Effie Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 I recently got my NSW driving licence after becoming permanent resident. I will be returning to the uk for a holiday in April and want to hire a car. Can I still use my uk drivers licence or do I have to use my NSW one? Has anyone had any problems hiring a car in the uk on a NSW licence-will they charge me more!! thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 I recently got my NSW driving licence after becoming permanent resident. I will be returning to the uk for a holiday in April and want to hire a car. Can I still use my uk drivers licence or do I have to use my NSW one? Has anyone had any problems hiring a car in the uk on a NSW licence-will they charge me more!!thanks Your UK license will not be valid as you are not a resident (no home address) using your Aus license is no problem. You need to look on the net for the best car hire deals and book before you go. Over the last 3-4 years we have had the best deals from Europcar but from the main website (not UK or Aus sites) try this link https://www.europcar.com/deals/europe other than that the normal search engines for car hire uk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Second that. Also if you try to hire on a Uk license in the UK you will find the small print requires proof of address such as a utility bill. We hired a car last time we went and it was new, and not expensive, I think from Europcar or one of the other major companies that operate at the airport. Shop around as many include extra driver for free etc. Also check your travel insurance as ours already covered for hire car excess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 We went back just over a year ago and hired on our Aus passports with no issues. It wasn't expensive and there were no issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Second that. Also if you try to hire on a Uk license in the UK you will find the small print requires proof of address such as a utility bill. We hired a car last time we went and it was new, and not expensive, I think from Europcar or one of the other major companies that operate at the airport. Shop around as many include extra driver for free etc. Also check your travel insurance as ours already covered for hire car excess. If you use the search engines for the best prices and then armed with that info go onto the actual car hire companies to compare because sometimes the hire company may have a special that is not always shown/picked up by the search engines. Also be careful on the excess insurance provided by the travel insurance as on some it does state in the small print something like "provided you have taken up all insurances offered by the hire company" or words to that effect. Now what offered means is anybody's guess, still worth checking out to be sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 We went back just over a year ago and hired on our Aus passports with no issues. It wasn't expensive and there were no issues. Edit, that should say Aus driving licences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Yup weasely words those insurance people use. I called my insurance company to double check and it did cover the excess charged exactly as I thought. The hire company in QLD I used were having none of that though and it took me ages to convince them I did not need their excess waiver policy. They were so aggressive I made an official complaint! They did apologise saying that many policies do not cover all the excess and people had been caught out before. Saying that if a policy says car hire excess insurance cover then it should do just that! The levels of excess in the UK are tiny compared t o Australia though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NicF Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Agree with the others - have hired a car in the UK twice now using an Australian drivers license with no problems. When looking for car hire try hertz.com.au rather than the UK site as sometimes they will be half the price of the UK version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
empire Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I recently got my NSW driving licence after becoming permanent resident. I will be returning to the uk for a holiday in April and want to hire a car. Can I still use my uk drivers licence or do I have to use my NSW one? Has anyone had any problems hiring a car in the uk on a NSW licence-will they charge me more!!thanks You can use your Australian licence and passport, I went back in 2013 for two months (cost like $2600 to hire). Booked online and then that day when we picked the car up they asked for our details like Passport and licence that you have on you. I think it's around six months that you can use your overseas drivers licence Only time when they charge you more (you have an option at the desk) if you want your other half to drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 You can use your Australian licence and passport, I went back in 2013 for two months (cost like $2600 to hire). Booked online and then that day when we picked the car up they asked for our details like Passport and licence that you have on you. I think it's around six months that you can use your overseas drivers licence Only time when they charge you more (you have an option at the desk) if you want your other half to drive. That seems a little expensive by $1000 for say a 4 door ford focus! was yours an automatic? or a larger car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
empire Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 That seems a little expensive by $1000 for say a 4 door ford focus! was yours an automatic? or a larger car? It was an large outlander Mitsubishi and yes automatic. Automatic yeah more costly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Effie Posted February 2, 2016 Author Share Posted February 2, 2016 Thanks for the info. I'm interested in the insurance side of things whenever I've hired before in the uk I've been persuaded with their ridiculous excess reduction payment but I think this time will look at getting a separate policy. Hadn't thought of looking into the travel insurance side of it too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chlooe19 Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I plan on hiring a car in April thank you for the tips! Will it be ok to hire on an Aus QLD license whilst having a UK passport? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Thanks for the info. I'm interested in the insurance side of things whenever I've hired before in the uk I've been persuaded with their ridiculous excess reduction payment but I think this time will look at getting a separate policy. Hadn't thought of looking into the travel insurance side of it too I have never bothered with that and took shall we say a calculated risk, as we generally have a 4 to 6 week hire period every say 18 months then I worked out that about 3 hire periods of extra insurance was the same cost as potential maximum excess payable. However shorter more irregular hire periods would need a re-think, but even then I have had to pay for some damage (damn Pheasants on each occasion) a couple of times those costs were a lot less than any extra insurance I would have paid on each hire. However we all have to make our own informed/peace of mind decisions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 I plan on hiring a car in April thank you for the tips! Will it be ok to hire on an Aus QLD license whilst having a UK passport? Yep, I am on a Qld license and have hired almost a dozen times now. Passport is only proof of ID and I have at various times used my UK or OZ passports Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjg Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Some credit cards offer the waiver insurance when you hire a vehicle on the card, so dont need to double dip at pick up counters. Westpac black offers it, and travel insurance, lounge entry etc..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmjg Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Just found this in todays Royalauto (the RACV members magazine) I intend to try to get that deal, especially as their website claims they want £877 for 4 weeks next christmas.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith and Linda Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Just found this in todays Royalauto (the RACV members magazine) I intend to try to get that deal, especially as their website claims they want £877 for 4 weeks next christmas.... [ATTACH=CONFIG]32619[/ATTACH] Just googled a quote on a search engine came out at just under $700 yes DOLLARS! for 4 weeks over Xmas from Heathrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayrachel Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 I am an Aussie with a UK driving license and my husband is English. Immigrating to oz next month. We need to hire a car for 2 weeks when we first arrive. I'm confused when booking hire car do I say I live in UK or Australia? As now I am a uk resident but when hiring car will be Aussie resident. Also if I want to but excess car insurance from a 3rd party again that's asks if an Aussie resident or not? Any recommendations on which company to use? I use Questor in the Uk but it's only for UK residents. I have my parents address I can use in oz. Many thanks for any advice Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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