Due to the paper counterpart of your licence being computerised you’ll now need to go online to DVLA before you depart for your jollies and get a generated code that you take with you and give to the lovely people your getting a car from, simple enough but the code only lasts for 72 hrs !!! So you’ll need to go back online after 3 days for another one,or you can call a number for the code and I bet that ain’t gonna be freephone either, I’ve always booked when I get oversea’s as it’s cheaper but now it looks like I’ll be tied to booking before I go again and paying a higher price.
Doesn’t it all depend on where you go. I’ve only ever produce the photocard when renting a car abroad and that includes Portugal, Tunisia, Majorca and in Corfu. None of them requested a paper counterpart and I don’t see things changing when the paper counterpart is scrapped.
As a side note, it’s only newly issued or updated licences that are just the card. Existing ones still need both parts to be valid so you can still take your paper hit away with you if you have one.
m1cks:
Doesn’t it all depend on where you go. I’ve only ever produce the photocard when renting a car abroad and that includes Portugal, Tunisia, Majorca and in Corfu. None of them requested a paper counterpart and I don’t see things changing when the paper counterpart is scrapped.
As a side note, it’s only newly issued or updated licences that are just the card. Existing ones still need both parts to be valid so you can still take your paper hit away with you if you have one.
Same- never ever been asked for both parts. In some cases never even for licence, just passport?
And what exactly does this magical code actually tell anyone? Doubt they could actually care abroad. If you sign everything it asks if endorsements etc so regardless of code if you decline to tell them it’s your own fault.
Bet they never check anyway! Never got impression they actually do when I pick up a car
Driving licence counterpart
Paper counterparts to driving licences will not be valid after June 8 2015
Motorists going abroad after 8 June are being warned they will need to take a special code with them if they want to hire a car.
From that date the paper counterpart of British driving licences - which records endorsements and fines - is being computerised.
Anyone wanting to hire a car abroad will officially need a code to show convictions for offences like speeding.
To obtain it, motorists will have to log on to the DVLA website beforehand.
But the code is only valid for 72 hours, so anyone wanting to hire a car more than three days into their trip will need to generate a new code while they are abroad.
For those who do not have internet access, a phone number will also be made available.
The RAC said many drivers were unaware of the changes.
“Our research shows that with just over a month to go before the paper counterpart to the photo-card licence disappears, 55% of drivers are not aware of the planned change,” said RAC spokesman Simon Williams.
‘Belt and braces’
The DVLA recommends destroying paper counterparts after 8 June.
However the AA is advising people to hang on to the document, in case some hire companies are unaware of the new arrangements.
“Not all car rental companies, or indeed traffic police abroad, will be aware of the changes, so a ‘belt and braces’ approach of also taking the counterpart might help,” said AA president Edmund King.
But the AA also said that hiring a car abroad without a paper counterpart is not always a problem.
Just as some car hire companies do not currently ask for a counterpart, not all will ask for a code after 8 June.
The old-style paper licences, issued before the photo card was introduced in 1998, will remain valid, but holders will still need a code to fully validate them.
To view a record of their convictions, motorists can log on to the View My Driving licence page of the government website.
They will need their driving licence number, their national insurance number and their postcode.
The changes do not apply to driving licences issued by the DVA in Northern Ireland.
But the code is only valid for 72 hours, so anyone wanting to hire a car more than three days into their trip will need to generate a new code while they are abroad
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I understand that to mean that if you hire a car during ther first 3 days of your holiday then you will just need the one code even if you hire it for two weeks.
If you leave it till the second week, eg. then you will need to get the code whilst abroad
But the code is only valid for 72 hours, so anyone wanting to hire a car more than three days into their trip will need to generate a new code while they are abroad
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I understand that to mean that if you hire a car during ther first 3 days of your holiday then you will just need the one code even if you hire it for two weeks.
If you leave it till the second week, eg. then you will need to get the code whilst abroad
Your probably right Del, just when I first read I thought what a load of tosh !!!
Like I said at the bottom…moan over now
what a fuss OP is making over nothing, all car hire co will have to have internet access if they think it necessary to check and will no doubt allow a hirer to input their own NI number from their office thus enabling the check no need to make a sodding drama out of a none event
I have just returned from a holiday in Cyprus where I always pre-book a car to collect from the airport on arrival, I usually use the same very large European company every time and they always want to see the counterpart, I told them about the changes and they were totally unaware and said they would not release a car without seeing the counterpart.
The guy in the next car hire booth, another major European rental company, said they were aware of the changes and were planning to charge an extra 10 euros to do the online lookup for driving licence details if the counterpart was not available.
The code provided by DVLA allows the car rental company to check licence details online, this could be a problem for many companies that do not have internet access at roadside rental sites in holiday resorts, many in Cyprus operate from a shed or portakabin and do not even have electricity!
green456:
what a fuss OP is making over nothing, all car hire co will have to have internet access if they think it necessary to check and will no doubt allow a hirer to input their own NI number from their office thus enabling the check no need to make a sodding drama out of a none event
I must of had rental cars 20+ times in the U.S. Never once have I ever been asked for the paper counterpart bit. Even when getting booked for speeding several times.Doesn’t look much will change from their point of view.
m1cks:
Doesn’t it all depend on where you go. I’ve only ever produce the photocard when renting a car abroad and that includes Portugal, Tunisia, Majorca and in Corfu. None of them requested a paper counterpart and I don’t see things changing when the paper counterpart is scrapped.
Me neither, never been asked to produce the paper part when renting a car abroad, most recently in Cyprus a few months ago. I don’t recall ever been asked for the paper part when stopped in any control in various countries when driving a tuck round Europe in the years since I had a photo licence.
The Daily Mail ran this nothing story and that tells you all you need to know, it’s the Daily Mail ffs so best just to ignore it and move on. Surprised they didn’t blame this ‘terrible situation’ for the death of Diana.
m1cks:
As a side note, it’s only newly issued or updated licences that are just the card. Existing ones still need both parts to be valid so you can still take your paper hit away with you if you have one.
Not after 8th June they won’t. No photo licence, new or old, will need the paper counterpart then.
In the last seven years, hiring a car at least once a month in Europe and North America, I have never been asked for the paper part. Like someone else said, sometimes not even had to show my licence! Sometimes not had to show it in the UK.
So, I’m not going to worry at all, if they ask, then I’ll sort it at the time.
Life is too short for little things like that…
Cheers
Paul
no need to make a sodding drama out of a none event 
several times.Doesn’t look much will change from their point of view.