FriendlyExpat

Aaaghh.

To repeat: Section 99(4) RTA 1988 says you should return your photo card to DVLA if the address is wrong...it's pretty clear...and it applies whether you are man, woman, resident, non-resident, covered in bees, or anything else.

But the point is DVLA doesn't normally choose to enforce this rule.

BritInParis

Feel free to surrender your licence. I suspect the DVLA will be very confused as to why you have done.

FriendlyExpat

As pointed out already...

sicklyman

while I can rejoice that renewal is fine, it seems that none of us can rent a car with valid insurance in the UK on our UK licenses according to info here and that rather garbled response from Avis (who have not and probably will never respond to my request for clarification).

I wonder how I go about getting an IDP to go with my Saudi license

FriendlyExpat

If you have a Saudi driving license you can just use that to hire cars and drive in the UK. No IDP required.

https://www.gov.uk/driving-nongb-licence

UKMS

This link is nothing to do with car rental ...... some hire companies require IDP for certain licences in their T’s & C’s over and above what the law may say.

jamesmc

just passing through from Canada MB ,,,someone mentioned fines on hire cars,, just keep a card with just enough on it for car hire ish so when they try to add a fine on ...,oohh dear not enough lol. helps if coming to Uk a lot. ,,,,lucky people getting to keep your uk licence we have to exchange as its illegal to hold more than one licence.

scrubbedexpat141

Most car hire firms seem to only want the IDP if your license doesn't have English on it. Not sure about KSA but my UAE one has never been a problem because it's in both Arabic and English. The only place I got an IDP for was South Africa but never used it then either...

sicklyman

Avis said that to rent in the UK on a Saudi license they would require me to have an IDP. Just goes to show that the rental companies themselves have no clue what the rules are.

jam25mack

Haven't used an IDP with a UAE licence when renting in several places..... got one for India just in case but they didn't care.

sicklyman

KSA has mostly Arabic but the key points are in English so it should be acceptable as it's easily seen as valid in English.

Avis actually replied yesterday. However, the lady who referred to the law I mentioned earlier said that she'd thought I was a foreigner trying to rent in the UK after becoming resident there. Would help if she read my emails properly.

So, I've reiterated my point and am awaiting a response to the original question... again.

BritInParis

Google is your friend.

اتحاد السيارات السعودي

FriendlyExpat

I've used a Saudi driving licence to hire cars in the UK many times and never been asked for an IDP. The licence has the key bits in English which is all that matters. Which car hire company asked you for one? I'll be sure to avoid them in future!!

-edit- I see it's Avis UK - they don't ask for an IDP in my experience - Saudi license is no problem. No reference to an IDP being needed in their t's and c's either: https://www.avis.co.uk/TermsAndCondition

sicklyman

yeah, I know all this.

I'm just wondering why a woman working as an Avis customer service rep doesn't... and can't lay her hands on any of the right documentation to back up her spurious claims.

So far, no one has been able to answer the original query: does renting on a UK license in the UK when you are a British citizen resident overseas invalidate your rental company insurance? (as has been claimed)

sicklyman

finally... an answer that goes some way towards clarifying at least the point of view of Avis:

It seems that an IDP is an Avis requirement for a Saudi license.

I've written back to ask if using my UK license would cause a problem.