recently discovered that I cannot find my driving licence! (haven't needed it for ages!) but now I do I can't remember the safe-place I put it!!
So I went to DVLA website and filled in 5 pages of req info, system found me, and I paid my £20 - easy! job done!
But no! - got an email saying they needed me to do one more thing and that a form would be with me in 1 week. When it arrived it wanted all the same details I had given them, plus two forms of I.D and a sign and verified photo of me to prove who I am. Then to allow 3 weeks for processing.
What a Faff to simply replace an existing licence - why bother providing online facilities to do a job then demand it's done the old way as well? what's the point! and the resource saving.
Bah! -
grumpy of Cumbria.
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Bottom line is, it's extra security in view of the vast number of fake licences and unlicensed drivers on the road; most of which is DVLA's fault for not getting their backsides into gear and implementing the universal photocardss when they had the chance to.
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I've had the same faff applying for my pension as I "Come of age" before the end of this year. Tried to apply online and after filling in my name and NI number (Both printed on the letter they sent) it would not go any further as they could not match my details. So I phoned up a and after waiting in a queue for nearly an hour I finally got through. Got about two minutes in to the call and after a few questions the guy told me he could not proceed as their records did not match what I told them, nothing to worry about he said as their information was out of date so he would send me a form which would be a signed legal declaration so they could update their own records and then proceed.
The form duly arrived, with a request for my divorce papers from my first marriage and my ex wife's DoB and National Insurance number. I could only remember the year of her birth and as for the NI number, who the hell can remember their own, let alone their partners. As we've been divorced for 27 years and she's been dead for twenty I have no way of finding out either, so I added a note in the box on the form. What the hell either has to do with me getting my pension I have no idea. I've had the divorce papers returned with a note saying my application was being processed, so we'll see. What is ironic is the original letter was urging me to take the easy route and apply online, I wonder how many people actually manage to do that successfully, particularly with so many people in similar circumstances to myself.
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When ....if.. the new one arrives I'm going to put it in a very safe place! - on second thoughts I'd better not! ;-)
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Moral of the story is keep your licence in your wallet. You should have it on you when you are driving.
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I've had that paper licence for over thirty years! - ever since it replaced my green one! - it wouldn't have lasted that long in my wallet especially with the hammer my missus gives it!! ;-)
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Same here when we moved house.
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>> I've had that paper licence for over thirty years! - ever since it replaced my
>> green one! - it wouldn't have lasted that long in my wallet especially with the
>> hammer my missus gives it!! ;-)
>>
One of the advantages of the new plastic ones is that they're pretty much indestructible in normal use.
BTW, as a vocational driver I also have to (when at work) carry in addition to my "normal" driving licence, the following;
1) DCPC card (Driver's Certificate of Professional Competence) without which I cannot drive a commercial vehicle over 3.5tonnes GVW for hire or reward; penalty for forgetting to carry it,up to £1,000.
2) Tachograph digi-card; as above, fine up to £2500 for not using it. You can get round it by doing print-outs but DVSA really don't like it and will be asking your employer questions which may impinge on future operating licences being granted.
3) ADR card (Hazardous Chemicals) ; not sure what the fine is but if you are stopped by DVSA or the police with an ADR load and don't have the card, you're going nowhere till you have and your employer will get it in the shorts too.
4) Permit to drive lorry-mounted fork lift truck; not mandatory to carry this one but it saves hassle in the event of an incident.
Last edited by: Harleyman on Sun 13 Aug 17 at 14:13
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The moral of this story is to scan a copy of your driving licence and keep it on your PC.
It really is a must to prove what classes you had when applying for a replacement, or to renew your licence as DVLA have a bad habit of missing categories off and will not replace them without absolute proof.
It also makes applying for a replacement much easier!
I wholeheartedly agree with the extra security checks. There are so many licences around that are not genuine it is certainly needed.
