Can I rent a car without having to pass an address check?

what Is An Address Check, And What Does It Entail?

When hiring a car in the UK, you may often find that you could be subject to an address check when collecting a rental car – this check basically involves matching your details on the supplier’s internal ID system. This would include confirming if your licence matches your current address, if you pay council tax at that address, and if you are on the electoral roll, among other things. If even one of these doesn’t match, then it reduces your chance of passing the address check significantly – which means you don’t get the car.

Luckily though there are ways to bypass / avoid having to do an address check, this would just depend on whether you are an inbound or local hirer. I’ve outlined the differences in the sections below:

inbound Hirer

If you are an inbound hirer, this just means that you are flying in and out of the airport you are hiring from – this is the most straightforward way as generally speaking it means you don’t have to go through an address check or provide proofs of address.

There are however a couple pitfalls that some people may fall into – if you live overseas yet still have a UK licence, some suppliers may still perform an address check. This can be a huge problem, as obviously if you don’t live in the UK your chances of passing are slim at the best. Thankfully though this situation can also be avoided if you just inform us beforehand as most suppliers accept some proofs of your overseas address instead. We would still recommend switching your licence to your current country of residence as soon as possible though just to avoid any possible complications.

local Hirer

A local hirer is someone just hiring a car from their local branch where they live. It can be a bit trickier for local hirers as almost all suppliers perform an address check. It’s particularly hard for hirers that have recently moved to the UK also, as you’ll likely be on an overseas licence and obviously won’t be on the voting register or have many links to your current address.

Fortunately, however, we do have some suppliers with offices nationwide that won’t perform an address check – instead you would just need to provide your passport or proofs of your address, like a utility bill or bank statement. So, if you are concerned about possibly failing an address check and not having the car released to you, just contact us directly and we can make sure you are booked with one these suppliers where you are guaranteed to get the car as long as you have these documents.

Please contact us by calling us on 01138800748 or emailing is directly to [email protected] for one of these options, or if you have any further questions.

Having worked in the car rental industry for over 15 years, he really knows his stuff. Rob heads up our marketing department and as a keen traveller, always has a new location to talk about. Particularly if there is a golf course nearby.