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Hiring car in the UK


Viv
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I am visiting friends in the UK at Easter and want to hire a car whilst I am there. I have a valid UK licence with my old UK address on it but I won't have any utility bills for that address, which car hire companies always seem to need. How should I proceed?

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Hi

I hired a car from Stansted last week through Alamo and they were happy with my UK driving licence (you need the paper one aswell) and I showed them a utility bill with my French address on.  They were happy with this as I assume anyone with a UK driving licence but no home in the UK is in the same position and they must have encountered this countless times.  I arranged the car hire on the Internet just before catching my flight and was very pleased with the service and cost.

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Jeez when I worked for a large UK rental co. we even used to hire to Americans (though preferring that they take automatics, smile) I don't see the issue with the address. You'll have a passport for proof of ID right ?

Meanwhile I stand by my previous advice. Book ahead if you can. There are cheap deals on the web and my website has a referral link that 'should' generate discounts. But check a few rates yourselves.

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I have only ever used car hire via a smallish company in the town i used to live in the UK , they always needed driving licence obviously and a current utility bill that showed the same address as on the licence. May be they were just being over cautious but I thought that this would be standard practise everywhere but obviously it isn't.  Have now sorted out car hire quite painlessly ( i hope) on line.
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I've had some bad experiences picking up hire cars at airports, maybe because I'm usually stressed out and tend to sign whatever is pushed in front of me.  My strong advice is to use a travel agent (I know it will cost just a little more) and arrive with a voucher.  You then know the level of insurance cover etc that you have.  At the airport only sign the boxes that are necessary.  I think the agency voucher is a good idea anyway, because it gives the hire firm a little bit of confidence.  They have only ever asked me for a credit card and driving license.
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>I have only ever used car hire via a smallish company in the town i used to live in the UK

 

Aah. I do recall that one of our branches used to even take photos of all renters who were 'locals. and perhaps not using credit cards. As it happens this was pre-digital and I doubt there was film in the camera, but you know the principal. They wanted their cars back and wanted to make the renters feel they were 'on top' !

Have a good trip.

 

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