AUTHOR Cherie Carter

Car Hire With a Digital Driving Licence

Digital driving licences have been a heavily discussed topic for years, and in January 2025, the UK government announced they would be launching a GOV.UK Wallet and App, which will allow people to keep government-issued documents, including a digital driver’s licence, on their mobile phone. 

This comes as no surprise. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an acceleration of document digitisation, and it seemed inevitable that documents like driving licences would follow. 

Now, we know that digital driver’s licences are expected to be available as of summer 2026, slightly later than their expected arrival in 2024. 

Former UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps made a statement back in 2021 on the arrival of digital driving licences by the year 2024, with the DVLA stating: 

“We will introduce a digital driving licence for provisional drivers and also start to build a customer account facility. This will ultimately give our customers personalised, easy and secure access to a range of services and allow them more choice in how they transact with us.”

For now, you will need a physical driving licence to hire a vehicle in the UK. However, digital driving licences are available in Australia, the Middle East, and a number of European countries such as Denmark, Germany, Spain, Poland, and Portugal. As such, we may be able to secure car hire with a digital licence in these areas, but you will need to get in touch with a member of our reservations team to book this. 

This is an exciting update for the UK, as it could make hiring a car even easier for our customers. We’ll be keeping an eye on any developments and the impact it will have on hiring a car in the UK.

To book car hire with a digital licence, either call us on +44 113 289 9281, email us at [email protected], or chat to us online.

Having working solely in the car hire industry since leaving school, car hire/travel is a huge part of my life and something that gives me great satisfaction and enjoyment.  I love coming across new products/locations and sharing these details with our customers via our online platforms.

Cherie Carter

Traveller