Pat
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Wasn't there a thing on the news a while ago where people were renewing their licences only to find that the DVLA were missing some classes off the replacement licence and were not accepting photocopies as proof of entitlement?
Follow up here:
www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/dvla_and_thousands_of_missing_li
Last edited by: zippy on Sun 13 Aug 17 at 15:53
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>> Wasn't there a thing on the news a while ago where people were renewing their
>> licences only to find that the DVLA were missing some classes off the replacement licence
>> and were not accepting photocopies as proof of entitlement?
Yes; which is why, when I have to renew my licence I always "lose" it and then return the old one once I've checked it against the new 'un. DVLA are by and large pretty good for a government department but given the sheer volume of stuff they must handle on a daily basis, some mistakes are inevitable.
The problems escalate, in my experience, because amongst all governmental departments there seems to be a culture of considering themselves infallible.
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>> The problems escalate, in my experience, because amongst all governmental departments >> there seems to be
>> a culture of considering themselves infallible.
>>
In my experience, all civil servants consider themselves blessed in that regard.
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I keep copies of my DL and passport in my Cloud (Google drive), along with insurance documents (which I scan if they don't come electronically) and other key info. They've been useful about once so far, but had I not had them on that occasion it would have cost me about £50 so worth it!
I understand the paper part of the licence is no longer required, or valid.
Devonite, put your new one in a safe place. You'll probably find the old one there :-)
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>> I've had that paper licence for over thirty years! - ever since it replaced my
>> green one! - it wouldn't have lasted that long in my wallet especially with the
>> hammer my missus gives it!! ;-)
Ah right, so the "simple replacement process for a lost licence" is not that at all. Its actually a "process for moving you from the dark ages to a proper license with photo"
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If youdrive regularly abroad it's a good idea to get used to the idea of always having your driving licence on you preferably of the photocard type. In most countries you will not be dealt with as leniently as you are in the U.K if you are stopped and don't have your licence on you.
Personally I would not drive in the U.K either without my licence on me. It is the law after all.
Last edited by: CGNorwich on Sun 13 Aug 17 at 17:52
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The latest (rather messily annotated, and not tidied by me...) legislation indicates that it is not an offence to be unable to produce the licence on the spot, as long as certain deadlines/conditions are met (commonly enforced by issuance of a 'producer').
(6)If a person required under the preceding provisions of this section to produce a licence F2... or state his date of birth [F26or to produce his certificate of completion of a training course for motor cyclists]. . . fails to do so he is, subject to subsections (7) [F27to (8A)] below, guilty of an offence.
(7)Subsection (6) above does not apply where a person required on any occasion under the preceding provisions of this section to produce a licence F2...—
(a)produces on that occasion a current receipt for the licence F2... issued under section 56 of the M1Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 and, if required to do so, produces the licence F2... in person immediately on [F28its] return at a police station that was specified on that occasion, or
(b)within seven days after that occasion produces such a receipt in person at a police station that was specified by him on that occasion and, if required to do so, produces the licence F2... in person immediately on [F28its] return at that police station.
(8)In proceedings against any person for the offence of failing to produce a licence F2... it shall be a defence for him to show that—
(a)within seven days after the production of his licence F2... was required he produced [F29it] in person at a police station that was specified by him at the time [F30its] production was required, or
(b)he produced [F29it] in person there as soon as was reasonably practicable, or
(c)it was not reasonably practicable for him to produce [F29it] there before the day on which the proceedings were commenced,and for the purposes of this subsection the laying of the information or, in Scotland, the service of the complaint on the accused shall be treated as the commencement of the proceedings.
F31[(8A)Subsection (8) above shall apply in relation to a certificate of completion of a training course for motor cyclists as it applies in relation to a licence.]
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>> If youdrive regularly abroad it's a good idea to get used to the idea of
>> always having your driving licence on you preferably of the photocard type. In most countries
>> you will not be dealt with as leniently as you are in the U.K if
>> you are stopped and don't have your licence on you.
