New DVLA system gets rid of paper counterpart licence

..but is it driving you round the bend?

• Legislation
• technology

You know how things which seem as though they are going to be simpler – don't always turn out that way? Well we did an article on the demise of the paper counterpart driving licence which seemed like a good idea at the time, you know simpler neater, less to carry, lose etc...now some teething troubles have emerged which we hope won't turn into major toothache!

The driving licence changes, which came into effect just when everyone was heading for the holiday hills on the 8th of June this year, could be a headache for travellers picking up hire vehicles in foreign countries. The DVLA told everyone to get rid of the paper counterpart driving licence which used to be required alongside the plastic photocard. Oh-oh!

Many organisations are now recommending that drivers keep the paper counterpart licence and take it along when hiring a car, as information on penalty points and offences is on it. This is all important information to hire car companies who need to be aware of a driver's possible offences.  Since June 8th, this information is now stored on the DVLA’s database and can only be checked online, by phone or post. The driver requiring the hire car will now need to get an Access Code number to give the hire car company so that they can check if the driver has any penalty points via the DVLA website.
To get the Access Code, drivers will need to log on to the DVLA website and enter their driving licence, national insurance number and post code. Once they have the code, for security reasons, it will only be valid for 72 hours.  This may cause a problem for anyone who needs to hire a car a few days into their holiday, rather than at the beginning, as they will need to log in to get a new code. It may be safer to download the driver record and print it out before you set off, although you will need to check with the hire company that they are happy to accept this as proof before leaving.

Otherwise if you have failed to get the correct code or printed document, then the hire company may have no choice other than to ring the premium priced DVLA helpline to verify your details – an expensive call which you will be paying for, or no hire car!
However, things do seem to be a bit better now, when the change first came in people trying to get onto the website or phone line found that the system was unable to cope. Now it seems a lot easier to actually get through, so hopefully the trend is positive, it is just a good idea to be aware of the possible pitfalls before you travel.
Hopefully these problems will all be solved as the new system gets going CLICK HERE to log on and see your driving licence information  
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