Frequently Asked Questions

When you hire a vehicle from Central Self Drive, with the paper part of your licence now being obsolete, you will have to follow these simple instructions to make sure you have all the requirements when you hire.

Step 1. Visit http://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence, here you will be able to view all endorsements and licence qualifications. When you visit this site you will need: Driving licence number from the card part of your licence, Your national insurance number and the post code on your licence.

Enter your details and tick the consent box to give the DVLA permission to check your details.
Click view now
You will then see three tabs that show
A] Your details
B] Vehicles you can drive
C] Penalties and disqualifications

Step 2. You can then print these out, no more than 72 hours prior to the hire. OR you can pay a £10.00 fee to us and we will do a DVLA check when you come to hire.

Step 3. When you hire you will also need to bring two additional forms of I.D such as a bank statement or utility bill, anything with the same address as your driving licence.

Step 4. You will also need to bring a credit or debit card for the payment of the hire and deposit as we can not take cash due to our insurance policies, or if you are using someone elses credit or debit card the named card holder must also be present to sign some paper work. The deposit is a pre-authorised deposit so it is not taken the funds are just frozen in your account and are released after three to five working days.

21 – 25 years old – Minimum of 2 years and free from endorsements.

Over 25 – 12 months. Some endorsements allowed.

21 – 25 – can hire smaller vehicles up to short wheel base transit or similar size vehicle.

25 – 30 – all vehicles excluding minibus and 7.5 tonne truck hire.

30 – 70 – all vehicles.

You must be at least 30 years of age and hold a Category D1 entitlement on you’re driving licence.

Central Self Drive use a pre-authorised security deposit of £250 for hire of a vehicle which must be paid on a debit or credit card on the day of hire. We do not accept cash to comply with our insurance policies.

The excess is £1000 in the event of damage or a claim. The excess can vary subject to driving records (driving licence endorsements & past accidents).

We do have an option to reduce the excess, for any further information please contact our rental staff.

Unfortunately not, we do not accept cash to comply with our insurance policies, however you are able to use a family member or friend’s debit or credit card as long as they are present on the date of hire to sign the appropriate paperwork to allow us to use this card.

At Central Self Drive we do not believe in taking your money until we have to, we do not ask for a booking deposit, this is why we ask for a card deposit when taking a vehicle from us. Unlike other firms we believe that your well earned cash should be gaining interest in your bank account not ours.

So let us explain the deposit process when hiring a vehicle from us. When you come to collect the vehicle we ask for a card deposit, we do not physically charge this card but the deposit is held against your balance, to ensure you have the funds to cover the deposit in the unfortunate event of an accident or vehicle theft etc.

Once you return the vehicle in it’s pre-hire state we authorise the release of these funds. Usually within 5 working days the money is available on the balance of your card again. It is only in the unfortunate event of a accident, vehicle theft, your vehicle being returned with less fuel than when you took it or any other event stated on your rental agreement, that we physically take money from the card.

Customers are liable for the insurance excess (usually £1000) to any damage to a vehicle or claim.

If the accident involves a third party and their insurance (i.e: If our vehicle damages another road user) the full excess will be taken (usually £1000). This is the amount we pay our insurance to then pay out the balance of the claim (usually £15 000).

If a customer only damages our vehicle and no other costs are incurred then the customer would pay for the damage to our vehicle up to the excess (usually £1000).

For example: If a customer damages a vehicle and the estimate for the repair costs was £100. The customer would pay £100.

Or if a vehicle was damaged and it cost £1500 for the repairs the customer would pay £1000.

Certain items are not covered by insurance and are therefore chargeable to the hire in full i.e: windscreen damage, tyre damage or punctures, engine damage due to lack of water, oil or any other fluids, interior damage (cigarette burns, rips to seats), fuel contamination.

For any further information please contact our rental staff.

Anytime during office hours subject to availability.

Central Self Drive is open from:

Monday: 08:30 – 17:30
Tuesday: 08:30 – 17:30
Wednesday: 08:30 – 17:30
Thursday: 08:30 – 17:30
Friday: 08:30 – 17:30
Saturday: 09:00 – 12:00
Sunday: 10:00 – 12:00

For any further information please call our rental staff.

Unfortunately we do not have any facilities for out of hours returns unless it has been pre arranged.

Yes, of course you can. As long as we are given enough notice and time to make the necessary arrangements.

All of our vehicles are supplied on a like for like agreement, so however much fuel is it the vehicle when you collect it is how much you should return it with.

Unfortunately not, however our staff will advise you on the size of the tanks and how economical the vehicle is so you will have the best chance of not over filling the vehicle.

If the rental is for one day only then will you have unlimited mileage. For longer rentals the mileage is 100 miles per day. If you are concerned about exceeding your mileage allowance ask our rental staff to pre-pay for extra mileage to pay at a discounted rate.