Car Hire and Your Driving Licence

You may have seen that the paper counterpart of your UK driving licence will no longer be valid (or required) after 8 June 2015. To those of us who had already lost it, that comes as a minor relief, but what do we have in it's place?

The counterpart was principally the place for recording penalty points and endorsements. That information is now accessible online (with appropriate security protection) so the piece of paper becomes redundant.

Our car hire partners Zest Car Rental told us, "The new system is only likely to affect rental car companies in the UK and therefore people who are hiring a car for collection within the UK. Most overseas car rental companies are happy to accept just the photocard and do not need to see the endorsements, therefore the removal of the paper counterpart will have no effect in the majority of cases."

Just to be on the safe side, we recommend you take the following:

• Your old paper counterpart (especially if you’re travelling in June).
• A print out from View Your Driving Licence.
• The special code you can get from View Your Driving Licence (only valid for 72 hours, so choose your timing carefully). You can also get it by phoning 0300 083 0013.

This is how our friends at DVLA explain the process.

12 May 2015, 11:56