Car rental for new drivers

juliushibert

Can anyone recommend a car rental firm that hire's to newly qualified drivers. So far I've only been able to find one - Enterprise - that will rent me a car here in the UK.

Most other rental firms and car clubs require a minimum or 12 or 24 months of holding a license.

I live in London, am 30+ and currently listed on my parents insurance. I've held a license for 4 months and it's a UK license.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Searching just one rental company is a bit of a monopoly. :eek:

loskie

https://ecarclub.co.uk/young-drivers-welcome/

juliushibert

Thanks for the eCarClub suggestion. Unfortunately they require drivers to have held a license for minimum of one year as well. 😣

waamo

https://indigocarhire.co.uk/blog/news/car-hire-new-drivers/

r2015

Unfortunately they require drivers to have held a licence for minimum of one year as well.

Which is quite meaningless, if, like my wife's friend, they have held a licence for 45 years and never driven a car since the day they passed their driving test 45 years ago.

juliushibert

I agree it seems like a silly way to quantify and asses risk. And very frustrating that I've only found 2 so far that don't require a minimum license term.

Herzlos

r2015 wrote: »

Which is quite meaningless, if, like my wife's friend, they have held a licence for 45 years and never driven a car since the day they passed their driving test 45 years ago.

There are definitely outliers, but in general most people who have a license are using it. Statistically someone who's had a license under 2 years is more likely to be involved in an accident.

ladylord_2

Apart from Indigo I wonder if anyone knows of any companies who hire cars to new drivers with less than 1 years experience? I'm 42 and passed in November, and am a member of Enterprise Car Club, however the car hire side of their business seem to ask for at least 1 years experience. The car club is great for short journeys but not value for money for longer periods.

Any advice much appreciated, unfortunately I can't afford to buy, tax and insure my own car (and as I don't need one during the week it wouldn't be value for money either)...

Thanks for any advice! :j

juliushibert

Enterprise Car Hire was the best place I found. They rent to new drivers with less than a years license.

They also really friendly and helpful and not super overpriced.

Mercdriver

juliushibert wrote: »

Enterprise Car Hire was the best place I found. They rent to new drivers with less than a years license.

They also really friendly and helpful and not super overpriced.

Thanks for coming back to advise after a full year since your thread. Very unusual :T:beer:

beckyblondon83

I'm also a late driving test passer at 35, still waiting for my actual license to arrive in the post, but have found this thread invaluable in my research preparing for my first outing on my own. I was really interested in the new car clubs in particular as I live in London and I wanted to share what I found, which could be described as pretty limited beyond the above posters summaries. This is what I found in May 2019. UK hire needs a license for:

Audi On Demand - 1 Year
Avis - 1 Year
DriveNow - 1 Year
Drivy - 2 years min
ecarclub - 1 Year
Enterprise Car Club - 1 Year if under 22, no min if 22 or over
Enterprise Car Hire - no min
Hertz - 1 Year
HiyaCar - 1 Year min
Indigo Car Hire - no min
Sixt - 1 Year min
Turo - 2 Years
Ubeeqo - tbc
Zip Car - 1 Year min

Min is included where they have complex & varying requirements dependent on age and/or class of car

I think Enterprise is likely to have me as a loyal customer for the next year at least, their terms seem clear, I can access normal car hire and car club like services and there are plenty near enough to my house. Indigo wants to you call as a new driver, which isn't how I like to do business (where possible) and Ubeeqo had terrible reviews which made me cautious, though I'll probably still give them a try at some point over the next year.