National - License requirement

Dear National exerts,

I would appreciate if anyone could corroborate my assessment of national's Driving License requirement: It looks like National is one of the few US companies to not require that the renter have a license for at least one year. Is this correct?

Story: My wife (US, aged mid-30s) had a CA and PA full license for many years but moved to Ireland where she got an Irish license. She then moved to the UK (we do move far too much) and handed in her Irish license to get her UK one - around three months ago. So the date of her license is very recent.

it seems clear that Hertz and most other require a valid license for a year but I can't see anything in the terms and conditions when I simulate a booking with National (unless renting a car in Ireland/UK).

We are heading to CA for three weeks and want her to rent a car (I can't drive!)

From what I've understood, none of the major rental agencies have a minimum licence restriction in North America. I've only seen it when looking up T&C's in Europe. As long as it is a full-privilege licence - as in not a learner's or novice licence as we have in many Canadian jurisdictions - you should be good to go. Might be worth phoning the rental location in CA to double-check.

If there is a requirement, another work-around might be getting a copy of her driver's absract from either CA or PA, proving that she has been licenced for over a year. The restriction is in place to prevent inexperienced driver from being a liability to the rental company, and not to punish those who have moved or perhaps had to replace a photo licence.

Thanks Tuneman1984 :)

I guess renewing the CA or PA license is not appropriate?

(Yes, I know all about the IRS and expat laws - don't want to get into that).