Car Rental - What About The Co-Pilot? A Primer On Additional Drivers

So your on your trip, and you want someone else to drive. WAAAAIT!!! Okay it may seem like a good idea to just do it anyway, in fact you may get away with it, but when you rent the car, you are almost always the only person authorized to drive the car. There are a few notable exceptions, but I will go over that later.

so lets go over the rules of rental additional drivers:

* Additional drivers must be at least age 25. It doesn't matter how old the renter is, the additional driver must be 25 or older to drive. The one exception would be that some agencies allow employees of the same company on a business trip to drive only if the rental is part of a valid business trip AND the company as previously negotiated for underage drivers and additional drivers as part of their corporate discount perks. (example, Microsoft at one time had driving privileges for all renters and drivers on Microsoft sponsored business for age 18 and over).

* In order to rent a car, you must have a sufficient enough driving record. The same applies to the additional driver and the agency may check (Avis, for example, pays a third party to run abstracts on every driver electronically and compare it against a specific set of criteria.

* The additional driver must be declared and proper paperwork filled out.

* Most agencies charge for additional drivers. Typically between $15-25 daily.

* If you do NOT properly declare an additional driver, you will have violated the rental agreement and should any damages happen to the car, no insurance company in the world will pay out on your claim.

Great! so now what? Well there are a few authorized driver scenarios which may apply to you, depending on which company you are with and the purpose of your trip.

* Some companies allow employees on a business trip to drive as an additional driver without charge and without an an additional driver form. The trip, however for the renter and the employee needs to be paid for by the company as proof in the event that an accident or damage to the vehicle occurs. This info is only used to verify that the contract was not violated.

* Some companies allow spouses to drive without additional paperwork. This is a great thing and I don't know why all agencies follow this rule.

* Domestic partners are often NOT considered spouses. There is one HUGE caveat To the best of my knowledge, there is only one rental company that currently allows domestic partners as spouses for driving privileges. That company is Avis Rent A Car. It is a truly 'no questions asked' policy, however in case of an accident, Avis will ask for proof the domestic partnership. Usually a government issued ID with same address on it, plus a credit card bill or utility bill in each others names verifying residence is all that's needed. This being said I have heard that some locations still aren't as versed as others in this practice, so having some of that paperwork for you at the time of rental may not be a bad idea.

Next time you rent a car and want to ride shotgun, at least you will have some of the basics down what is at stake. For further information, see the respective car rental sites or check out Car Rental Insider for other tips.

J.W. Parker
Insider Emeritus
http://www.CarRentalInsider.com

J.W. spent many years as a manager of several car rental locations on the West Coast. His base knowledge has been applied to many car rental travel sites as an insider helping customers guide their way through the mess known as the Car Rental Industry. Although retired from the Rent-A-Car business, he still continues to monitor changes in the industry and help those who ask.

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