IDP for car hire in Italy/Sardinia?

[bettybadger]

Hi. Just wondering if anyone with a UK licence has been asked for an IDP when hiring a car in Sardinia post Brexit? It's not totally clear from the hire place details. Thanks in advance!

Sardinia is part of Italy. You do not need a IDP to drive in Italy if you have a UK driving license (i.e. the pink card version).

Driving abroad: Check if you need an international driving permit (IDP) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If you are asked for the check code to show that you have no points or disqualifications, you need to create a check code on the DVLA website: https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence

You can do this instantly online, even while you're at the car hire desk, if necessary.

Thank you so much!

Check codes are only ever asked for within the UK, not least because any driving ban only applies to one country. So even if you get 12 points on your licence in the UK you can still drive on it in France or Italy.

Interestingly, if you get a ticket for speeding in France (or any other EU country), they will create a notional French (etc) licence in their computer and apply penalty points to it(+). So if you do it enough your UK licence can become invalid in France (etc), but it won't affect your UK record.

(+) Well, actually they deduct points from it, because in most EU systems, your licence starts off with positive points and you lose them by getting tickets, rather than getting penalty points. But this is just arithmetic, of course.