Run your hire fleet and vehicle compliance from one place
Self-drive vehicle hire and rental businesses managing the vehicle, customer, driver and hire journey together.
From £79/month
30-day free trial, no card required, when the platform launches.
Self-Drive Hire is Complys built for rental businesses — not a compliance add-on with a few hire fields, but a compliance-first way to run the whole hire journey and prove exactly what happened at every step. It joins three things most operators keep in separate places: rental operations, vehicle compliance, and the evidence that protects you in a dispute.
The market already has capable booking systems. Complys takes the opposite starting point: before a vehicle is handed over, can it safely and appropriately be released to this hirer — and can you produce, on demand, a complete record of the verification, the agreement, the vehicle's condition out and back, and every charge? That evidence-first position, combined with the wider Complys compliance platform, is the difference.
What self-drive hire software is — and what Complys does differently
Self-drive hire software helps a rental business manage vehicles, customers, agreements, hand-overs and returns. Most products lead with the booking: reservation, customer, vehicle, payment. That runs the diary well, but it treats compliance and condition evidence as afterthoughts — which is exactly where operators get caught out when an insurer, a hirer or a regulator asks what happened.
Complys leads with compliance and evidence. Every hire produces one continuous record — hirer verified, licence checked, agreement signed, vehicle condition photographed out and back, damage compared, charges raised — and every vehicle carries its own live compliance status so a non-roadworthy vehicle never quietly appears as available to hire.
Who it's for
Self-Drive Hire is built for the range of UK self-drive operators, each with slightly different risk and evidence needs:
- • Car hire — independents and multi-site operators
- • Van and commercial vehicle hire, where condition and load-area damage matter
- • Prestige, performance and supercar hire, where deposits, ID and licence rules are strict and evidence is critical
- • Minibus hire, where entitlement and vehicle standards need careful checks
- • PCO / private-hire vehicle rental to drivers
- • Replacement and courtesy fleets run by dealerships and bodyshops
- • Mixed rental fleets combining several of the above
One evidence chain, start to finish
The core idea is a single, timestamped chain of proof for each hire, rather than photos on phones, agreements on paper and notes in email. If a charge is challenged or a claim is made, the whole story is in one place and exportable as an evidence pack.
Hirer verified → licence evidence → agreement → deposit/payment → vehicle condition out (with photos) → mileage and fuel out → vehicle released → active hire → return → mileage and fuel in → condition in (with photos) → damage comparison → charges → communications → closed, with a full audit trail.
UK government consumer guidance encourages hirers to keep records of a vehicle's condition before and after hire to help resolve damage disputes, and the government confirmed in January 2026 that it did not intend to mandate digitally timestamped photo or video evidence. So Complys makes this evidence excellent and easy — without ever presenting it as a statutory requirement.
The check-out (handover) workflow
At the counter, Complys walks staff through a consistent, defensible hand-over so nothing is skipped under time pressure:
- • Select the booking and confirm the hirer's records
- • Verify identity and store ID/document evidence
- • Check the driving licence — including the DVLA share-code workflow, with the hirer's permission
- • Present and sign the digital rental agreement with e-signatures
- • Inspect the vehicle and capture the required photographs of existing condition
- • Record mileage and fuel out
- • Take the deposit/payment where applicable, then release the vehicle
The check-in and damage workflow
On return, the process mirrors the hand-over and makes new damage clear and evidenced rather than argued:
- • Open the hire and record mileage and fuel in
- • Photograph the vehicle on return and complete the condition inspection
- • Compare against the outbound evidence to identify genuinely new damage
- • Log damage against a vehicle diagram with severity and location
- • Capture the hirer's acknowledgement
- • Raise any charges, attach the evidence, and close the hire with a complete pack
Driving licence checks done properly
Licence checking deserves particular care. DVLA's service lets a driver create a check code to share their licence information, and the official check can show categories, penalty points and disqualifications — but it requires the driver's permission. Complys builds the share-code workflow into the hand-over so entitlement and history are checked and the evidence is stored against the hire.
Because the check is tied to the hire record, you can show later exactly what was verified, when and by whom — which matters for both insurer requirements and your own company policy on who may drive which vehicles.
Compliance built into availability
In ordinary booking software a vehicle is either free or booked. In Complys a vehicle is available, compliant and cleared for hire — or it isn't. If its MOT, insurance or service has lapsed, or a serious defect has been reported, it carries a DO NOT HIRE status and doesn't present to the desk as a normal available vehicle.
Underneath the hire workflow sits the same vehicle-compliance engine as the rest of Complys: MOT, tax, insurance, servicing, maintenance, defects, documents and expiry, all with a Green/Amber/Red status. That's how a rental manager sees a true picture — RANGE ROVER AB25 ABC: MOT ✓, insurance ✓, service ✓, no blocking defect, two existing damage items recorded — ready to hire.
