New Drivers And Car Rental

Someone has asked via the Contact Form if they would be able to hire a car in order to travel to Heathrow, having only passed their driving test during the last 3 months.

There is no way to be certain, but there is a good chance you would not be able to hire a car. Here are a few examples from various national and semi-national rental companies.

• Enterprise – in the UK, all drivers must be 25 or older. They do appear to have a “youthful driver” option for 18-24 year olds, but when I tried it it simply warned me that many branches have age restrictions and to call the branch in question. They do not appear to have a minimum period for having held the licence, though.
• National – drivers must be 22 or older, though age restriction varies by location within the UK. The licence must have been held for a minimum of 12 months, though this also varies by location.
• Thrifty – drivers must be 21 or older, and have held a licence for at least 12 months. Those under 30 are restricted to basic models. They also have conditions associated with points on the licence and previous convictions for drink driving, etc.
• Europcar – you must be over 21 and have held your licence for at least 12 months.
• Avis – you can rent a car from age 17 (they say) but a surcharge applies if you’re under 25 and you are restricted on the models you can choose from. You need to have held your licence for 36 months, though, which means in reality that you must be at least 20.
• Hertz – I’ve used these before, but their website is useless and I cannot find their terms anywhere. I’m pretty sure you have to have held your licence for at least 12 months, though.

This is just a sample, but it is clear that their are restrictions on new drivers renting cars from the major companies – a combination of age and length of having held the licence, plus a surcharge even if they offer the service.

My advice would be to either go through the booking procedure online for the respective company, or to phone them up and ask.