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I'm a UK citizen visiting the UK over the Christmas period. If possible, I'd like to rent a car - but I've only had a full UK driver's license for less than a year. I gather that there is no longer a legal requirement that car rental drivers have had a license for more than 12 months, but every car rental company I can find enforces a 12-month minimum anyway.

I understand that as a new license holder I'd be viewed as a riskier customer. I don't mind paying extra.

Is there any UK car rental company who'll accept customers who held their license for less than a year?

I'm well over any age limits (over 25) and have no blemishes on my license. I have another international license, but I've held that for even less time than my UK license.

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    If you do not live in the UK and have a driver's license from another country with older issue date, then you can show that along with your UK license...
    – Nean Der Thal
    Dec 5 '15 at 14:45
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    I've seen rental sites and advice pages that describe what to do if you have an older foreign license. I don't, I just have my 3-month old UK license
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Dec 15 '15 at 22:03
  • Even if you find a place offering it, I would really advise against hiring a rental car with very little experience on unfamiliar roads. 1/4 of drivers have an accident within the first two years. Even a small accident can leave you with large excesses to pay.
    – JamesRyan
    Jun 6 '16 at 23:35
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+100

I've had a friend in a similar situation who has had success with Enterprise. This is what their website says in terms of license requirements:

Documentation- all drivers must produce all parts of a valid driving license. Non-EU license holders are required to have an international driving permit if the license is not in English. Domestic renters must produce a photo ID- passport or driving license. International travelers must produce a passport, proof of return travel and residency information while in the U.K. renters who wish to use a debit card are also required to produce two proofs of address such as a bank or credit card statement, which are less than three months old and may be subject to additional checks. We reserve the right to request additional ID or conduct further ID checks. These may include ID checks with external partners who may check supplied details against databases to which they have access.

With that being said I would suggest giving them a call before actually booking a car. Their contact details can be found on this page.

If they wind up not working out I would suggest scanning local companies on a website such as Yell. Keep in mind that if you have a license from a different country with an earlier issue date or none at all it's perfectly legal to show that instead.

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    +1 I emailed their customer service and it sounds like they are an option: "As long as you are over 25 years old, with Enterprise, it does not matter how long you have held your licence and therefore renting to you will not pose any problems", not actually tried doing it though
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Dec 16 '15 at 11:22
  • @user568458 Awesome. Glad to hear.
    – James Ives
    Dec 16 '15 at 15:14
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    I can confirm that Enterprise certainly allow you to rent a car with a license less than 1 year old, based on me actually doing it last week.
    – bPratik
    Apr 24 '17 at 17:00
  • Shame Enterprise cost like £120 for their cheapest car for a day wtf
    – Dominic
    Jul 14 '17 at 17:25
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    Actually, Enterprise office in Bow (London) just told me that it's not possible to rent a car from them with a license held less than 1Y. Every branch has different rules and they say they are a "high risk" location (all those East London boy racers I suppose), and those are their rules.
    – quant_dev
    Jan 15 '19 at 13:16

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