The short answer
Stop driving when the physical licence is missing until the competent authority confirms what, if anything, permits you to continue in the exact country and vehicle. A scan, licence number, police report, embassy letter or provisional paper is not automatically a valid driving document, especially across another border. Report the loss or theft through the official local route, verify the issuing authority and tell the rental or vehicle provider before anyone else drives or moves the car. Protect identity evidence and record accepted instructions offline. Rebuild every driving, rental-return and border segment around confirmed permission or lawful alternative transport. Only then measure ordinary data for verified authority pages, case updates, maps or accommodation messages. A data-only eSIM cannot replace a licence, legalise driving, contact police, provide calls or SMS, or guarantee roadside reception.
Stop driving and identify exactly what is missing
Park only where this can be done lawfully and safely; do not handle a phone while driving or create a roadside hazard to search for the document. Confirm whether the physical licence alone is missing or whether a wallet, passport, payment card, vehicle key or phone has also disappeared. Each item has its own blocking, reporting and replacement route. Record privately the issuing country, licence category, approximate loss place and time, vehicle location, rental contract and next planned border, but never publish the licence number, portrait, signature, home address or live vehicle position. Do not continue merely because an app, photograph or photocopy exists. The competent authority for the country and the vehicle provider must decide what evidence they accept; a connectivity seller cannot interpret driving permission.
Use the official police and issuing-authority route
Find the local police process from a government, police, embassy or consulate site you reached independently, not from a sponsored result, unsolicited message or person offering a replacement. Your Europe tells travellers whose licence is lost or stolen abroad to contact the local police and their consulate or embassy; the consular channel can check status with the authority that issued the licence. Ask which report, appointment, identity evidence, translation, fee and collection method apply to this exact case. A consulate does not universally issue a replacement licence, and police procedures differ. Keep the report reference and authority response privately. If the event involved robbery, danger or other missing documents, follow those specialist safety and document processes as well rather than assuming one police reference resolves every item.
Treat every provisional document as country-specific
Ask the competent authority in writing whether driving must stop, what document may be issued, its start and end time, vehicle categories, territorial limit and any conditions. Your Europe warns that provisional licences and certificates temporarily replacing a lost or stolen licence are not automatically recognised in other EU countries. Therefore a local police paper, embassy certificate or digital record must not be treated as permission for a border crossing, a different country, a rental vehicle or a later date. A scan proves only that a file exists. Confirm recognition separately with every relevant authority and the rental or insurer before driving; contractual acceptance cannot expand legal permission. If any answer is absent, contradictory or informal, keep the vehicle parked and use lawful alternative transport rather than testing the document on the road.
Secure the vehicle and rebuild each affected segment
Tell the rental company, owner, tour operator or fleet provider through the verified contract channel. Ask who may move the vehicle, whether another already-authorised driver can take over, where it may remain, how keys are handled and how return, collection, parking and extra cost are approved. Do not add a driver informally or send licence images in an open chat. Then rewrite the itinerary from the present location: every road segment, border, ferry, accommodation handoff, rental return and onward ticket must work without unconfirmed driving. Save accepted instructions, non-sensitive addresses, booking changes and a second contact path offline. Licence loss is not a collision, breakdown or passport replacement: use those separate workflows if damage, immobilisation, identity travel documents or personal safety become the actual problem.
Buy only the ordinary data left after permission is resolved
Do not make police reporting, legal permission, vehicle security, urgent assistance or access to identity documents depend on a new mobile plan. First subtract working home roaming, official in-person help, trusted Wi-Fi and files tested offline. Then measure only bounded tasks such as opening a verified authority page, receiving an ordinary case update, checking an accepted public-transport route or messaging accommodation. Continue only when every country where data will be used is listed, the validity and activation trigger fit, and a separate available phone is carrier-unlocked and compatible. Stop when the process requires conventional calls or SMS, a local number, identity verification tied to the missing phone, continuous tracking or guaranteed road coverage. CheapESIM offers ordinary data only; they do not replace a licence, recognise a provisional paper, contact an authority or authorise anyone to drive.