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Driving Licence UK - residents of the United Kingdom and visitors to the UK often have questions in relation to driving licences when renting a car.
The most common mistake made with respect to driving licences is in connection with the new style UK licence that comes in two parts. One part is made up of the photograph of the driver. The other part provides written information on the driver’s personal details. An important part of this is the information about any endorsements or disqualifications the driver may have.
Often customers will arrive at a rental location and only produce the photographic section of their licence. The car rental company will not accept this as the driving licence. They need to see the second part of the licence to check whether the customer meets the requirements in respect of any disqualifications he may have.
In such circumstances the member of staff at the rental desk may be able to contact the Driving Licence Vehicle Licence Agency (D.V.L.A). This is government organisation which administers driving licences in the UK. The rental staff usually have a telephone number they can phone within the D.V.L.A.
Due to Data Protection legislation, the D.V.L.A are not allowed to give personal information directly to the car rental staff without first getting the permission of the driver. The driver is normally put on the phone to give this permission. The rental staff can then obtain the relevant information they need from the D.V.L.A. The car rental company will normally charge about GBP 5.75 for carrying out this check.
If a customer arrives at the rental location when the D.V.L.A is closed, the car rental would not normally hire a car to the customer. The D.V.L.A normally closes about 2000 hours Monday to Friday and 1700 hours on a Saturday. They are closed on a Sunday.
If you have lost one part of your two part licence and you are arriving at the rental location when the D.V.L.A is closed, you can arrange with the car rental company to have the D.V.L.A check done prior to your arrival. The customer would also need to contact the D.V.L.A prior to this check being done to give permission to release this information to the car rental company.
Driving Licence UK – last updated 10 Sept ’07 – Please confirm information still valid.
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