From today (8 June 2015) the DVLA are getting rid of the counterpart paper part of your driving licence, meaning that paper counterparts will no longer be valid. This is particularly important if you are travelling abroad and planning on hiring a car while you are on holiday.
How to hire a car
So, what do these changes mean for holidaymakers? Well, if you are from the UK and you intend to hire a car at home or abroad you will now need to obtain an access code from the DVLA website before you travel. You will need to show this code to the car hire company when you collect your car. To get this code you will need your driving licence number, national insurance number and your postcode.
The problem with this code is that it is only valid for 72 hours so you need to get the code just before you travel and you need to pick up your hire car within 3 days of arriving in your holiday destination; not so great if you wanted to hire a car for a few days later on in your holiday.
If you want to get a code but you do not have internet access, the DVLA has also provided a number to call but it is only in operation between 8am and 7pm on weekdays, or 8am and 2pm at the weekend.
If you live in Northern Ireland the good news is that these new laws don’t apply to you so it is business as usual.
For more information about these changes visit the DVLA website or watch this video that gives you more information about how to get your unique access code:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn2A8E2xo1I
