day for certain papers.

Thanks for the info, will bear it in mind for next trip with car hire especially if V-Flyers post any difficulties when it comes into full operation.

Only time I have EVER been asked for counterpart is last week in UK with Enterprise. They photocopied it and kept for their files (along with 3 phone numbers for emergency contacts plus 2 more with landlines, how long I had lived at current address, occupation & for how long etc etc)... at least no blood samples required from 5 living relatives and 2 deceased.

Never been asked in US by Hertz, National, Alamo or Dollar (in any of Vegas, Washington, Denver or San Francisco).

Never been asked for it in Carib - Barbados, St Lucia, Grenada, Jamaica, Cuba, Antigua, St Martin, Anguilla or St Kitts.

Sadly counterpart never existed on my too long ago Aus/NZ trip.

It all sounds rather tedious and you would think that in this day and age that there would be something more grown-up. I have never had to show the counterpart, I was asked for it once, said I didn't have it, they said "never mind then" and off I drove. I would say since I have had the counterpart I have rented about 150 times and never been asked (apart from the above) but I ahev to say I will not be destroying it just in case. Just in case of what I do not know but I'm not !

I would have loved to have been in the meeting where they all said "make them revalidate every 72 hours". Our tax dollars at work! And can't wait for the M3 to become a smart motorway too !

Hopefully people will report back after the June date to say if they have had issues or not.
I would guess a lot of countries dont know we have 2x parts to our licence?

If you are a member of the larger car hire companies your license derails are held on file and in my case with Avis your car is ready for you to walk straight up to and the only time you have to flash your license is to security on the exit. I can't see this being to big a problem.

Still wasn't asked for the code on a recent trip to NY with Hertz rental or last week an Alamo rental in Portugal, but at least the codes are now going to be valid for 3 weeks instead of 3 days after complaints (so some people must have been getting asked for these codes by some hire companies in some locations?)

Hannah Maundrell, editor in chief of Money.co.uk, said: "The abolition of the paper counterpart of the British driving licence has caused the chaos we predicted, particularly for drivers hiring cars overseas.

"Today’s announcement from the DVLA to extend the validity window of the share driving licence code from just three to 21 days is wonderful news and should help resolve some of the teething problems.

"However, the second issue that the DVLA still hasn’t addressed is the fact that drivers need to use their National Insurance number to generate the code.

"This is a piece of information that many people do not have to hand, particularly when they travel. This initiative set out to simplify the DVLA’s services and save the Government £8 million.

"To truly simplify this service, the DVLA should rethink the information required to generate the code without compromising security.”

I'd pretty much forgotten about this until I, too, read the latest article. I'm wondering what the risk is if you rock up to collect a hire car without one. Especially if you're a member of their loyalty scheme, such as Dollar Express. Anyone have thoughts of this?

[mitchja]

I picked up a car whilst in Palm Springs last week from Alamo (booked via VH) and I did request the share code thing online before I got there, but never needed it.

All they wanted was my licence photo card, credit card and accommodation details.

Maybe other countries are not aware about our 2 part licences.
God forbid if involved in an accident & the insurance companies use it as an excuse to say your not covered.

Just thinking the worst!