Built for the way different operators actually work
The risks and the evidence that matters shift by operator type, and Complys is designed to flex to each rather than force one generic rental flow:
Prestige, performance and supercar hire
High-value vehicles mean strict deposits, stronger ID and licence rules, and a low tolerance for damage disputes. The evidence chain — verified hirer, licence check, detailed outbound photography, signed agreement, deposit — is where these operators live or die, and it's exactly what Complys captures.
Van and commercial vehicle hire
Load areas, interiors and body panels take the damage, and it's easy to miss on a quick counter check. Thorough, timestamped condition capture out and back makes new damage clear and defensible.
Minibus and passenger vehicles
Entitlement and vehicle standards need careful checking, and some operating models raise operator-licensing considerations. These pages and workflows should be set against current Traffic Commissioner and DVSA guidance rather than treated as ordinary car hire.
PCO / private-hire rental and courtesy fleets
Renting to drivers, or providing replacement and courtesy vehicles through dealerships and bodyshops, brings its own driver-record and turnaround needs. One record per vehicle keeps compliance and condition current across a high churn of hirers.
Why compliance-first wins where it counts
Consider a disputed damage charge — the single most common friction in self-drive hire. With booking-first software the operator hunts for photos on a phone, a paper agreement and an email trail, and hopes they line up. With Complys the whole hire is one record: the hirer was verified, the licence was checked with a stored share-code result, the agreement was signed, the vehicle was photographed out with existing damage marked, and the return photos are compared against it — all timestamped, all in one exportable evidence pack.
That's a stronger commercial position than being cheaper than a booking tool. And because the same platform can carry the operator's wider business compliance — staff, training, documents, incidents, assets — a self-drive business runs its hire operations and its compliance obligations in one place, with one audit trail, rather than stitching several systems together. That combination is difficult for a rental-only competitor to match.
What's available at launch, and what's coming
Self-Drive is being built as a serious standalone product, not a reminder tool. The first release centres on the complete compliance-and-handover workflow — hirer records, licence checks, agreements, e-signatures, check-out/check-in inspections, photographs, damage recording, fuel and mileage, the audit trail and the evidence pack — so it's genuinely useful from day one.
Rental operations (booking and availability calendar, quotes, rate tables, deposits, card payments, extensions, additional drivers, invoices and a customer portal) are launching next. Further out, planned capability includes fines/PCN administration, an insurance and claims register, an automated hire-eligibility engine, a configurable rules engine (distinguishing law, insurer requirement and company policy), customer self-service and fleet-profitability analytics.
Each capability is labelled with its status on this page and throughout Complys, and nothing is marketed as available before it ships.
What Self-Drive Hire includes
At launch — compliance & the full handover/return workflow
Launching with the vehicle platform- Self-Drive dashboard
- Customer/hirer records
- Vehicle database with DVLA lookup
- MOT and tax status
- Insurance documents and expiry
- Service and maintenance records
- Vehicle availability and status
- Driving licence details
- DVLA share-code workflow
- Hirer ID and document storage
- Digital rental agreement
- E-signatures
- Check-out inspection
- Check-in inspection
- Required photographs
- Existing-damage and new-damage recording
- Fuel and mileage out/in
- Date/time/user audit trail
- Defects and DO NOT HIRE status
- Document expiry reminders
- Evidence pack (PDF/export)
- Green/Amber/Red compliance
- Multi-user, multi-depot
Launching next — rental operations
Launching with the vehicle platform- Booking and availability calendar
- Quotes and reservations
- Rate tables and deposits
- Card payments and refunds
- Extensions and additional drivers
- Additional charges and discounts
- Invoices and receipts
- Damage comparison workflow and disputes
- Customer portal and online booking requests
Planned — automation & intelligence
Planned- Fines, PCNs and offence administration (driver-at-time lookup)
- Insurance policy and claims register
- Automated hire-eligibility engine (cleared / do-not-release with reasons)
- Configurable rules engine (law vs insurer vs company policy)
- Customer self-service journey
- Fleet utilisation, revenue-per-vehicle and profitability analytics
Fleet vs Self-Drive vs HGV & Operator
All three run on the same vehicle-compliance engine; the workflows on top differ. Badges show current availability, not a live feature.
| Capability | Fleet | Self-Drive | HGV & Operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vehicle compliance records | Launching | Launching | Launching |
| Documents & expiry tracking | Launching | Launching | Launching |
| Checks & inspections | Launching | Launching | Launching |
| Defect reporting & rectification | Launching | Launching | Launching |
| Maintenance records | Launching | Launching | Launching |
| Driver / vehicle linkage | Launching | Launching | Launching |
| Customer / hirer workflow | — | Launching | — |
| Hire agreements & e-signatures | — | Launching | — |
| Check-out / check-in & damage evidence | — | Launching | — |
| Bookings & payments | — | Planned | — |
| Safety inspection (PMI) planning | — | — | Launching |
| Operator-licence record organisation | — | — | Launching |
| Trailer & vehicle-combination records | Where applicable | — | Launching |
Self-Drive Hire pricing
Pay based on your number of active vehicles. No per-user charges. Sold, disposed and archived vehicles don’t count. Pay annually and get 12 months for the price of 10.
