Car Hire in UK & Europe

[1yearon]

Hi folks,

I'm hoping someone may be able to help me with some advice with regards to car rental after a drink-drinking conviction. I won't go into details of what happened (I have another post talking about that!), but I got my full driving license back in January (2016) following a 12 month ban for a drink-driving conviction (first offence).

I am looking to go on holiday (probably Iceland) at the end of the year and would like to know what the possibilities are, if any, with this conviction on my record? I've heard differing stories about it not mattering in other EU countries and some saying no-one will touch you until 5 years after getting your license back...


So if anyone would be able to clear this up for me that would be great. In a nutshell, would I be allowed to hire a car in another EU country (let's say Iceland for now) or not?


I'd also like to know what the limitations would be for hiring a car here in the UK. Does anyone know of any companies who would hire despite this on my record?

 

[Mclanelli]

Hi folks,

I'm hoping someone may be able to help me with some advice with regards to car rental after a drink-drinking conviction. I won't go into details of what happened (I have another post talking about that!), but I got my full driving license back in January (2016) following a 12 month ban for a drink-driving conviction (first offence).

I am looking to go on holiday (probably Iceland) at the end of the year and would like to know what the possibilities are, if any, with this conviction on my record? I've heard differing stories about it not mattering in other EU countries and some saying no-one will touch you until 5 years after getting your license back...


So if anyone would be able to clear this up for me that would be great. In a nutshell, would I be allowed to hire a car in another EU country (let's say Iceland for now) or not?


I'd also like to know what the limitations would be for hiring a car here in the UK. Does anyone know of any companies who would hire despite this on my record?

You will be able to hire abroad in Europe. But each company will have different guidelines and restrictions. Your best bet will be to find a hire company and contact them before you go. There are plenty of international car hire companies with UK access via their websites.

You might get charged a premium, you might not.
http://www.goiceland.com/terms/
http://www.thrifty.is/

M

 

[DesignerGirl]

I had no problem hiring in the UK after a year's ban with Enterprise. They do call up the DVLA to check your history so they knew the conviction. Make sure you pay an extra £100 insurance up front (refundable) because otherwise you could end up paying a fortune! I know of a girl who got a cracked windscreen and ended up having to pay £100s so check the smallprint!

 

[price1367]

You will be able to hire abroad in Europe. But each company will have different guidelines and restrictions. Your best bet will be to find a hire company and contact them before you go. There are plenty of international car hire companies with UK access via their websites.

You might get charged a premium, you might not.
http://www.goiceland.com/terms/
http://www.thrifty.is/

M

You are right that many car hire firms wil not rent a car to someone with a drink drive conviction for 5 years. They say so in their terms and conditions. It seems, though, that since the paper part was done away with, firms are not bothering to check with the online DVLA database so are unaware of previous convictions. I have hired cars in South Africa 3 times since the counterpart was abolished, I duly printed of the DVLA code but at the hire desk they simply scanned my plastic card and asked no questions about convictions.
i emailed the goiceland site that you mentioned, and got a very clear reply:

"Good evening,
​

Do you hire cars to people from England who have had a drink drive
​

conviction in the past 5 years?"
​

Reply:

​

"Thank you for your mail.

We all make mistake, if you have driver license then you are good to go,
we do not judge people because of their past"



Perhaps Iceland may become the destination of choice for drink drivers with an attitude like that!

 

[1yearon]

Thanks to all 3 of you for your extremely helpful answers there! Definitely helped put my mind at ease, and with an answer like that to that email I immediately like Icelandic people 1 million per cent more!!

Out of curiosity, do you know of any countries EU or not, that definitely wouldn't accept a drink drive conviction on the record within 5 years, or ever? I can imagine places like the USA might be a bit trickier...

 

[price1367]

Avis state on their website that they will not rent to someone who has more that 6 points on their licence, or has a specified conviction that includes drink driving. My experience, and the experience of a lot of people in the Internet says that the paper part of a driving licence was never looked at abroad, nor is the DVLA licence check code requested to be produced to enable a check to be made.
if you were asked about endorsements when hiring, or require to sign to say you had a clean licence, that would be a different matter, because if you then concealed the drink drive conviction then it would invalidate your insurance cover.

 

[1yearon]

Hi guys,

Just thought I'd give a wee update on this. Iceland is now booked and I checked with a couple more car hire companies over there what their policy is on a DD conviction.

Blue Car Rental (http://www.bluecarrental.is/) came back saying the following:

"I appreciate your honesty and the questions. If you have a valid license at the moment and have been driving for at least 1 year, then you are welcome to rent our cars."

So, as has already been previously suggested by Price and Mclanelli on this thread, it looks like at least with Iceland they are pretty lenient with these sorts of things. Just thought it'd be worth sharing with everyone am I right in thinking that just taking along my plastic card UK license is sufficient for EU countries? Or do I need to gather some documents...


Thanks again for your help folks. Looks like we'll be going to New York after Iceland, which I know opens up a completely different can of worms...but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it!!

 

[ZZTopWereHere]

Out of curiosity, do you know of any countries EU or not, that definitely wouldn't accept a drink drive conviction on the record within 5 years, or ever? I can imagine places like the USA might be a bit trickier...

Unfortunately I've found out that Canada is a country that won't let anyone cross its borders for 5 years after a DD-related driving ban. Luckily I've been there twice last year, but for the next 5 years I won't be able to visit my brother in law.

Best regards,
Z