September 2009

Saturday, 26 September 2009

Keeping Your Photo License Up To Date

Have you taken a good look at the photo on your driver’s license lately? Does it still look like you? You may be surprised to find that you have changed your appearance drastically enough that authorities or others who look at your photo license may doubt who you say you are. Additionally, some countries, like the United Kingdom, put a statute of limitations on the photo portion of your driver’s license. If you haven’t looked already, take a peek at your license and see just what it says.

Since many of our car hire North Cyprus customers are from the United Kingdom we felt that it was a good idea to mention this fact. As the office manager, it is my responsibility to make sure my clients are hiring their vehicle properly and that requires seeing their driver’s license. I have had to make a few tough calls over the last ten years on customers because they did not look like their picture. And many of them had no idea that the photo part of their license was only good for 10 years. We will still hire cars out to you if your license photo is out of date and still looks like you, but we strongly urge that you get it updated.

To find out if the photo card of your license has expired you should look at section 4b of your license. There should be a year listed here that tells you when you will need to renew your photo. The United Kingdom added the photo card to licenses in 1998 so there is a good possibility your identification has lapsed and you need to get a new picture. The paper part of your license should still be in force as this part does not expire until you turn seventy years of age.

The DVLA of the United Kingdom started sending out renewal reminders in May 2008 to everyone that would fall within the new rules. There is a fee of £17.50 being charged for the renewal of the picture part of the license and if you do not comply with the renewal you could be facing a fine of up to £1000.

Once again we urge all of our car hire customers to check their driver’s licenses to make sure that they are up to date and not expired. Driving on an expired license no matter what country you are from is a big deal, and the last thing you want to worry about is explaining to overseas authorities who you are, where you live, and why your current license is not up to date.

Check your license before leaving whatever country you live in when you are traveling to North Cyprus. While we may rent a car to you with an overdue license, there may be other establishments and businesses in North Cyprus that will turn the license away. It is better to have all of your paperwork in order before going on holiday so that you can enjoy it while you visit North Cyprus.

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