Guides & advice
Hiring a chauffeur to drive your own car: how driver hire works
Driver hire · Updated 9 October 2026 · 5 min read
Driver hire puts a formally qualified, DBS-checked chauffeur at the wheel of your own vehicle — not ours. Here is exactly who it suits, how the insurance works, and the step-by-step process from first call to keys back in your hand.
Driver hire
What driver hire actually is
Most chauffeur journeys happen in the company car. Driver hire is the other way round: a formally qualified, enhanced-DBS-checked CFH chauffeur drives your own vehicle, with you as the passenger. The seat is set the way you like it, your things are where you left them, and the car you know is the car you travel in.
Very few firms offer it, and fewer offer it properly — because doing it correctly means handling the licensing, the checks and the insurance question before anyone touches a key. It is the service our clients mention most, precisely because it is uncommon.
Driver hire
When it makes sense
Driver hire tends to suit five situations in particular:
- You simply prefer your own car. For a long motorway run or a regular commitment, familiar comfort beats an unfamiliar cabin — you travel, we drive.
- Dealership and vehicle delivery. Collections, handovers and moves between sites, driven by a professional rather than put on a truck.
- Prestige and collector cars. Vehicles that are driven rarely and deserve the care you would insist on yourself.
- The car is the occasion. A wedding or event in the family car, chauffeured for the day.
- When driving yourself is no longer an option. A change in health or a licence can keep you off the road without parking the car you love — keep it, and we drive.
Driver hire
How it works, step by step
The process is deliberately straightforward, and nothing is left to the day itself:
- Tell us the journey. The route, the dates and the car itself — whether it is a single airport run or a season of regular travel.
- Paper before keys. We confirm the chauffeur's licence and enhanced DBS in writing, and your insurer confirms our driver is on your policy, before anything is booked.
- Walk-round together. Your chauffeur arrives early, presented and briefed, and you agree the car's condition together before setting off.
- Returned as found. Driven, delivered or garaged as agreed, with mileage and condition noted and the keys back in your hand.
Driver hire
The insurance question, in plain English
This is the part people ask about most, and the answer is simple. Because it is your car, the cover has to come from your own motor policy. You add your named CFH chauffeur to that policy for the dates in question — we cannot arrange cover to drive your vehicle from our end.
What we can do is tell you exactly what your insurer needs and guide you through it. And there is one firm rule either way: we will not take the keys until you have confirmed, with your insurer, that our driver is on the policy.
Nothing moves until the cover is right. If the driver is not on your policy, we do not drive — simple as that.
Driver hire
Who drives your car
The chauffeur who arrives for a driver-hire booking holds the same standards as the rest of our work: a clean licence and an enhanced DBS check, renewed on schedule, plus formal chauffeur training with certificates available on request. They arrive early, correctly presented and briefed on the car and the journey.
Driver hire
Getting a price
Driver hire is quoted as a fixed, all-in price agreed before you travel — there is no meter. Tell us about the car, the route and the dates and we will come back with your fixed quote and a clear plan for the paperwork, so the only thing left to do is hand over the keys.
Good to know
Common questions
Can a chauffeur really drive my own car?
Yes. Driver hire is exactly that — a formally qualified, enhanced-DBS-checked CFH chauffeur drives your vehicle while you travel as the passenger. It is one of our most-requested services.
How does the insurance work if it is my car?
The cover comes from your own motor policy. You add your named CFH chauffeur to it for the dates agreed; we cannot arrange cover to drive your car from our end, but we guide you through exactly what your insurer needs. We do not take the keys until your insurer has confirmed our driver is on the policy.
What kinds of journeys is driver hire used for?
Long runs where you would rather be in your own car, airport transfers, dealership collections and vehicle delivery, prestige and collector cars, weddings and events in the family car, and situations where a change in health or licence means you can no longer drive yourself.
Are your driver-hire chauffeurs checked and trained?
Yes — every chauffeur holds a clean licence and an enhanced DBS check, renewed on schedule, and has completed formal chauffeur training. Certificates are available on request.
What happens to my car at the end?
It is driven, delivered or garaged exactly as agreed, with mileage and condition noted and the keys returned to you. You agree the car's condition with your chauffeur at the start, before setting off.
Get your fixed price
Tell us your pickup, timing and passenger numbers and we will confirm an all-in fare — usually within the hour, with no obligation.