Driving Licence

new2u

Hi I need some advice,I passed my driving licence 14 years ago and have a paper licence,my husband passed 10 years ago and has a photocard,after we passed we have never driven or owned a car and the licences were packed away,today my husband has recieved a letter to update his photo on reading the booklet we should have changed our address too 5 years ago when we moved house,will we get in trouble for this when we now make the changes and can we do this online,Dont be nasty please we know we should have informed them but we honestly didnt know.

DCodd

If you do not drive then you do not need a licence, so I would say it is up to you what you do. If you decide you want to start driving then change the licence details then.

new2u

I dont drive now but I may want to one day so I would like keep my licence.I would have kept it up do date if I had known.

DCodd

It may be different now but when I last changed my address (2006) I still had a paper licence and was not charged for a photocard licence as I was just changing address but I beleive it does cost to update the photo on the new cards.

You could change your address when you decide to drive again because as far as I know it is not against the law to hold a licence that isn't up to date but it is to use that licence (to drive or for ID purposes).

Lum

Ok, your husband's licence has expired because photocards do that after 10 years, and the DVLA do like to chuck fines about if you don't renew them, so I'd make sure he gets a new photo done, and fills in the form on the back of the paper part of his licence to update the photo. There is a small fee for doing this.

Your situation is a little more complex, as the DVLA don't issue paper licences any more you'll need to exchange it for a photocard. The first thing I would do is get a certified copy made. Other people on this forum have described how to do this, I think you can get it done for free at a magistrates court. The reason for this is the DVLA have been known to screw up this process and remove entitlements from your licence or deny that you ever passed your test

Once that is done, follow the instructions here (Paper licence holder section is about half way down the page). If you're feeling particularly paranoid then take the documents to a DVLA local office as then they will give you a receipt for the fee you pay to do this which means they can't blame it on the post office if they then mysteriously lose all your paperwork.

As for getting into trouble because your address has been wrong for the last 5 years. They don't know when you moved house, and will only consider taking action if they find out that your change of address isn't recent.

cajef

DCodd wrote: »

You could change your address when you decide to drive again because as far as I know it is not against the law to hold a licence that isn't up to date but it is to use that licence (to drive or for ID purposes).

Try reading section 5 on the rear of the paper half of the licence.

You must tell the DVLA at once of any change to your permanent address etc.

Failure to notify any changes as described above is a criminal offence, punishable by a fine up to £1000

Though how many people do not bother or how they enforce it is questionable.

Inactive

cajef wrote: »

Try reading section 5 on the rear of the paper half of the licence.



.

Exactly, I agree, why do people give false advice without checking first?, it helps nobody.

cajef

Inactive wrote: »

Exactly, I agree, why do people give false advice without checking first?, it helps nobody.

As an ex driving instructor, one of things I always told anyone who enquired about lessons was 'Please bring both parts of the provisional licence to your first lesson, the paper and photocard as they make up the complete licence and must have your current address, otherwise I cannot start lessons'

You would be amazed at the number of people that think the photocard is the licence and do not realise that both parts make up the complete licence and should always be kept together as stated at the top of the paper section.

mealone

new2u wrote: »

Hi I need some advice,I passed my driving licence 14 years ago and have a paper licence,my husband passed 10 years ago and has a photocard,after we passed we have never driven or owned a car and the licences were packed away,today my husband has recieved a letter to update his photo on reading the booklet we should have changed our address too 5 years ago when we moved house,will we get in trouble for this when we now make the changes and can we do this online,Dont be nasty please we know we should have informed them but we honestly didnt know.

How did you get a letter when you didnt give DVLA your new address?

new2u

I have no idea actually but everything is still in our old address I know I didnt change it as I didnt know I had to