How long to be fully qualified driver when renting car?

looking4advice

I've only passed my test last month and will be going on holidays in August in Italy. I intend to rent a car but someone told me that I would need to be fully qualified over 1 year to rent a car.

Does anyone know if this is true?

robtri

most rental car companies have criteria set for this, but it will vary from company to company.

I know enterprise used to charge a premium for drivers who had their licences for less than two years, only when using Enterprises own insurance. ( it came down to risk evaluation).

only thing to do is ring up a few places and check with them.

Paulw

looking4advice wrote: »

I've only passed my test last month and will be going on holidays in August in Italy. I intend to rent a car but someone told me that I would need to be fully qualified over 1 year to rent a car.

Does anyone know if this is true?

It varies from company to company (and even country to country).

I went to the US one week after getting my full Irish license, and rented a car without any hassle.

Check with the company you plan to rent from.

MagicMarker

I've never been questioned on how long I've had my licence. I either have a provisional or a full licence, in my experience that's all they need to know.

stesaurus

Yeah most likely they won't care. They'll be more interested if your under 25 as they'll load it and you won't have the full pick of vehicle categories.

R.O.R

MagicMarker wrote: »

I've never been questioned on how long I've had my licence. I either have a provisional or a full licence, in my experience that's all they need to know.

Until you are involved in an accident and they discover you don't meet the criteria as set out in the Rental Agreement you signed. At which point you end up paying everything you earn for the rest of your life to the rental company to cover their insurace payout.

MagicMarker

R.O.R wrote: »

Until you are involved in an accident and they discover you don't meet the criteria as set out in the Rental Agreement you signed. At which point you end up paying everything you earn for the rest of your life to the rental company to cover their insurace payout.

Uh, if I don't meet the criteria then they are at fault for allowing me to drive the car. I don't withhold any information, I'm saying that they have never known or asked how long I've been driving, they only care about whether I hold a full licence or not.

stesaurus

R.O.R wrote: »

Until you are involved in an accident and they discover you don't meet the criteria as set out in the Rental Agreement you signed. At which point you end up paying everything you earn for the rest of your life to the rental company to cover their insurace payout.

That would never stand up in court. Have you any examples of this happening?

R.O.R

MagicMarker wrote: »

Uh, if I don't meet the criteria then they are at fault for allowing me to drive the car. I don't withhold any information, I'm saying that they have never known or asked how long I've been driving, they only care about whether I hold a full licence or not.

The terms and conditions of the rental probably state (I've never been bothered reading them) that you must be over a certain age and have held your licence for a certain lenght of time. When I worked in rental reservations this had to be stated for every reservation so there were no surprises when you read the T's & C's of the contract you are entering in to.

R.O.R

s.welstead wrote: »

That would never stand up in court. Have you any examples of this happening?

Nope - no examples, but if you want to take on the lawyers of a massive multi national like Hertz or Avis on the subject of contract law - post back and let us know how you get on.

MagicMarker

R.O.R wrote: »

The terms and conditions of the rental probably state (I've never been bothered reading them) that you must be over a certain age and have held your licence for a certain lenght of time. When I worked in rental reservations this had to be stated for every reservation so there were no surprises when you read the T's & C's of the contract you are entering in to.

The age thing yes, of course. I'm saying that I've never been asked how long I've had my licence.

faigs

With Practical you must have 2 years fully qualified experience.

R.O.R

MagicMarker wrote: »

The age thing yes, of course. I'm saying that I've never been asked how long I've had my licence.

But, have you ever read the terms and conditions you are agreeing to before driving off?

Drummerboy08

R.O.R wrote: »

But, have you ever read the terms and conditions you are agreeing to before driving off?

I've just had a look at the T&C's on a Merlin rental agreement, and i see nothnig relating to the age of the driver, or how long he/she has their licience...

R.O.R

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

I've just had a look at the T&C's on a Merlin rental agreement, and i see nothnig relating to the age of the driver, or how long he/she has their licience...

That's because Merlin don't offer insurance on their rental cars, so will be able to recover full costs from the company insurance of whoever is driving the car at the time

All my points above are only regarding rentals where insurance is taken. If you provide your own insurance it's totally seperate

BlackWizard

Two years ago I couldn't do my driving test in my car due to it not having an NCT.

I was going to rent from Merlin, I think. I rang around a few places and they seemed the cheapest. I was a provisional licence for about 4 months.

But in the end I just went onto my parents car. Cost me 55 euro to switch insurance for 3 hours..damn Quinn Insurance rip off!! :mad:

Drummerboy08

R.O.R wrote: »

That's because Merlin don't offer insurance on their rental cars, so will be able to recover full costs from the company insurance of whoever is driving the car at the time

All my points above are only regarding rentals where insurance is taken. If you provide your own insurance it's totally seperate

Good point...;)

MagicMarker

R.O.R wrote: »

But, have you ever read the terms and conditions you are agreeing to before driving off?

No, and neither have you.

mikeystipey

In Spain you have to have your full licence for at least one year. I'd imagine its similar in Italy. But similar to mentioned above, my mate had his licence less than a year and they just didn't look at it properly so he was able to hire one in Spain last year. But if you do have an accident your insurance would surely be voided

In Ireland you need 2 years full licence for most big companies

R.O.R

MagicMarker wrote: »

No, and neither have you.

I agreed to them a while ago and don't have to sign anything when I collect a rental car - just show my valid licence and away I go

MagicMarker

So that's a no then?

R.O.R

MagicMarker wrote: »

So that's a no then?

That is a no, but as I spent 5 years working for one firm who I used to use for Car Hire I was pretty sure of the terms & conditions applicable. As I'm now staff for the company I use now, I have no need to read the general T&C as they don't apply.

MagicMarker

That's great, but you're telling me a contract has certain terms written in it yet you haven't read the contract yourself, so you're only assuming it has those terms.

halkar

As you only passed your test, play safe and use public transport. Driving in Italy is not like driving here in Ireland. There are many mad drivers in Italy and they drive on the wrong side of the road

All companies I used abroad for rentals required 2 years minimum and some age restrictions. I would guess any lies would void your agreement similiar to any insurance agreement you make here. It is not worth the heartache you would get while you should be enjoying your stay.

Blut

Email various companies and theyll tell you exactly their policies. A friend of mine was renting a car in Italy recently but had only had her license for 6 months, she got me to email around the various companies querying their policy on this and although most said you needed a full license for 1 year+ Thrifty Car Rental said as long as she had a valid full license it'd be acceptable.

She might have had to pay a bit more, I cant remember, she definately got the car for the week no problems though.

looking4advice

not having much luck. Anyone know any companies who do it?

R.O.R

looking4advice wrote: »

not having much luck. Anyone know any companies who do it?

Why exactly do you need to rent a car?

If you are going between cities, they have a very good, reasonably priced train service. If you are in an around a city, you really don't want to be driving on the wrong side of the road after passing your test a month ago.

If you want to go to a tourist site near to a city, take a tour.

I drove from Florence to Riva del Garda a few years ago as there was no train option. Getting out of Florence was horrible. Hot and stressful trying to follow road signs, arguments with the missus about which way to turn.

Once on the Motorway (autostrada) it's just like driving on any motorway, apart from the side you overtake on. The busy, windy road around lake garda was no fun at all though.