Before you enquire
Driver requirements: age, licence, points, deposit and excess
The minimum driver age is 25 on the most accessible cars in our catalogue and rises to 32 on the fastest, alongside 2–10 years of full licence held depending on the vehicle. These are insurance conditions set for each individual car, not preferences of ours — which is why they are published here, and on every car’s own page, before there is any form to fill in.
- Minimum age
- 25–32
- Licence held
- 2–10 yrs
- Points tolerated
- 0–6
- Deposit
- £1,500–£50,000
These figures are provisional
Every age, licence period, points tolerance, deposit and excess on this page comes from our catalogue data, and that data is being confirmed with the insurer while the fleet is finalised. Read them as the shape of the criteria rather than as a quotation. The figures that apply to you are the ones on your written quote and your hire agreement, and we will check a specific car for a specific driver before you plan around it.
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Updated September 2026
How old do you have to be to hire a supercar?
It depends on the car, and the floor climbs with performance. Across this catalogue the minimum runs from 25 at the accessible end to 32 on the quickest cars we list. Nothing here is hireable at 21, and very little is hireable at 23 — that is the honest position in this part of the market, not a policy we chose.
The reason is straightforward. On a self-drive hire the vehicle is insured under a policy we hold, and the insurer prices the risk of a young driver in a very fast car as high — high enough that on the fastest cars they will not write it at all. We cannot underwrite it ourselves, so the age on each car’s page is a hard floor rather than an opening position.
Age is also not the only test. A driver of 32 who passed their test last year will not qualify for a car that asks for more years of full licence than they have held one. Both conditions have to be met, by the same driver, on the same car.
Can I hire a Lamborghini at 25?
Not at the moment, and we would rather say so here than after you have filled in a form. The lowest minimum age on any Lamborghini in this catalogue is 28 — on the Lamborghini Urus SE — and the mid-engined cars sit higher still. A 25-year-old driver cannot be insured on them at any price we could charge.
The same logic applies to every marque: it is the car that carries the criteria, not the badge on the bonnet. A brand’s SUV is routinely hireable several years younger than its mid-engined coupé, because the insurer is pricing the car, not the name.
What a 25-year-old driver can hire from this catalogue
- Audi SQ7In our fleet5 yrs licence
- BMW X5 xDrive40i M SportIn our fleet3 yrs licence
- Audi S5 CoupeWe can source5 yrs licence
- BMW M2We can source3 yrs licence
- BMW M4 Competition xDriveWe can source3 yrs licence
- Ford Mustang GTWe can source3 yrs licence
Every one of these still needs the licence history and points tolerance beside it. Browse the full catalogue for the rest.
What does each kind of car require?
Read across: the driver conditions and the money held for each category in the catalogue. Where a span is shown, the figure varies by car within that category and the exact number is on the car’s own page.
| Category | Min age | Licence held | Max points | Deposit | Excess |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supercars10 cars | 28–32 | 5–10 yrs | 0–6 | £5,000–£50,000 | £5,000–£35,000 |
| Sports cars13 cars | 25–30 | 3–5 yrs | 6 | £2,000–£10,000 | £2,000–£10,000 |
| Grand tourers10 cars | 25–30 | 3–8 yrs | 3–6 | £3,500–£30,000 | £3,500–£25,000 |
| Luxury SUVs41 cars | 25–30 | 3–5 yrs | 6 | £2,000–£10,000 | £2,000–£10,000 |
| Prestige saloons29 cars | 25–30 | 2–8 yrs | 3–6 | £1,500–£30,000 | £1,500–£20,000 |
| Convertibles9 cars | 25–30 | 3–5 yrs | 6 | £3,000–£10,000 | £3,000–£10,000 |
Deposit and excess are held separately from the rate and are not the same thing: the deposit is refundable, the excess is the most you would pay towards an insured claim. Both are explained on insurance and excess. Neither is ever taken through this website.
