In the laudable programme to reduce Government excess spending, from Monday June 8, the paper part of the UK driving licence – which shows details of restrictions and penalties – will be scrapped.
This really shouldn’t be problem but it is anticipated that this might be a nuisance for people who want to hire holiday cars outside of the UK.
I really can’t remember the last time that I was aked to produce my paper copy of the licence. But, let me predict that all of a sudden car hire firms will discover that this is a requirement of hire and I bet there will be a charge involved.
Never trust a car hire company!
Have Bag, Will Travel 
It might be a help for prospective UK based hirers if they to go to DVLC and print off their details – [or have the details with them to do it ‘abroad’, if that will satisfy hiring companies better] – it can be done at this internet address .. https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence
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Thanks for the info Gary.
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…or a phone App? 😀 Ah, the paperless world …:D
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In Canada we have laminated cards with photos and they are often asked for as proof of identity. On has to get a new one every 5 years. They are as lovely as passport photos. 🙂
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We have these too but we used to have a paper copy as well with details of offences. Now it has gone. Progress!
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Yikes! Yes definitely some progress!
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The problem seems to be that the plastic card doesn’t show the full details (categories, convictions Tec.) that car rental firms might insist on. I guarantee there will be a story in this! No car hire problems so far this week in Northern Ireland!
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Enjoy!! We are off to South America on Thursday for 3 weeks so I likely won’t be visiting during that time. I will look forward to seeing what you have been up to on my return!
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Yes it’s the same here in Australia. We have laminated photo cards the size of a credit card valid for 5 years. You can use them for ID purposes too – we don’t have a paper licence just your details on the renewal notice when it gets sent out
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Seems like we are just catching up!
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Back 40 years ago I just went to Motor Reg (in Australia) and applied for an International Drivers Licence. Are they still around. It certainly saved a lot of trouble in France, Spain and Italy.
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I really doubt that it can be that simple any more!
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Yep it’s still that simple! It’s $40AUD for a 12 month licence and it’s valid in over 150 countries. It’s part of a United Nations agreement I think…
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Ditto what Sue said about our Canadian driver’s license.
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US is the same as Canada. Except that drivers licenses are issued by the states not the feds, so regulations vary. Where I live the validity goes down as your age goes up.
International Drivers Licenses are just translations of your real license, and aren’t valid on their own. Here they are issued by AAA (think AA or RAC in the UK) and are free if you’re a member.
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Himself has told me that the DVLA’a computer has already crashed. Well what would we expect?
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It was inevitable!
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