New holiday car hire shambles!
Drivers go to all that trouble getting special code now that paper part of licence is axed ... but firms don’t even bother to ask for it
THOUSANDS of British drivers may be wasting their time jumping through needless bureaucratic hoops to hire a car for their summer holiday.
The scrapping of the traditional paper driving licence has led to a shambles for motorists facing widespread confusion about the documentation required by rental firms.
Previously, when hiring a car abroad or at home, drivers had to produce their licence photocard and its paper ‘counterpart’, which gave details of any penalty points against their name.
But after the paper counterpart was scrapped on June 8, drivers were told they had fill out a complex online form to get a code to give the car hire company so it can access their driving record.
However, the Mail has learnt that many firms simply do not ask for the code, in effect an electronic counterpart.
While the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency says it is a not a legal requirement, some firms believe it is, leaving drivers facing an uncertain ‘lottery’.
It means thousands of drivers are having to go through the bureaucratic process of getting the code with little likelihood of ever being asked for it.
Car-hire firms admitted last night they had been inundated with calls from confused holidaymakers trying to make sense of the new system.
More than 1.2million ‘ check codes’ have been generated since June 8, the DVLA says.
But when the Mail contacted Avis, its call- centre handler said: ‘ With us, outside of the UK, you do not need the counterpart. As long as you turn up with your passport, photo driving licence and credit card, you can rent the car.’
Both the Avis and Budget websites tell customers: ‘ Anyone collecting their vehicle from one of our UK stores will only need to bring their photocard licence.
‘We will not be asking our UK customers to print a copy of their counterpart or provide an online code.’
They add: ‘In many countries around the world the paper counterpart is not required today, so there will be no change. Anyone collecting their rental vehicle from an Avis or Budget store outside of the UK will, as previously, need to bring their photocard licence.’
Europcar also said that outside the UK, the electronic counterpart is not needed – a passport, photo licence and credit card are sufficient. Sixt, by contrast, said it was advising customers to have the code ready to hand to its car hire staff – just in case.
Its call centre said: ‘It’s more than likely they won’t ask for it. But we tell people to take it anyway – they may ask.’
It added the UK’s endorsement codes are different from those used in Spain, for example, so would be meaningless.
But a representative of the firm insisted the code is mandatory in the UK.
However, the DVLA said: ‘It is not a legal requirement. There is no standardised practice. It is at the discretion of the individual car hire firms.’
A spokesman added: ‘It’s a bit of a lottery in terms of which car hire firm you go to.’
AA spokesman Paul Watters said: ‘Motorists are thoroughly confused as to whether they need to bring their counterpart code or not. We advise they do, just in case of a random check. But it is getting a lot of people to jump through a lot of bureaucratic hoops on the off-chance they might be checked.’
Dudley Ashford, of the DVLA, advised drivers to check with hire firms what documents or information they need.
He said: ‘If necessary, drivers can then generate a check code up to 21 days before collecting the vehicle.
‘If they want extra assurance, they can also download or print out an electronic summary of their driving licence record.’
When the codes were introduced, they were vaild for only three days, meaning travellers hiring a car later during a trip had to find internet access abroad or run up mobile phone bills to get them. But after driver protests, the validity has been extended to three weeks.
‘Thoroughly
confused’