If you’re going on holiday after the 8th of June, you may be in for a nasty surprise!
This is because the DVLA are changing the driving licence to scrap your paper counterpart. This could make hiring a car a major pain, especially when you’re on holiday abroad. In fact, hire companies may even refuse to release a car to you.
This is because many foreign car hire companies rely on the paper counterpart to check your driving endorsements and history.
Unfortunately, many holiday car hire companies are predicted to continue using this system, as many of them have it included in their T&Cs. If you’re unable to provide the paper counterpart, you may be refused a hire car, which may even ruin your holiday plans.
In fact, industry representatives believe many foreign hire companies remain completely unaware of the DVLA’s changes to the UK driver licence.
So what is the DVLA’s Answer?
In line with the DVLA’s new digital direction, they’re developing an online platform called Share Driving Licence (SDL). It will allow car hire companies, and other organisations, to check your driving history online.
The DVLA’s SDL system will generate a unique code per driver. This code can then be used to check your driving background and identify any endorsements on your licence.
The problem, other than many car hire companies not knowing about the licence change, is that the code you’re given will expire after just 72 hours. This means you’ll have to arrange it within three days of collecting your holiday car.
This could be further hassle if you’re hiring a car a few days into your holiday.
What do UK Drivers Think?
We’ve dealt with a lot of drivers seeking temporary car insurance abroad for both holiday and work purposes. Their experiences when hiring a vehicle often differ.
Some drivers claim that they’ve never been asked to provide the paper counterpart by car hire companies, whereas others have.
A lot of UK drivers believe the new system won’t affect them. But what if they’re wrong? What if you arrived at your holiday destination, and weren’t allowed to drive away in your hire car? Wouldn’t you enjoy your holiday more knowing that everything will go smoothly?
What Do Keith Michaels Suggest?
We believe you should always prepare for the worst, we are an insurance company after all, which is why we strongly recommend contacting your car hire company to discover their policies on the matter before your holiday. This way, you won’t risk an expensive taxi ride when you arrive at your holiday destination.
Unfortunately, the DVLA’s SDL platform is not available to the public yet, but we’ll introduce a link to this article once it is. We’ll also publish it on our Facebook page, so make sure you like it to stay informed.
We also recommend shopping around for your car insurance when on holiday. Car hire firms can sometimes charge over the top rates for their inclusive cover. This means shopping around for temporary car insurance can usually result in a better deal.