If you’d like to nominate another person to drive your rental car in New Zealand, you’ll need to add an additional driver to your rental agreement, but there are a few things to keep in mind when doing so.
Additional drivers will need to be recorded when you pick up your rental car. They will need to attend the rental collection counter with you, present their driver licence, and sign the applicable paperwork to be added to the rental agreement. The fees for this will be included in your rental agreement and added to the cost of your rental car.
Alternatively, additional drivers can be added before or after the pick-up date by visiting one of your rental provider’s depots. Either way, any additional drivers will need to visit the rental provider in person to be added to the rental agreement or they will not be authorised to drive the rental car.
If you add an additional driver to your rental agreement, there will likely be a fee, but these charges will vary depending on your rental provider and location. Before booking, consider reaching out to your prospective rental provider to confirm the fee, or otherwise check their terms and conditions.
For more info, you can check out our FAQs for a list of commonly asked questions. You can also reach out to our friendly customer care team.
If you’re planning on adding additional drivers to your rental agreement when you pick up the car, you may want to consider selecting an Apex vehicle from our search form. Apex allow additional drivers to be added without charge, making them a great option for anyone looking to share driving duties.
Yes. Generally, your spouse or partner will be able to drive the rental car if they present a valid licence to the rental provider at the time of collection; some rental providers may waive the additional driver fee for the spouse of the primary driver, but they might have certain validation processes around this.
Also, aside from the primary driver’s spouse, the primary driver’s employer, employees, and colleagues may also be permitted to drive the rental car without the need to pay the additional driver fee (depending on the rental provider, location, and vehicle type).
Most rental providers will allow you to authorise as many drivers as there are seats in the rental car, but any applicable fees will apply per driver, so the more drivers you add, the more you’ll have to pay. Also, any drivers under 25 years old may have to pay a young driver surcharge on top of the additional driver fee.
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