Taking hire vans on ferries to Europe is perfectly possible, but needs advance planning and permission from your hire company.

Can you take rental vans abroad from the UK?

In many cases the answer is yes, and on our European Hire page we list companies which provide this service.

However, in all cases you must have the right paperwork and get permission from your hire company in advance.

This really is important. Failure to follow the rules could see you fined or result in your vehicle being confiscated while abroad. If you haven’t followed the right procedures, you could also end up driving without valid insurance — another offence.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Before you book your hire van, check if the hire company you plan to use allows overseas usage. Specify which countries you will be visiting and what type of van you want to hire, as these factors may affect whether an overseas hire is possible.
2. When you make the booking, make sure that you make it clear you need to take the van abroad.
3. Ask about extra costs, insurance, breakdown cover and paperwork.
4. The most important piece of paperwork is a VE103 document. This shows that you have the owner’s permission to take the vehicle out of its home country.
5. Make sure you know the total height and length of the van before you book your ferry/Channel Tunnel crossing. Depending on the size of your van and the purpose of your trip, you may need to book as a commercial passenger, not a private/leisure customer.
6. Finally, make sure you have all the accessories you may need for driving in other countries, such as spare bulbs and reflective vests. Check out the driving rules and speed limits for the countries you’ll be visiting. In my opinion, the best source for this information is The AA’s Driving in Europe guide.

Once all that is done, plan your route and look forward to driving on roads that are often more scenic and less busy than those in the UK.

One-way van hire abroad

People often ask if they hire a van one way to go abroad. In general, this is only possible between the UK and Spain.

The reason for this is that in general, hire vehicles need to be hired out in their country of registration. Returning a hire van in — say — Germany would probably mean that the hire company would have to pay to return the vehicle to the UK. That’s a lot of money lost as a result of transport costs and several days’ of lost hire revenue.

Spain is an exception to this rule, simply because so many British expats live in the popular coastal areas of Spain. There is regular demand for hire vans to transport possessions between areas such as Alicante and Malaga and the UK.

On our Van Hire to Spain page, we list several specialist companies which offer this service from depots in Spain and the UK. If you need to move stuff between Spain and the UK, then take a look.

Note: This isn’t a service that’s offered by regular hire companies. If you need to move to or from Spain and want a one-way hire, you’ll probably need to use one of these specialist hire companies.