The most essential item that you need to take with you when you want to rent a car is your driving licence. Although you would be surprised at the amount of people who just forget this essential item when they go away. Some UK driving licence holders also make the common mistake of only taking the photo part of their licence with them. The UK driving licence consists of two parts. The photo card is the first part and the paper part contains all your driving history information. Any endorsements on your licence etc will be on the paper part of your licence.
Before a car rental company will allow you to rent one of their vehicles they will want to see both parts of your licence. The part of the licence that will prove that you are qualified to drive is the paper part and this is the most important part. Even if you are qualified to drive now but have been disqualified in the past, this could affect a rental company’s decision to allow you to hire a vehicle from them.
But if you are unfortunate enough to forget your driving licence when you go away, you do not have to totally give up the idea of renting a car. It is possible for the Department of Vehicle Licensing Authority to be contacted by the car rental office for information on your licence. You will normally be charged for this service though. Even though this sounds like the perfect answer to your problems there are certain times of the day and days of the week that the D.V.L.A will not be contactable. You will probably find that this service is not available on the weekends. However if you are ahead of yourself and know that the D.V.L.A. are unlikely to be available when you are picking up your rental car, you can contact them for the information in advance.
If you are looking for a driving related job, any potential employer is well withing their right to do official checks to the type of license you hold . Driving licence is something which you should take very seriously indeed. Don’t try applying for specific driving jobs without first holding the appropiate license.