If you have or have looked for a driving aupair - how easy/difficult are to find them?

[meadowquark]

Hi, I am thinking to move to another area, about 2 miles away from our current primary and no direct transport links to it. I have 8 years ahead in the primary school for both DC, and I am hoping to hire aupairs. But I will need a driving aupair! How difficult to get those? Do you trust your aupair with your driving? I am afraid to put myself in a corner, i.e. move away and then find it is impossible to find one!
I would be grateful for your experiences.

No idea (not v helpful) but I did sees thread saying insurance was a nightmare

I heard too, though sometimes the insurance costs can be very reasonable. Let's say for an older aupair. But how likely I will find a confident older aupair? I guess I just want to hear successful stories.

Its not a problem. Our au pairs have to drive due to distance from school.

I recruit via au pair world and insist on age 21+ (due to insurance) and demonstrable recent experience of driving on the left. I prefer au pairs already in the country.

When they arrive we arrange for them to go out with a driving instructor for a lesson and we also go out with them ourselves to ensure we are happy before they take the kids out. We make sure we have 2/3 days before the first school run so they have plenty of time to get used to the car.

I've had no problem.

My insurance last year was an extra c. £100 (26 year old au pair) and this year £250 (21 year old au pair). Mine both had EU licences, I hear it can be more expensive for those with e.g. NZ/Australian licences (despite the fact they drive on the left at home!).

Hi there,
As the previous poster I never had a problem recruiting a driver au pair. I needed them all to drive and they have. I also recruit on au pair world.
The things to look for are their age, over 24 gets insurance down but other things that play a part are how long have they had their licence for and if they have had any driving offences in the last five years.
What we always do is pay for couple of driving lessons when they first arrive (as they all come from European countries so drive on a different side of the road) so they can get used to this side of the road. Ask the instructor to call you and tell you what they think of their driving.
I then go with the au pair to do the school drop off so I can see what their driving is like for a two three days and then leave them to it with advice to drive as slowly as they need to.

We look for over 22, at least 4 years driving experience and no points on their licence (or no points taken away depending on the country).

When they are here, we get a driving instructor to take them out for 3 or so lessons. Then they drive around a bit themselves and finally I get them to take me out and I check they are safe.

I also put a clause in the au pair bible to say, if they do cause any damage to the car then they won't be able to use the car for their own social use any more, unless they want to pay for it. The car also has a curfew of 12.30am!

Very similar to Karoleann in terms of lessons etc.

Have had about nine driving au pairs in the last six years. Slightly harder to recruit (or rather a smaller pool) and we found that the older ones often want to stay for 6-9 months rather than 12+ but no real difficulties.

I haven't had a problem finding driving au pairs (I usually find them on Au Pair World). I have open-drive insurance on my car which means that anyone 25 yrs or older with an EU licence can drive it.

I book a two hour lesson for them and get feedback from the instructor. I'm prepared to book extra lessons if the instructor thinks it's necessary but so far that hasn't been needed.