WARPed

So I'm going home for a few weeks in September. Yay! I was going to be added to my parents car insurance, but as soon as any insurance company hears that I only have a US License (UK one would obviously no longer be valid and expired anyway) they tell my parents to bugger off.

Oh well, I go to rent one through BA/Avis and see in the blurb that you must have held your license for a year. That is fine as I passed my US test 1yr and 10 months ago...except...they only issued me a 1 year license at the time as I was in limbo between my K1 expiring and getting my GC. I have since had it renewed and got an 8 year one but the issue date says 11-17-2009 (date it was renewed). Now based on the 1 year rule of the car company I'm not going to be eligible to rent. Anyone else come across thi problem? What did you do? I still have my UK photo license and paper counterpart which will prove I have been driving since I was 17 (now 32) but will they accept that?

S Folinsky

One year ten months is longer than one year last time I looked. Also take your UK license. If you are concerned, why not take the expired license to show that the new one is an extension. I have continuously had a California D/L since 1996. However, the actual license is valid of only five years. My current license give an issuance date of November 1999 but expires on my January birthday in 2015. I recall renting a car in Europe in 2006 when my actual license was less than a year old.

WARPed

Yes 1yr10mths is longer than a year. My problem is proving it as there is nothing on the current license to prove when I passed my test. I don't have the old expired FL license (I don't believe my expired was returned to me) but was planning to take my expired UK one as you suggest.

S Folinsky

Will FL issue you a history?

Jscl

Slightly going off the topic of the question here, but you say the UK driving license is expired.... is this new? I have never renewed my UK driving license ever, and I think it says on it that it doesn't expire to a date which is my 70th(?) birthday. Confused.

Bluegrass Lass

I've never seen a state license that actually says how long you've had the license. If rental agencies are really that strict about it, I'm surprised there haven't been plenty of others with the same problem since licenses expire and have to be renewed and the issue date will always be the latest date of renewal.

If you have your UK license, is there a specific reason you don't want to rent a car using it? That may be the easy solution to your problem. Edit: nevermind, I see that it's expired

Perhaps try a UK travel forum and see if anyone has encountered that issue before and what they suggest to overcome it.

cluedweasel

My Oregon license has an issue date on it. I guess it's the same thing.

1chumly

The newer licenses with photo do have an expiration date I believe. The old paper ones are as you say, good until you are 70.

neil

Except, technically speaking, if you're not resident in the UK. While you may still have it and it appears valid, the one time it would be questioned would be when you have to file an insurance claim. Remember their job is to find a reason not to pay out, so when they find out you do not live at the address given on the license...

WARPed

Correct. Because your appearance changes over time the photocard license expires every 10 years and has to be replaced with a new one with updated photo.

WARPed

This is correct. I searched the threads here before posting this question and the one thing I determined was that even if my UK license was in date it would not be valid as I no longer reside at the address on it. This would be a perfect way for some low life insurer to get out of paying a claim.

WARPed

I have a DMV appt at 11:30 and will post what they say about it when I get back.

Jscl

Thanks, I was worried for a minute!

Bluegrass Lass

The issue date is the date your license was most recently renewed, not necessarily the date you passed your original driving exam and were legal to drive..assuming of course you've had your license long enough to have it renewed.

For example, I've been legal to drive in the state of KY since I was 16 (16yrs ago), but the issue date on my license is in 2007 because that was the last time I renewed my license (renewal is every 4yrs). My issue date was not the date I could legally drive. The OP is trying to show that he has been eligible to drive for more than a year (because his issue date is less than a year ago).

WARPed

It would appear that they see this quite often at the DMV as the second I started explaining my situation he said he could sort that out for me and proceeded to print off my Personal Record which I guess is like a driver history. On it is a "Initial FL Lic. Issued" date which is the date of my test in 2008. Although it is just a laser printer printout on plain paper I'm hoping that coupled with my expired UK license I won't have an issue now. It is certainly a PITA! Not sure why they don't have a "licensed since" date on the proper DL that would have negated the need for all this.