| Active vehicles | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| 1–10 | £79/mo | £790/yr |
| 11–25 | £149/mo | £1,490/yr |
| 26–50 | £249/mo | £2,490/yr |
| 51–100 | £399/mo | £3,990/yr |
| 101–250 | £749/mo | £7,490/yr |
| 251–500 | £1,199/mo | £11,990/yr |
| 501–1,000 | £1,999/mo | £19,990/yr |
| 1,000+ | Enterprise | Enterprise |
30-day free trial, no card required, at launch. Managing more than 1,000 vehicles? Talk to us.
Frequently asked questions
How is Self-Drive Hire different from ordinary rental/booking software?
Most rental software starts from the booking. Complys starts from compliance and evidence: it verifies the hirer and licence, produces the agreement, captures vehicle condition out and back with timestamped photos, compares damage, and keeps each vehicle's MOT/insurance/service status so a non-roadworthy vehicle can't be hired. Booking and payments are on the roadmap; the compliance-and-handover workflow is the launch focus.
What's included at launch?
Hirer and customer records, vehicle database with DVLA lookup, MOT/tax/insurance/service records, driving licence details and the DVLA share-code workflow, digital agreements and e-signatures, check-out and check-in inspections, required photographs, existing- and new-damage recording, fuel and mileage, defects and DO NOT HIRE status, document expiry reminders, an evidence pack export, a Green/Amber/Red status and multi-user, multi-depot access.
Do you check driving licences?
Yes. The hand-over includes the DVLA share-code workflow, which — with the hirer's permission — lets you check licence categories, penalty points and disqualifications, and stores that evidence against the hire. Permission from the driver is required for a DVLA check.
Can I capture before-and-after photos and damage evidence?
Yes. Check-out and check-in inspections are mobile-friendly with timestamped photographs, and new damage is compared against the outbound record and logged against a vehicle diagram. UK guidance encourages keeping before/after condition records to resolve disputes; Complys makes that evidence thorough and exportable, but it isn't a statutory requirement.
Will there be online bookings and payments?
Booking and availability calendars, quotes, rate tables, deposits, card payments, extensions, invoices and a customer portal are launching in the next release. They're marked accordingly on this page and aren't presented as available before they ship.
How is it priced?
By active vehicles, from £79/month for 1–10. No per-user charges; sold, disposed and archived vehicles don't count. Pay annually and get 12 months for the price of 10.
Can it stop a non-compliant vehicle being hired?
Yes. Each vehicle carries a live compliance status, and a serious defect or a lapsed MOT/insurance sets a DO NOT HIRE state so the vehicle doesn't appear to the desk as a normal available vehicle.
Does it produce an evidence pack for disputes?
Yes. A hire's agreement, hirer verification, licence evidence, outbound and inbound condition, damage comparison, signatures, mileage/fuel, communications and charges can be exported as a single evidence pack (PDF/export).
Does Complys handle fines, PCNs and insurance claims?
Fines/PCN administration (including identifying the driver at the time) and an insurance and claims register are planned capabilities on the roadmap, not part of the initial launch. They're labelled Planned and won't be presented as available yet.
How does it fit with the rest of Complys?
The same business can run its vehicles, employees, training, RAMS, incidents, documents, assets and policies inside Complys. For a self-drive operator that means hire operations and wider business compliance share one platform and one audit trail — something rental-only tools can't easily match.
Is there a free trial?
Yes — a 30-day free trial with no card required when the platform launches. Book a demo or register your interest to be first on board.
Explore Complys vehicle compliance
- Driving licence check software → — step 2 — the DVLA share-code check
- Rental agreement & e-signatures → — step 3 — signed agreement & statement of liability
- Vehicle condition report app → — steps 4 & 6 — check-out and check-in
- Vehicle damage inspection app → — step 7 — damage capture & evidence pack
- Van hire software → — for self-drive van & LCV operators
- PCO car hire software → — for private-hire / PCO rental
- Courtesy & loan car software → — for dealerships & bodyshops
- Guide: DVLA check code for car hire → — the operator's guide to share codes
- Free vehicle handover form → — the printable version you can use today
- Vehicle compliance software → — compare all editions
- Fleet Compliance → — for company cars and vans
- HGV & Operator Compliance → — for commercial vehicle operators
Be first on Self-Drive Hire
Book a demo or register your interest, and we’ll get you set up as soon as the vehicle platform launches.