Hiring a car can help you to get the most out of a trip away, or cover you during routine maintenance on your full-time vehicle. Rentals can even tide you over during the sometimes problematic transition from one car to another. All for relatively affordable upfront costs, and a time-period which suits you.
Even better, all you need to do to make car hire work is seek models which suit your needs on this website and others like them. Then, you’ll just need to provide a few basic pieces of ID; primarily your driving licence. But, what happens if you’ve lost, forgotten or otherwise misplaced your licence? Does this mean your rental dreams will never come true?
Not necessarily. There are ways around a lack of physical licence, as long as you have a licence in the first place. These methods vary between companies, so your best option would be to speak with a member of staff at your chosen hire firm. In general, though, you may find that the following steps could see you hiring a car, even without your licence to hand.
Share your driving licence online
In the majority of cases, it’s possible to share your driving licence online. This allows a hire company to check your history before acceptance. All you need to do is register in advance on GOV. UK’s free service. You’ll also need your driving licence and national insurance numbers to gain access to a unique code. You can then pass this onto the hiring company in question 24/7 to suit your rental needs. As long as they accept this method, you’ll be able to hire as and when it suits you.
Hire during DVLA open hours
If you hire your vehicle during 8am-7pm, Monday to Friday or 8am-2pm on Saturdays, you could also contact DVLA. You can then pay them to fax a copy of your licence anywhere in the world. This is a sure way to guarantee a car hire with most companies. Bear in mind, though, that you may need a further photo ID and proof of address for acceptance.
Prepare to pay a deposit
Seeing your driving licence upfront provides hire companies with a level of assurance. This often means that no deposit is necessary when hiring a vehicle. In the case of a lost or missing licence, though, you may fall foul to security deposits with some companies. This can often be the case even with the alternatives mentioned above. Without a physical licence, after all, you automatically become more of a risk. The good thing with deposits like these is that, in the majority of cases, they will be either refundable or deducted from your overall rental costs.
It’s far to say, then, that not having your licence to hand needn’t stop you from hiring a car in the first place. As long as you can prove your right to drive, there’s sure to be a solution which can see you behind the wheel in no time.
