I have two licenses:
- A full not expired Omani (foreign) licence that I have owned for 5 years.
- A full not expired UK one I got by passing my test 1 month ago. I did this because a UK resident isn't allowed to use a foreign licence after 12 months.
Renting a car with most companies in the UK requires you to have had a licence for at least 1 year. My UK licence doesn't meet this requirement but Omani one does. Conversely my Omani one isn't legal to drive with (as I am resident for more than 12 months) but my UK one is.
My questions are:
- Can I rent a car in the UK with my Omani Licence and if police stops me I show my UK licence as proof?
- Will I be insured? I am worried my insurance is on my Omani Licence which is illegal to drive with since it's been 12 months residency so if I ever try and claim they will say I wasn't insured on my UK licence.
- If I won't be insured from question 2, can I buy insurance against my UK licence so even if I hired a car using my Omani licence which invalidates the insurance provided by the car rental company I will still be covered by this new insurance I got? Normal insurances require you to give the car's number plate beforehand so not sure how this would work for car hire or if there even is a service like this available.
Do note that when talking to some companies like Hertz they basically said they will book on my Omani one and not put in the records I own a UK one or that my Omani one is invalid since I'm a resident, this is why I am most worried about whether I am insured or illegally driving with no insurance!