If you’re planning to rent a car on your next holiday, then you’ll want to spend a few moments reading this blog to understand how changes made by the DVLA could affect your next car hire. You’ll also want to make sure that you know both your Driving Licence Number and your National Insurance Number. Since 8 June 2015, the paper counterpart to the photocard driving licence isn’t valid and is no longer issued by DVLA.

Historically car hire companies have checked the the paper document before letting you drive away. Now you have to provide them with a code to access those details electronically. If you plan to hire a car on your next holiday, chances are that you’ll now be asked to provide evidence of your driving record (entitlements and/or penalty points).

The good news is that  you can do this online for free by accessing the DVLA Share Driving Licence service. The service should be used by both paper and photocard driving licence holders. You can generate a ‘check code’ to pass to the car hire company that needs to view your driving licence details. Be warned to access this service you will need  your Driving Licence Number and your National Insurance Number. Make sure you check you have access and generate a code (Which is valid for 21 days) before you travel.

My recent practice run revealed that I couldn’t access the service and I had to call  call 0300 083 0013 and get the DVLA to generate a code for me. On that basis, I discovered that you could take another route to generate a code by confirming your identity via the GOV.UK website which then resulted in me being able to generate a code. You can apply using GOV.UK Verify if you have:

• a valid UK passport or a photocard driving licence issued in England, Wales or Scotland
• access to information about your bank account or credit cards
• a mobile phone or tablet computer

Happy motoring.