gillan85

Please can anyone give us some good advice about hiring a car in the UK (pick up from Gatwick) with a Canadian licence of less than one year. We have been told by one online search provider that most hire car companies will not accept a licence of less than one year, even though we had a previous UK licence of over 25 years. Anyone have any help or experience with this.

magnumpi

When we rented i showed them a copy of my UK license and told them i been driving in the UK since i was 17, and i wanted a standard car. I had only 1 year and a bit on my Canadian license at that time. They were fine about that with me. Try calling them and tell them as it is?

jericho

I've rented on a Cdn license before lots of times, and I suspect you're being given false information... I wouldn't even worry about it. If one asks too many questions, go to another company.

cheeky_monkey

only works if you still have your UK licence

magnumpi

I not sure I needs to show any proof of UK driving, but I wanted a manual car, and i thought maybe most rental companies think Canadians only drive auto's

cheeky_monkey

surely as soon as you open your gob they would realise you were English?

magnumpi

Yup, but how are they to know I had not just passed my test a year ago in Canada? Before I handed over my UK DL I copied it for this reason. Maybe I don't need to, but I felt it put the rental lady at ease knowing I driven in UK before.

Then i say, what side of road you drive on again....:@)

Former Lancastrian

Just think of the fun you could have with the staff at the UK rental agency.
Can I turn right on a red light?
Do I need snow tires or can I use snow chains on the M25?
Do you have Arret signs as French is my 1st language?
Have you got a map that shows all the Tim Hortons locations?
Where are the best ski hills in Norfolk?
Whats a petrol station as we use gasoline in Canada?
Do all hotels have plug ins for the vehicle?
Ive brought my own block heater cord will it work?

magnumpi

I have to admit I did try to get into the rental car on the passenger side. Didn't help that the Mrs was stood on the drivers side waiting for me to get in.

cheeky_monkey

Bloody women!..no sense of direction!

livinthedream...

I don't know if all the provinces do this but in BC drivers licences have to be renewed every five years. The date of issue is no indication of how long you hae been driving.

cheeky_monkey

same in Alberta..in fact i renewed mine last week as says valid from Nov 8 2012 be interesting as i have hired a car over xmas back home

britsnake

In Quebec, when I exchanged my licence, they credited me with all my deiving experience from the UK. The dat that they have recorded for me passing my driving test, is the date I passed in the UK, not the date I exchanged my licence.

As in the other provinces, my licence has a valid from and an expiry date.

The valid from date is the date the licence was issued.

So if i was renting a car in the UKthere would be no way for them know when I passed my test

sheadboy

same here, booked a manual rental, picked it up with my canadian license without any problems whatsoever.

HSJones

I exchanged my UK licence for an Ontario one in Dec 2011, and went back to UK and rented a car in Aug 2012. I too had read about needing 1 year's experience and was worried, but the guy just took my licence, wrote down the info and it was a non-issue.

(Picked up the car form LGW, used Holiday Autos to book, and car was rented through Alamo/Europcar).

If there had been a stink and they didn't take my word that I had had a UK licence for 13 years previously then OH would have driven.