Trying to get DVLA code, anyone else having problems?

The_Groat_Counter

mgdavid wrote: »

I haven't , no.
Anecdotally I hear that they are never asked for when abroad, it's only this stupid over-regulated and over-cautious country that uses them.

More like the car hire company's way of making a bit of extra cash - if you haven't got it, they call up the DVLA to check your details (with you confirming your identity on the phone) and then charge you an extra fee. Same happened before the changes if you didn't have the paper counterpart.

lfc321

I've always had a code since the new system came in, but have never been asked for it either. I certainly wouldn't be cancelling a holiday because of it!

bairn7

I've rented three times in the US and once in Ireland since the codes came in. I've never been asked for them.

headpin

I've rented in U.S. Couple of times since change and never asked for code. In fact they never asked me for the paper counterpart once ever since they were issued and I have travelled to the US for over 20 years often at least twice a year.

The U.S. diving Licences (each State issue their own) is only the equivalent of the photocard (now only) part of our Licence and I believe they do not even realise that there used to be the paper counterpart or now there is a code to check driving record.

As usual we in the UK can make a dogs ear out of anything!

maisie06

Update - never even asked for it nor the paper counterpart.....this system is a farce which only the UK seems to adhere to, more red tape and hassle....

AlexMac

The_Groat_Counter wrote: »

More like the car hire company's way of making a bit of extra cash - if you haven't got it, they call up the DVLA to check your details (with you confirming your identity on the phone) and then charge you an extra fee. Same happened before the changes if you didn't have the paper counterpart.

Where did that happen GC?

Like almost everyone else who has ever bothered to post, I have never been asked for my paper counterpart licence (under the old sytem) in about 50 car rentals in Spain and Italy...

and although I did get the code -and in fact, a print out -for a recent rental in Florence (only because my OH is of a nervous disposition and likes to do stuff by the book), of course, they didn't ask.

So everyone's remarks about the English disease (over-zealous enforcement of pointless regs) are spot on!

So fret not, OP

budgetflyer

So does your photo licence show that you were maybe drunk, created total carnage , death and were banned for life? That's the point of it!

The fact that rental companies abroad don't give a monkeys about your convictions isn't the DVLA's fault.

eDicky

budgetflyer wrote: »

So does your photo licence show that you were maybe drunk, created total carnage , death and were banned for life? That's the point of it!

The fact that rental companies abroad don't give a monkeys about your convictions isn't the DVLA's fault.

Rental companies abroad are only concerned whether the hirer is legally entitled to drive a motor vehicle, the proof of which is a driver's licence. That's good enough for the insurance cover to be valid for the results of any drunken driving, negligence or blameless accident. A driver's licence issued by the national authority of any country is accepted as this legal entitlement to drive. Let's celebrate the apparent fact that the unique and idiotic attempt by DVLA officials to export their excessive bureaucracy, previously in the form of the paper counterpart and now in the form of the electronic 'code', is being totally ignored worldwide by the car rental industry.

gingerdad

i'd add the the list of never being asked for the code - in spain and denmark so far.

don't remember ever being asked for the counterpart either