If You Are Hiring A Car Abroad After 8Th June 2015

[sddsddean]

Just got an e mail from the car hire company I used this year, which for some reason I can't copy and paste on to here(!), so quick prece.

From above date, the paper part of your driving licence is being abolished. The hire company has checked with their colleagues around the world (500+) and apparently you may need a pass code (like a PIN number) to hire a car abroad. Go to https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence and click 'View now' then enter your driver number (on licence), NI number and postcode. This will generate a passcode on the next page which is valid for 72 hours (so do it just before you leave). To view the code, go to the top right tab 'Share your licence information' and click on the green 'create a code' box.

Hope thats all as clear as mud!

[sunny-dave]

It's all very clear - and a total bloody fiasco caused by the rank incompetence of the DVLA system designers.

Just watch as foreign car hire companies add a 'facility charge' (around 19€ I've seen) to cover the cost of accessing the DVLA information.

I am SO glad i still have an old pink paper licence (which is unaffected by this nonsense).

[Buenchico]

See the video I posted here for an explanation:
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Motoring/Question1416084.html

[ubasses]

According to Govt web site the old paper licences are affected by this as well.
From 8 June 2015, you may wish to check with the hire company what they need to see when you hire a vehicle. If you’re asked for evidence of what vehicles you can drive or confirmation of any penalty points, you can request a unique code from GOV.UK which allows you to share your driving licence details or you can download a summary of your driving licence record. The code lasts for up to 72 hours and will allow the hire companies to make any necessary checks. You can also request a code by calling 0300 790 6801. This also applies if you have a paper licence that was issued before 1998.

[Baldric]

Related Thread

It's the paper 'Counterpart Licence' that goes with a Photocard Licence that is being abolished.

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/ChatterBank/Question1421933.html

[retrocop]

sunny dave
If you read the related link you will find a case I cited whereby the cheeky dons already have started their extortion racket.Talk about the Italian Mafia.It isn't yet 8th June and they still tried it on.

[yogi-bear]

I drive abroad all the time, and so far none of the rental companies I use have said that I would need anything different....still have my paper part of the licence, which I will take with me, which lets company know if any points or restrictions are on the licence, but always just use card licence.
I have asked the Travel Agents I normally book with and they have assured me that the car companies they use for rental wont make an issue of it at all.
I was a bit concerned about this, so went in person, to see my Travel Agent, as in mid July my family and I fly to Florida and have rented a small mini-bus 10 seater for 18 days, and she called the company......nothing needed....just UK card licence will suffice and got it in writing via E-mail. We move onto The Bahamas for 6 days afterwards but none of us intending to drive, just chillin' drinkin' and eating a lot in the hotel, after the Florida theme parks and travelling around the state.

So I think it is going to case of some car rentals will ask for this Pin code and some wont ask for anything. I would definitely check before you travel abroad as it's just unnecessary aggravation when you get there.
I think this is going to cause MASS confusion to holiday makers around the world this summer.....I hope I'm wrong.

[boxtops]

We're going to wait and see what we are asked for - as yogi says, so far all our foreign car hire has wanted to date is the pink ID card part of the licence. We'll see, it'll be chaos....

[KARL]

I am interested seeing this for the first time, because I will be hiring a car outside the UK later this year. On the other hand, none of this surprises me because the UK's systems are often so clumsy and chaotic. The saving grace is that the rest of the world is largely blissfully ignorant of all this faffing and are unlikely to know that the PIN, etc., etc. exist - unless and until the UK authorities sufficiently advertise that UK drivers are all potentially covering up their misdemeanours so better fall in with the UK ploy to cover their backsides. And, yes, there is almost certainly some money-spinning bureaucratic scheme/rip-off waiting in the wings.

[zebo]

I've only ever been asked for the paper part hiring a van in the UK, in every other country they never ask for it. As other countries don't have a paper part, why should we have to jump through hoops?

[sddsddean]

Sorry, didn't realise this has been previously discussed. I must say I agree with Yogi. When we hired the car at Miami airport 6 weeks ago, I only proffered my 'card' and was never asked for the paper part, so perhaps this will just 'die the death' and you just have to show your card.

[auntie-bertie]

The only time I have been asked for the paper part of my licence is when I hired a car here in England. I had to go home again to get it.....I have hired cars all over the world too.
Interested to know how you get on in the USA though.

[auntie-bertie]

And as I'm arriving in the USA by ship how on earth am I expected to get this info 72 hrs beforehand when I'm in the middle of the Atlantic!