What is the youngest age for each marque?
The lowest minimum age we can offer on each manufacturer, youngest first. It is the model that sets the figure, so a marque appearing low on this list will still have cars in it that sit much higher.
| Marque | Youngest age | Age range | Licence held | Cars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alfa Romeo | 25 | 25–28 | 3–5 yrs | 2 |
| Audi | 25 | 25–30 | 3–5 yrs | 16 |
| BMW | 25 | 25–30 | 3–5 yrs | 12 |
| Ford | 25 | 25 | 3 yrs | 1 |
| Jaguar | 25 | 25 | 3 yrs | 1 |
| Lexus | 25 | 25–28 | 3–5 yrs | 3 |
| Lotus | 25 | 25–28 | 3–5 yrs | 2 |
| Mercedes-AMG | 25 | 25–30 | 2–5 yrs | 10 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 25 | 25–30 | 3 yrs | 4 |
| Porsche | 25 | 25–30 | 3–5 yrs | 10 |
| Range Rover | 25 | 25–28 | 3–5 yrs | 5 |
| Toyota | 25 | 25 | 3 yrs | 1 |
| Volkswagen | 25 | 25 | 2 yrs | 1 |
| Volvo | 25 | 25 | 3 yrs | 1 |
| Alpine | 28 | 28 | 5 yrs | 1 |
| Aston Martin | 28 | 28–30 | 5–10 yrs | 6 |
| Lamborghini | 28 | 28–32 | 5–8 yrs | 7 |
| Land Rover | 28 | 28 | 3–5 yrs | 2 |
| Maserati | 28 | 28–30 | 3–5 yrs | 6 |
| McLaren | 28 | 28–30 | 5–8 yrs | 5 |
| Bentley | 30 | 30 | 5 yrs | 5 |
| Ferrari | 30 | 30 | 5–8 yrs | 5 |
| Mercedes-Maybach | 30 | 30 | 5 yrs | 2 |
| Rolls-Royce | 30 | 30 | 5–8 yrs | 4 |
How long do I need to have held my licence?
2–10 years, depending on the car. What counts is a full licence held continuously — the provisional period before it does not count, and a licence that lapsed and was reissued starts again from the date of reissue.
This is the condition that catches people out, because it is invisible until somebody asks. A driver of 34 who passed their test at 32 will not qualify for a car requiring five years, however old they are. If you are close to the line, tell us the month you passed and we will check it rather than guess.
Can I hire with penalty points on my licence?
Often, yes. The tolerance across this catalogue is 0–6 points depending on the car, and the majority of hires we are asked about involve a driver with three or six points for speeding. Points on their own are not a refusal.
What the points are for matters more than how many there are. Some convictions are excluded by the insurer whatever else is true, and a disqualification in the recent past is treated differently from a speeding endorsement. Give us the codes and the dates when you enquire, and we will come back with a straight yes or no rather than a maybe. Finding out at handover is the worst possible time.
How much is the deposit, and when do I get it back?
The security deposit runs from £1,500–£50,000 depending on the car, and it is held separately from the hire rate rather than added to it. It is refundable. Nothing is taken through this website — no deposit, no card details, no payment at any point in the enquiry.
It is held against a card in the hirer’s own name, and released once the car is back and checked. Four things can be deducted from it and nothing else: miles above the included allowance, fuel or charge not replaced, damage up to the excess, and any penalty, toll or congestion charge incurred during your hire. We tell you the release timing in writing when the hire is confirmed.
What is the excess, and is it the same as the deposit?
No — they are two different numbers doing two different jobs, and conflating them is how people end up feeling misled. The deposit is money held and given back. The excess is the most you would pay towards an insured claim, and on this catalogue it runs from £1,500–£35,000 depending on the car. You only ever meet the excess if there is damage.
Insurance and excess sets out what the cover includes, what it does not, and what actually happens after damage.
What do I need to have with me on the day?
