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Received the following this morning from our company travel advisor . . . might be of interest to anyone planning to hire a car while they're abroad this summer:
"From 8th June, the paper counterpart to the photocard driving license will not be valid and will no longer be issued by the DVLA. Details of driving endorsements and fines, which were recorded on the paper counterpart, will be moved to a computerised system.
How does this affect you when hiring a car?
From 8th June, anyone wanting to hire a car abroad will need a code to give to the rental firm so they can see convictions for offenses like speeding. To obtain the code drivers will have to contact the DVLA before travelling. However, the code will only be valid for 72 hours, so anyone wanting to hire a car more than three days into their trip may need to generate a new code while they are abroad.
There are concerns that some car rental companies may not be aware of the changes initially, so it is advisable to also take the paper counterpart for the time being when hiring a car abroad."
Also heard about this recently.
I can't wait for some rather heated discussions at car hire desks using my finest Greeklish.
I've never been asked for the paper counterpart abroad. The photocard has always sufficed.
This is going to be a nightmare!
I'm off on a 3 month travelling trip and i have 5 different hire companies in 3 different countries, it will probably cost me the same to keep calling the dvla than it did to hire the cars initially
The UK is not the first to have paperless, nor the first to store points only in a computer and not on the paper bit.
I've never seen any of my non-British colleagues have to dial up a code or anything when handing over their plastic driving licence in 15 years of pan-European car rental for a European organisation.
PS surely for those with an old EU format paper-only licence will also no longer have points put on that paper, but stored online too? (like other EU nations)
Your PS is correct.
was in Denmark a couple of weeks ago and figured I'd wing it. Have hired cars all over europe and in the US, and as above, no-one ever asked to see the paper counterpart.
in the UK, on the old licence, even a copper who had stopped you had no right to look at the part that detailed points and previous convictions. you're either entitled to drive or you're not.
OP's travel advisor is a bit behind with this too!