Holidaymakers are being warned to expect a summer of car hire disruption after it emerged that the DVLA is to scrap the paper counterpart of driving licences from 8 June, with drivers told to obtain a special online code before heading abroad – or possibly be refused a rental car.
In what it says is a purge on red tape, the DVLA is abolishing the paper counterpart that currently accompanies all UK photocard licences. It is advising drivers to destroy the document (not their paper licence if they still have one) because it will no longer be legally valid. Instead, all endorsements will be held electronically on a web-based service called “Share Driving Licence”.
But fears are growing that the “very muddled” introduction of the new rules will almost certainly lead to some hirers being turned away by car firms this summer. This is because many car hire companies insist on examining the paper document to check on any endorsements or bans.
After 8 June holidaymakers will have to log on to the DVLA website the day before they leave and input their driving licence number and national insurance number. The system will then generate a one-time passcode which the holidaymaker can give to the hire company when they arrive at the desk.
The code is only valid for 72 hours, which will mean that holidaymakers hiring a car in the second week of a foreign trip face having to find an internet cafe and log on abroad, or pay roaming charges, if they want to show the car hirer their record. If they fail to produce the online code, the car hire firm may call the DVLA’s premium rate line (charged at up to £3 a minute) to check the driver’s status – if they can get through.
A spokeswoman for Hertz says: “We will ask customers for the DVLA one-time pass code, or for the PDF of the driver record, or we will use the DVLA premium-rate line – but this has restricted hours of operation.”
DVLA says the Share Driving Licence system, which is still being worked on, will be ready in time for 8 June.