We send you the full list in writing when the hire is confirmed, so nothing is a surprise at the door. It is normally these:
- Your full driving licence. The physical card, not a photograph of it.
- A DVLA check code. Generated free on gov.uk, valid for 21 days, so we can see your endorsements.
- Proof of your address. Something recent in your name at the address on the hire agreement.
- The payment card, in your own name. The deposit is held against it. A third party’s card cannot be used.
- The same documents for any additional driver. Named in advance, checked the same way.
Can someone else drive the car?
Only if they are named on the hire before it starts and meet the same criteria as you — the same minimum age, the same licence history, the same points tolerance for that specific vehicle. An unnamed driver is not insured, so this is not paperwork we can be relaxed about: a car driven by somebody not on the agreement is an uninsured car.
Add them at the enquiry stage rather than on the day. Nobody can be added at the kerbside, and that includes a spouse, a business partner or the person who is better at parking.
Can I hire on an overseas licence?
Tell us which country issued it and how long you have held it, and we will confirm the position before you book. There is no DVLA record to check against a licence issued abroad, so the insurer looks at the licence itself, at how long it has been held and at how long you have been in the UK — which means it is a question we answer per driver rather than with a blanket rule.
Ask early if you are visiting the UK. It is the one criterion where the answer genuinely takes a phone call, and it is a poor thing to discover the week of a wedding.
Why can’t you make an exception?
Because the criteria are not ours to waive. Every one of them is a condition of the policy the car is insured under, and a hire outside those conditions is not a bent rule — it is an uninsured car on a public road, with a customer carrying a liability nobody explained to them. We would rather lose the booking.
What we cannot do
- Insure a driver below the minimum age for that car.
- Accept a licence held for less than the stated period.
- Add a driver once the car has been handed over.
- Waive the deposit, or hold it against somebody else’s card.
- Cover circuit driving on a road policy.
What we can usually do
- Find you a car in the catalogue whose criteria you do meet.
- Name an additional driver who qualifies where you do not.
- Check a borderline licence or points record before you commit.
- Quote a track day properly, as a separate hire with cover written for it.
- Give you a straight yes or no rather than leaving it open.
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Driver requirements — common questions
Do you check my licence with the DVLA?
Yes. We ask for a DVLA check code so we can see the endorsements on your licence rather than take your word for them, and the check is done before the car is booked out to you — not on the doorstep. A code is free, takes about a minute to generate and lasts 21 days.
Does the person paying have to be the driver?
The security deposit is held against a card in the hirer’s own name, and the hirer is normally the named driver. Where a business is hiring the car for a director or an employee, tell us at the enquiry stage and we will set it up that way from the start.
Do the criteria differ on a car you source rather than own?
Yes, and that is one of the reasons a sourced car is confirmed before anything is agreed. A car in our own fleet carries our criteria, which are published on its page. A car arranged through a partner carries theirs, and we confirm them with you in writing before you commit.
Is there an upper age limit?
Some motor policies carry an upper age limit and some do not. Tell us the driver’s age when you enquire and we will confirm the position for that specific car before you plan around it, the same way we confirm the minimum.
What happens if I do not meet the criteria for the car I want?
We say so straight away and point you at what you can hire. On the current catalogue that means cars from 25 years old upwards. It is a better conversation to have at the enquiry stage than at the kerbside, which is exactly why the criteria are published here rather than buried in the terms.
Can I add a driver after the car has been delivered?
No. An unnamed driver is not insured, so adding somebody at the roadside is not a paperwork problem — it is an uninsured hire. Additional drivers are named before delivery, checked the same way you are, and either meet that vehicle’s criteria or cannot drive it.
Still not sure you qualify?
Tell us the dates. We’ll confirm the car.
Send us the dates and a delivery postcode — that is all we need to start. Someone here will come back to you with what is genuinely available and the full cost, deposit, excess and mileage included.
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