Car Hire - Second Driver (or not) question

A snowHead

We frequently hire cars on skiing holidays and almost without exception I drive yet I have this concern that what would happen if I had some kind of accident that prevented me from driving; as a consequence I have always tended to add my wife as a second driver which of course adds to the cost.

Anyone actually had experience of what I am mitigating above happen to them ?

What was the outcome – did you manage to avoid any expensive additional costs or if you did incur them were you able to get them reimbursed ?

My understanding is that the additional driver can only be added if the actual person is present at the hire company as they need sight of the licence / person and hence can’t be done over the phone or internet for example

A snowHead

@dsoutar, last time we hired we booked through British Airways when booked the flights and gives free second driver as long as you are executive club members.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@dsoutar, we've made use of 2nd driver facility on many occasions when skiing. Mostly in USA, when driving long distances but in Europe also, to give flexibility for people to drive to/from different areas. Plus, as you say, to cover the possibility of main driver being injured or incapacitated. This has happened to us and the 2nd driver was simply able to take over. I imagine returning the car without that facility would have involved a huge amount of insurance wrangling, liaising with rental company and probably delayed return home. Possible implications for missed flights too, in our case.

I think you're correct that a 2nd driver needs to be present at rental car pick up time, show their licence and also sign rental document, in my experience.

Additional driver quite often offered as a 'free' facility, to distinguish some rental companies from others. Some car rental search engines include a filter for that. Others charge extra, an often high daily, or maximum weekly, rate. Worth reading Ts and Cs to get best deal.

Overall, even if just driving in Europe on a typical one week ski trip, a 2nd driver seems worthwhile to me.

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Agree with above. We always add a second driver and split the driving even if the journeys are short. It is usually free or not that much extra if we do have to pay.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@NickyJ, when we were renting cars frequently (admittedly ~11 years ago) the BA exec codes always brought up MORE expensive rates than we could get directly.

@dsoutar, join Hertz Gold Plus - when it's sensibly priced you get spoue/partner as 2nd driver for free. And speedy check in.

That said, my understanding (which may be incorrect of course) is that the car is technically insured for anyone that the rental company gives permission to, so any reasonable/rational company would sort it out via a quick phone call and maybe a photo of the licence required. But who knows, eh?

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@under a new name, the price we got offered was significantly cheaper than all previous quotes we had for a number from a number of companies, so hopefully they have become more competitive (or we just got lucky!).

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I’ve always thought adding a second driver was a good idea, but I never actually do it (unless it’s free). I resent paying the extra cost for something which, AFAIK, doesn’t actually cost the rental company anything. It’s like being asked to pay extra if you want to turn the radio on. I’ve never been in a situation where We’ve needed a second driver so, for me, it’s not worth the cost.

After all it is free

I add 2nd driver and we do share but otherwise i would make sure someone else has a license with them and get the insurance to sort it out. That's what i pay them for

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I'm a Hertz Gold Club member and this got me a free second driver when I rented from them at Geneva (CH) 2 weeks ago. As it's free to join, this is another advantage alongside a separate checkin desk and direct pick-up without going to the desk at some locations (but not GVA). I generally start looking at quotes using the hertz.ch site, then see if the competition are cheap enough to be worth changing. Usually, at places like Geneva, I rarely get enough of a difference to make it worth going with anyone else.

I have had an accident skiing that prevented me from driving and the 2nd driver took over. And the requirement seems to be that the 2nd driver must present themselves at a Hertz office in person to get the cover. With Hertz, this doesn't need to be at the originating desk, so a more local office would do (although this would still be inconvenient). However, I haven't checked this recently so it could have changed.

The worst cse scenario would be for the sole driver to have an accident the last afternoon and then not be fit to drive the next morning, with a flight to catch. This is what happened to me. Or they may fall ill the last evening. The alternatives to a 2nd driver may be fine in theory, but you might have very limited time to sort anything out in these cases.

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@dsoutar, You are over thinking it. Insurance companies love you to over think it.

