Paper driving licences scrapped

From 8 June the paper counterpart of the UK driving licence will be scrapped, and although some have warned of ‘car hire chaos' for UK holidaymakers this summer

Leading car hire broker, Economy Car Hire says that the change will actually make it easier for UK drivers renting overseas.
 
Rory Sexton, Managing Director of Economy Car Hire, said: "The scrapping of the paper counterpart of the UK driving licence is good news for drivers hiring cars abroad this summer.  There has been a considerable amount of negative spin put on this change for the sake of some sensationalist PR and it's causing holidaymakers unnecessary stress and worry.  Far from creating chaos, this change will make the requirements for hiring cars abroad less confusing for UK drivers. 

"We deal with over 150 car hire companies across the world, and we're absolutely certain that this change will not create problems for the vast majority of UK holidaymakers hiring cars abroad.  Major hire car brands including Alamo, Enterprise and National have confirmed that after 8 June all they will need to see is the photocard licence and drivers will not have to provide an online access code for further information about endorsements.”   

BTN  says read the small print if you have an endorsement. www.gov.uk/browse/driving/driving-licences   www.economycarhire.com

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OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

Kevin Morris, London

Err... what if you don't have a photocard licence? - I've only got a paper component (issued in 1988) - it's never been a problem hiring/renting cars abroad for me, but what happens now...

John Baxter-Smith, Haywards Heath England

Well the only place I have ever needed the paper bit is when hiring in England and once in Ireland. It always seemed a bonkers arrangement that only the UK government could dream up. What do other countries do? What's wrong with a machine readable chip?

Bryn Elliott, Waltham Abbey

The point of this non-event is that despite carrying my Part 2 in my suitcase for the past five years I have never, ever had to produce it to get car hire abroad. The only reason I started carrying it was when my son was refused a car in the UK because he did not have his with him. Other nations simply never have known it existed in the first place. Good riddance.

Adam Twidell , UK

Whilst Nigel Farage believes the imperial units used to describe the Royal Baby's arrival is cause for celebration, I believe that this scrapping of our antiquated paper driving licence is signifiacantly more reason to cheer. But let's not stop here, let's get behind the future of the UK and drive further changes; smart energy meters for every household, electric cars, online doctor's appointments, high speed broadband for all....let's make sure the UK leads the way.