Rent a car in the US. Which licence to use?
Dec 13th 2022, 3:05 pm
#1
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Rent a car in the US. Which licence to use?
This is a bit off topic, but commenters here have been very helpful in the past!
My American wife and I have lived in the uk for 3 years and she got her UK driving licence 2 years ago. We are visiting the US and she will rent a car (and borrow one from family).
When renting should she use her USA licence (still valid) or UK one?
My American wife and I have lived in the uk for 3 years and she got her UK driving licence 2 years ago. We are visiting the US and she will rent a car (and borrow one from family).
When renting should she use her USA licence (still valid) or UK one?
Dec 14th 2022, 2:57 pm
#2
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Re: Rent a car in the US. Which licence to use?
In similar circumstances I would use my UK licence. If she has a valid address on her US licence she may be okay but I would worry about an insurance claim being questioned because the address of her US licence is not where she lives.
When living in the US I always used my US licence when renting cars in the UK because my UK licence did not have my home address on it. Since we have moved back and updated the address on my UK licence I have visited and rented cars in the US and used my UK licence each time.
When living in the US I always used my US licence when renting cars in the UK because my UK licence did not have my home address on it. Since we have moved back and updated the address on my UK licence I have visited and rented cars in the US and used my UK licence each time.
Last edited by durham_lad; Dec 14th 2022 at 2:59 pm.
Dec 14th 2022, 3:34 pm
#3
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Re: Rent a car in the US. Which licence to use?
Looks like you are UK residents, that might make the US license invalid, as has been mentioned already, I would worry about this as a means for insurance to deny a claim, although I am unfamiliar with any real World examples of this actually happening. I'd go with the UK license.
Dec 14th 2022, 9:54 pm
#4
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,439
Re: Rent a car in the US. Which licence to use?
Looks like you are UK residents, that might make the US license invalid, as has been mentioned already, I would worry about this as a means for insurance to deny a claim, although I am unfamiliar with any real World examples of this actually happening. I'd go with the UK license.
Generally, in the case of both UK and US, a driving license is only valid when you reside in the country (or state) that issued the license, .... or at least validity expires when you become resident somewhere else. This is true even if the license hasn't yet reached its expiry date.
Last edited by Pulaski; Dec 14th 2022 at 10:10 pm.
