Atlas Motorhomes hires to a wider range of drivers than most people expect: first-timers with a standard car licence, retired couples on their fifth Highland trip, friends sharing the wheel on a long route. The rules below cover the everyday cases and the awkward ones, so you know before you book who can be named on the booking.

The licence

You’ll need a full UK driving licence valid for category B (the standard car category). No C1 or special class is required. The licence must be at least two years old.

If you hold an overseas licence, Atlas accepts full licences issued in any EU country, the USA, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, the UAE, Hong Kong, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. UK photocard holders should bring the photocard plus a printout of their DVLA driver record on collection day (Northern Ireland licences are exempt from the printout).

Age bands

Atlas’s age bands recognise that experience and insurance risk both sit on a curve:

• Ages 25 to 74. Standard rates. Up to six points on a UK licence is permitted, with certain conviction codes referred to our insurers (see below).
• Age 24, or ages 75 to 79. Welcome to hire on an additional insurance premium, with no licence convictions permitted.
• Under 24 or over 79. Outside our cover. The collision-damage-waiver excess-reduction option is also reserved for the 25 to 75 band.

Convictions, in plain English

Most UK driving offences are fine, within limits. The cap on a UK licence is six points in total, two convictions maximum, and three points per conviction. Some specific codes need a different conversation:

• Not insurable at all: codes BA, DD or UT.
• Referred to our insurers: codes MS90, IN10, CU80 and CD, and any single six-point offence. Most are approved, with an additional premium of £2 per point per night of hire.

If you’re not sure where your record sits, send us the details before booking and we’ll come back with a clear answer rather than a guess.

Up to three drivers, all declared at booking

Atlas can name up to three drivers in total on a hire. The first driver’s insurance is included; additional drivers are a paid option. Every driver must be on the booking and present at vehicle collection. Undeclared drivers aren’t insured, which is a legal point as much as a hire-policy one.

First time in a motorhome?

If you’ve never driven a motorhome before, you’re not unusual at the Atlas depot. A good share of first Atlas hires are first-time motorhomers. The reassurance is in the proofs: every Atlas vehicle drives on a standard car licence, most of the fleet is automatic, and the F60 is under six metres so it parks where larger motorhomes can’t.

Collection is a thirty-minute walk-round with John, our Operations Manager. He’ll show you the reversing camera, the wing mirrors, the gas, water and hookup, and answer everything before you turn the key. The pre-arrival video and printed guide cover the basics in advance, so the walk-round spends its time on what’s actually new to you.

Driving to Ireland

Ireland is the one foreign destination Atlas vehicles can travel to, and it needs the right cover in place before you leave the depot. For trips to Ireland (the Republic, or via Northern Ireland by road), you must purchase Atlas’s Ireland insurance and roadside support cover in advance. It’s mandatory: taking the vehicle into Ireland without it is a breach of the hire agreement. Let us know at the time of booking and we’ll add it to the quote.

Mainland Europe is not permitted at all, so France, Spain, the Netherlands and the rest are off the map for an Atlas hire.

Bringing the dog

The dog isn’t a driver, but it counts here for a related reason: the whole Atlas fleet is pet-friendly, so any driver-eligible booking can also bring the dog along. The pet policy lives on a separate page; the only driving-related note is to clip the dog into a rear seat-belt harness or carrier in line with the Highway Code.