Driving as an au pair: licences, insurance and nerves

Is your licence valid?

Within the EU and EEA, a licence from one member state is valid in all the others for the length of an au pair stay. Coming from outside, you usually need an International Driving Permit obtained in your home country before you travel, alongside your national licence — and some countries require an exchange after six months.

Insurance is the family's job

The au pair must be explicitly named on the policy, and many insurers apply a minimum age of 21 or 25 or add an excess for young drivers. Confirm this in writing before arrival, and agree who pays the excess if there is a scrape.

The practice drive

Before any solo trip with children, do a supervised drive on the actual school route. Different side of the road, unfamiliar signs, a manual gearbox when you learned automatic — all of it is much harder with two children arguing in the back.

If you are not confident, say so. A family that pressures you to drive anyway is telling you something important about how they'll treat the rest of the year.

Car seats and the law

Child seat rules differ by country and are strictly enforced. Ask the family to show you how each seat is fitted, and never carry an extra child without a correct seat, even for five minutes.