How many times in your life have you been incapacitated and unable to drive? You get the odd one out of thousands....hire car and insurance companies will gladly lift thousands of premiums with little risk.

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Handy to have if needed without the worry but Second drivers can be expensive to add as they are normally done on a per day basis. Just another thing they can and will charge you for.

Whilst you normally add them to the booking you can usually also easily add when picking up but they will need to be present with their license when picking up as indeed does the primary driver. No rental place I know would usually hand over an expensive asset without seeing you and your license unless you are a member of one of their loyalty schemes.

Dont forget if hiring in UK with a UK license to get yours and their DVLA check code as well.

I'm sure I've read that in the kind of emergency people are torturing themselves imagining a properly licensed and insured driver can take over.

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

We recently hired from Budget (but booked and paid for in advacne through Rhino car hire) at Geneva Airport and paid for a second driver at the desk (which was lucky as my husband ended up having emergency surgery to remove his appendix!). We were told that the second driver could be anyone and so my details were not required. Only an extra 80chf for the week on a VW Touran so that seemed like a pretty good deal to me.

A snowHead

A snowHead

@bar shaker, i have seen people asked in the UK but its no big deal as you can just do it at the desk on your phone, or they will do it for about a fiver.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

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I hate hate hate paying for a second driver, i.e. my wife. A complete and total rip off.

Having said that I suck it up and pay if we're going skiing. I would hate to deal with the consequences if she were driving but wasn't authorized and got into an accident. I suspect in case of incapacitating accident/injury you could add that later. But that is very rare, I think.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

I have always avoided paying this, and figured if that situation arose we'd ring up the Hire Centre and I feel sure a way round it could be found.

A quick google brings up these answers:

From Hertz website:

"All additional drivers must produce a valid driving licence at the time and place where they are added onto a rental agreement and must meet the same Hertz terms and conditions as for renting. The number of additional drivers is limited to the number of passenger seats in the vehicle rented. Additional drivers can be added at any time during a rental provided the terms and conditions are complied with."

Avis says:

"Can I add an additional driver once I’ve collected my hire car?
Yes. Simply go to your nearest hire station with the additional driver(s). Every driver must be present and your additional driver(s) will need to show their driver’s licence. Adding another driver will incur a charge; the amount will depend on where you hire your vehicle, but we will tell you what it is there and then

Don’t forget to review the terms and conditions when you book, which include everything you need to know ahead of your journey."

So, officially, you can add a second driver during the hire period, you just need to go to nearest hire station.... rolling eyes

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in the case of the insured driver being in an accident and incapable of driving, would this then not be the responsibility of their travel insurers (presumably if all passengers are on the same policy?) to arrange alternative drivers/transport etc?

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@terrygasson, when my hubby had an accident and was unable to drive, that was precisely what our holiday insurers offered me if I wasn't able to drive the car myself. They assumed we'd flown to the holiday and had a hire car, and I was asked if I could drive the vehicle or did I need a driver. If I hadn't been on the same policy I assume they would have got that hire car back to its place of origin.

After all it is free

I believe if he had been the only driver and needed the car bringing back to the UK, that would have been covered by our car insurance.

@Hells Bells, that's what I thought would happen as well, though I suppose it could all depend on the small print THAT WE ALL STUDY IN DETAIL wink

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While waiting for my hire car in St Quentin (long story) I read the small print of the agreement and there was a section on second drivers. Effectively this was "Force Mejure". If the main driver was incpacitated then another driver could take over the driving of the car. It was quite a long section but the gist was if the driver has an accident and cannot drive then someone else can drive for them but it did need a doctors note.

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I agree with those that don't pay for a second driver. As others have said, it's a rip off. I could understand an extra charge if two people could drive the car at once. However....

Having said that, Mrs B always carries her driving licence when I hire a car.... just in case. I'd always assumed that, in the event of my incapacitation, the hire company or my holiday insurers would sort something out. It seems like that would be the case, based on the above responses. wink

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Car Hire - Second Driver (or not) question

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