Hmmm. A thought.
Many people will be taking advantadge of the new driving law to swop their old UK / EU license for a Spanish one, as from the 8th of December.
BUT –
Quite a few car companies quietly charge quite a large excess for holders of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese licenses (as it seems they tend to crash cars quite a lot). Will the same apply to a Brit who has had a clean license all his life, swopped his license for a Spanish one, then gone to, say, Eire and rented a car?????
A number of car rental companies in Northern European countries quietly charge larger excess or impose restrictions on holders of Spanish (amongst other Mediterranean countries) licenses, as it seems they have picked up a reputation for being “bad” drivers.
So, if I, who we assume is a responsible driver who has never had a crash or points in his life, swops his license over for a Spanish one, then goes over to, say, Eire for a short holiday and is pranged by a drunken Irishman on a tractor; am I charged the excess applicable to a British driver or a Spanish driver?
For example, carhire.ie (a company picked at random off Google) offers excess reduction policies to drop excess to “just” €1,200 for most drivers, for holders of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Israeli licences there is a non waiveable excess of €2,500 and drivers must be over 30 (as opposed to 23 for other drivers).
Hmm.