Who can hire from Alco Van Hire?
The good news is that we can hire almost everyone. The first step is to see if we class you as a 'Normal Driver'.
Who is a 'Normal Driver'?
A 'Normal Driver' is someone who:
- is aged 25 years or older;
- is aged 75 years, 364 days or younger;
- has held a Full UK driving licence for at least 24 months;
- has no medical conditions which the DVLA would require notification of;
- has had no accidents or claims, irrespective of fault in the past 36 months;
- has a Full UK driving licence with no points, penalties, fines, bans, or endorsements.
If one or more of the above do not apply to you, don't despair! Just check out which of the individual points you differ from below.
Are you finding this all too confusing? Call us on 01962 670067, we are always happy to help.
→ I am under 25 years old
If you are under 21 years old, we are really sorry, but we cannot hire to you. It is nothing personal, it is just one of the rules our insurers insist on. You will need to find a relative or a friend who can drive for you.
If you are 21 or 22 years old and have held your full UK licence for 24 months, and your licence must be completely free from any endorsement or penalty points, then we can hire to you. There is an additional charge of £15.00 per day.
If you are 23 or 24 years old and have held your full UK licence for 24 months, we can hire to you. You are allowed a maximum of 3 penalty points, providing they are classed as a 'Minor Offence' (see below). There is an additional charge of £8.00 per day.
→ I am over 75 years, 364 days old
If you are under 80 years, 364 days old, we can generally hire to you. We just need to get you authorised by our insurers first. This can take a few hours, so it is best to call us on 01962 670067 so we can take a few details from you and get you authorised before you book.
If you are 81 years old or more, we are really sorry, but we cannot hire to you. It is nothing personal, it is just one of the rules our insurers insist on. You will need to find a relative or a friend who can drive for you.
→ I have held my Full UK driving licence for less than 24 months
If you are aged between 25 years old and 65 years old, and held your licence for at least 12 months, we might still be able to hire to you, call us on 01962 670067 so we can take a few details from you and get our insurers to approve you before you book.
If you are under 25 years old, we are really sorry, but we cannot hire to you. It is nothing personal, it is just one of the rules our insurers insist on. You will need to find a relative or a friend who can drive for you.
→ I do not have a UK driving licence
This depends on where your licence was issued. If you have a licence which was issued in a nominated country (see below), then we can hire to you providing you have been driving for over 24 months, your licence is in date, and it can be understood by an English speaking person. You will need to complete an extra declaration form, so make sure you let us know when booking.
What is a nominated country?
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland are all nominated countries.
→ I have a DVLA notifiable medical condition
Providing you have informed the DVLA about your condition, and it has not worsened since you last informed the DVLA, then we can hire to you. You just need to let us know so we can record it and make sure you are covered by our insurers. All data we hold is kept in strictest confidence, but we do need to know.
→ I have had an accident in the past 36 months...
... and I am under 25 years old. - Please call us on 01962 670067 so we can take a few details from you and get our insurers to approve you before you book.
... and it was not my fault. - Providing there was a third party involved and you did not have to pay your excess, that is not a problem. Just let us know so we can record it.
... and it was my fault. - Providing there was a third party involved, and there were no injuries in any vehicle, that is not a problem. We will need to know what the outlay (cost to your insurer) was for both your vehicle, and the third party's vehicle. This total should not exceed £5000.00 - If it does, call us on 01962 670067 for advice. Make sure you have all the information to hand when you book and come to collect your vehicle just so we can ensure we record it correctly.
... and I have had more than one. - We will need to know the nature of the accident, what the outlay (cost to your insurer) was for both your vehicle, and the third party's vehicle for each accident and if it was a fault or non fault claim. Call us on 01962 670067 with this information, we will take a few details from you and get our insurers to approve you before you book.
... and I have licence points, penalties, fines, bans, or endorsements too. - We will need to know your driving licence number, and your driving licence 'Check Code' to look up your licence history (see 'View my driving licence history' below). We will also need to know the nature of the accident, what the outlay (cost to your insurer) was for both your vehicle, and the third party's vehicle for the accident and if it was a fault or non fault claim. Call us on 01962 670067 with this information, we will take a few details from you and get our insurers to approve you before you book.
→ I have a Full UK driving licence with points, penalties, fines, bans, or endorsements
You need to find out what the offence codes are on your licence, and the total number of points for each offence. You should follow the instructions below on how to view your driving licence history. Then check which category they fall within.
Major+ Offences are:
CD40, CD50, CD60, CD70, DG10, DG60, DR10, DR20, DR30, DR31, DR61, DR80
If you have any of these endorsements or convictions, we cannot hire to you until 5 years has passed since the date of the offence. They are kept on your licence until 11 years have passed. During this time, an additional £7.50 insurance charge is payable per endorsement, per hire period.
Major Offences are:
AC10, AC20, AC30, BA10, BA30, BA40, BA60, CD80, CD90, DD10, DD40, DD60, DD80, DD90, DG40, DR40, DR50, DR60, DR70, DR90, LC30, LC40, LC50, MR09, MR19, MR29, MR49, MR59, MS50, MS60, MS70, MS80, MS90, NE99, TT99, XX99, UT50
If you have any of these endorsements or convictions, we cannot hire to you until 5 years has passed since the date of the offence. After this time has passed, we totally ignore them.
Minor Offences are:
CU10, CU20,CU30, CU40, CU50, CU80, CD10, CD20, CD30, LC20, MR39, MS10, MS20, MS30, MW10, PC10, PC20, PC30, PL10, PL20, PL30, PL40, PL50, SP10, SP20, SP30, SP40, SP50, TS10, TS20, TS30, TS40, TS50, TS60, TS70
If you have any of these endorsements or convictions, we can hire to you providing you have less than 6 points in total. They are kept on your licence until 5 years have passed but we only count them for 4 years, as in the fifth year they drop their points value. Whilst they are showing with valid points an additional £4.75 insurance charge is payable per endorsement, per hire period.
The Odd One Out:
If you have an IN10 on your licence, we might be able to hire to you, call us on 01962 670067 so we can take a few details from you and get our insurers to approve you before you book.
View my driving licence history
On 8 June 2015, the photocard paper counterpart stopped being a legal document and the DVLA also stopped updating any old style paper licences.
For further information on the driving licence changes please click here.
- Please visit View Driving Licence online and login using the required details.
- Once logged in, using the top navigation, go to 'Share Your Licence information'.
- Click 'Get Check Code'.
- Click 'View, Print or Save your licence information'.
- You should then save or print this page as it will hold all your licence information. We can use the 'Check Code' to validate your licence too - be careful, it is case sensitive and can only be used once.
- If you have any problems in generating a code, you should call the DVLA on 0300 083 0013 (Monday - Friday 9.00am - 5.00pm) for further assistance.
- This procedure may be required for both photo card driving licences as well as paper driving licences issued before 1998 if we are unable to validate your driving licence.
If you have any further questions regarding the driving licence changes from 2015, or 'Check Codes', please visit our dedicated driving licence changes page for further information.
