Hiring Criteria

When it comes to hiring a vehicle from Rent Direct, it’s important to be aware there are strict criteria that need to be adhered to when entering into a rental agreement with us:

Driver age limits 

All drivers must be aged between 23-69 to hire a Rent Direct car or van, or 25-69 to hire an MPV. Please note that customers aged under 25-years-old, will only be able to hire a vehicle from our standard category models, as explained below… 

Young driver vehicle hire

As a young driver (under 25), you are restricted to drive certain types of vehicles. These are small and compact cars within groups M1 and M2, and car-derived vans in groups V0 and V1. Each model will be subject to a young driver’s surcharge too. 

Senior driver vehicle hire

If you’re 70-years-old or above, we’d recommend you still contact us. We may be able to assist you with senior driver vehicle hire requirements, depending on your needs. 

Driving Licence requirements

All drivers must present a full, valid, UK driving licence that has been held for at least 24 months in order to hire a Rent Direct vehicle. 

Penalty points criteria

We will accept driving licences with up to six points due to minor offences. However, driving licences with major endorsements - such as UT, DD, DR, and IN for example - will not be accepted under any circumstances. Please refer to the official Penalty Points page on the UK Government website for further details of driving licence endorsements.  

Drivers under 25

For young drivers under 25 years of age, all driving licences should be free from minor or major penalty points. To check your driving licence is valid and free from any endorsements, please check your details via the UK Government’s driving licence information webpage. 

We may require you to provide us with access to your current driving licence record before we can proceed with your vehicle hire booking. 

Extra documents required

In addition to your driving licence, you must produce two other forms of identification. One of these is your signed payment card (credit or debit) and the other is a proof of address document; this can be a bank statement or utility bill which is no older than three months old.

It’s important to note that we require you to email copies of your documents to us prior to collecting your vehicle, so that we can verify all of your information and, most importantly, speed up your check out! 

Look out for your booking confirmation email which reminds you which documentation we require and also provides you with an email address so you can send your documents to us. 

Acceptable documents

We accept the following proof of address documents:

• Bank or Building Society Statement
• Utility Bill (i.e. Council Tax, Gas, Water or Electricity, excluding Mobile Phone Bills)
• HMRC Tax Statement

Overseas visitors

If you are visiting us from overseas and wish to hire a vehicle from Rent Direct, we will require your passport and flight details. If you don’t hold a full UK driving licence, please contact us directly to process your vehicle hire booking rather than proceeding online, as we may have some extra questions to ask you.  

Additional drivers

If you wish to add an additional driver to your rental agreement, we will require the same documentation from each driver. It’s important to know that we will require each driver who is named on the rental agreement, to be present at the point of collecting the vehicle. 

Insurance excesses and liabilities

All vehicle rental insurance is subject to an insurance excess, which is at the cost of the hirer, should any damage occur during the agreed rental period. Our insurance excesses are stated when you select a particular vehicle from our online booking process. Excess waivers are also available to reduce liability and can be selected as an optional extra online.

Occupation guidelines

At Rent Direct, we are bound by rules and guidelines issued by our insurance company. Because of this, when you make a reservation, we require your occupation to be stated. 

Unfortunately, there are some occupations which we are unable to provide insurance for - such as couriers, market traders, and musicians, for example - as well as any person who is unemployed. If you have an occupation which means we cannot offer insurance cover to you, we will inform you during the booking process. 

Payment and deposit

Here at Rent Direct, we require a deposit to secure your hire vehicle, as stated during the booking process. We charge a £200 fee which will be refunded to you in full, upon safe return of our vehicle in an undamaged condition and with a full tank of fuel. 

At discretion of the management team, this deposit amount may be increased based on varying factors. We will of course always inform you of any changes to our standard terms and conditions prior to collection of your hire vehicle. 

Your refund will be allocated to the debit or credit card you used during the booking process and may take up to three working days to appear in your bank account. We accept all major credit and debit cards, excluding American Express. It’s important to note that the card used to pay for both the hire and deposit must be in the hirer’s name, and must be presented to us at the point of collection.

We are unable to accept any payments by Apple Pay/Google Pay or cash, and all payments must be made in line with the above process. 

Fuel policy

All Rent Direct vehicles are supplied with a full tank of fuel at the start of the hire period. As such, customers are expected to return the vehicle with a full tank of fuel at the end of the hire agreement. 

If the vehicle is returned to us with less than a full tank of fuel, a charge will be made based on the approximate number of litres missing. This will be charged at a rate in excess of the current pump price, as well as an additional refuelling admin charge of £20.

UK mainland policy

At Rent Direct, we do not allow our vehicles to leave the country. When entering into a hire agreement with us, you are bound by strict rules to drive within the UK mainland only.