Hiring a car in Britain: the licence check code and what else they ask

The main reason people lose time at a UK hire desk is not money but the licence check code. You generate it in advance, it lasts 21 days, and it works once. Here is what you will be asked for and where to get it.

The check code: how to get one

If your licence was issued in England, Wales or Scotland, use the driving record service on gov.uk. There you can view your record, check your penalty points or disqualifications, and create a licence check code to share your record with someone — a car hire company, for instance.

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You will need your driving licence number, your National Insurance number and the postcode on your licence.

The code is valid for 21 days, which is comfortably enough to generate it at home before a trip.

What the hire company does with it

The company uses a separate service to check someone else's driving licence information. It needs two things: the last eight characters of your licence number, and your code.

One detail many people miss: the code is single use. Once used, another check needs a fresh one. If you are hiring in two places on one trip, generate two codes.

The company will see which vehicles you are entitled to drive, along with any penalty points and disqualifications. The code cannot hide them — it opens the record as a whole.

There is a paper route as well: you and the person checking complete form D888/1 and send it with a £5 cheque or postal order to DVLA in Swansea. It is slow, but it works where the internet does not.

And a warning straight from gov.uk: obtaining someone else's personal information without their permission is a criminal offence. That is why you supply the code yourself, voluntarily.

Which category covers an ordinary car

A car is category B. If you passed your test on or after 1 January 1997, it covers vehicles with up to eight passenger seats and a maximum authorised mass of 3,500kg for petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles.

For electric and hydrogen vehicles the threshold is higher, 4,250kg, and only for zero emission vehicles. If such a vehicle carries extra equipment for disabled passengers, its permitted mass can rise by a further 750kg, but that allowance is only for the equipment.

If your licence says "B auto", you may only drive automatics. The hire company will see that and will not hand you a manual.

Anyone who passed before 1 January 1997 usually holds wider entitlements, up to a vehicle and trailer combination of 8,250kg. The exact scope is in your own driving record.

If your licence is not British

GOV.UK has a separate tool: you enter where your licence was issued and it tells you whether you can drive in Great Britain and on what terms. Great Britain here means England, Wales and Scotland.

Check that before booking, not at the desk. The terms depend on the issuing country, and there is no universal answer.

What to do before you travel

Generate the code no more than 21 days before collection. Note down the last eight characters of your licence number — you will be asked for those too. If you are hiring twice, make two codes. And look at your own driving record in advance: if there are penalty points you had forgotten about, better to find out at home than at the counter.