>>
Here in Austria, random car/document checks are relatively common. If you don't have your licence on you, you don't drive off. You have to leave the car where it is with the police, and travel at your expense to go and get it. Perhaps if you were on holiday there might be some leeway, but I doubt it. If there's another driver in the car with a licence, they can take over the driving.
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>> Moral of the story is keep your licence in your wallet. You should have it on you when you are driving.
If that were the case, why do the police give you 7 days to produce your documents at a police station of your choosing?
Have you got anything official that says you must have your licence with you when driving?
edit - just seen the other replies saying much the same thing.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sun 13 Aug 17 at 19:06
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Purely as a 'technicality', it is 'illegal' to not have your license on you.
But then if you fail to have it, you can escape prosecution if you produce it within 7 days.
Effectively the production of the licence within seven days is an absolute defence to the offence.
Howeve if you don't produce your licence within seven days you will be charged with failing to produce your licence on the day you were stopped.
All a bit clear as mud I know but at the end of the day it's easier all round to stick your licence in your wallet. As I said if you get stopped overseas without your licence you could find yourself in deep trouble.
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>> Bah! -
>> grumpy of Cumbria.
>>
I had always assumed you were a West Country misery?
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When my passport expired I used my photo licence for internal flights as no passport is needed.
I have had a few check in clerks refuse it at larger airports but a quick showing of the relevant T&Cs resolved that.
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Can confirm that its an offence to fail to produce licence to a Constable at the time. Then proceedings will not be taken so on and so forth.
Little tool in the armoury as a person can now be arrested for any offence if certain criteria are not met. So if some barrack room lawyer or Freeman of the Land is come across its a starter for 10 so to speak.
Would have been ideal to fettle this guy if they knew what they were doing. Embarrassing!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_ACFM4ubao
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>> Can confirm that its an offence to fail to produce licence to a Constable at
>> the time. Then proceedings will not be taken so on and so forth.
Further to what I mentioned above, DVSA (who are probably more likely to stop me than a policeman) take a very dim view of a vocational driver who isn't in possession of his licence. It tends to make them look for other discrepancies.
I don't know why people don't carry them as a matter of course. Saves all the hassle of having to make another journey to the cop shop, and all the form-filling that entails. It's also a virtually universally accepted form of ID.
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Very few 'producers' issued these days as there is a PNC link to check licence details at roadside.
As you say after a passport the driving licence is a primary form of ID. DVLA are quite hot on fraud side as once you can obtain a false licence the floodgates can be opened to commit fraud offences.
I have a large batch of fake EU licences submitted to DVLA for exchange to GB licence. Identified as fake and seized. Given by DVLA Fraud Dept. Used for training purposes and some of them are quite convincing.
Last edited by: Fullchat on Sun 13 Aug 17 at 22:21
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Embarrassingly, DVLA sent our forms back - neither of us had filled them correctly (in exactly the same section). Put it down to stress of the move.
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Manchester's finest there ,FC. Wouldn't have happened 40 yrs ago ! Looked like Moss Side area.
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>> I don't know why people don't carry them as a matter of course.
Well for starters, I've only had a photo ID licence for 18 months now. Prior to that I still had the old pink paper version licence and it wouldn't fit in my wallet comfortably, hence why I never used to carry it with me. I suspect I wasn't the only one.
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The deal I have with DVLA is, I give them permission to tap into my passport details and use the associated photo, hence I don't need to supply another.
I too have found them very good, if slow - but they have writen to apologise.
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If you keep it in your wallet and you get mugged then you are back to square one at the start of the thread.
Is your licence more secure when it is in your desk at home or when out on the street in your jacket pocket?
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No idea where my licence is. Only when I need to next hire a car will the search begin.
I can always flash my bus pass and then the traffic lads can match my mug shot with the PNC :-)
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>>No idea where my licence is.
Same 'ere, haven't seen it for years. Tis a pink one too, the address on which is about 5 owses a'back (NFC)
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driving licence replacement - Harleyman
