Driving license, please advise - sick with worry :(

mrs:optimist_2

Thanks for the good luck, got everything crossed. I don't usually panic like this, but when you've got no safety net you get scared! xxx

dark^knight

I would just phone them and ask for advice, if possible, don't tell them your details, just say you need advice.

costaerer

I've been married 3 years and not changed my name purely cos it costs! Some people don't take on their husbands name !!

snowdogg

absolutely nothing to worry about. I only updated my driving license address when I bought a car recently after 7 years of living at several different addresses while my license address was my parents old address. Even sent the license renewal in the same envelope as the V5 to save on postage so it must have been blatantly obvious I was only updating the license so it matched my current address.

The earlier posters are correct to say that as long as they have up to date details, the DVLA are not interested in punitive retrospective measures, as government departments go I've always found DVLA easy to get along with and generally prepared to use some common sense rather than sticking rigidly to bureaucracy.

The £1000 fine is simply a scare tactic to make you comply, in practice though to carry out a prosecution would cost them more than £1000 in working hours and legals costs. This is why they won't bother.

easy

Please let me make this clear. You won't receive a fine when you send your licence to change the details, even if it is late.

BUT if you are involved in an accident, or stopped by the police and required to produce your licence, and then they find your licence is out of date, you WILL be fined.

So now that you know the details are out of date, you should send the licence for renewal IMMEDIATELY.

Remember that you could be involved in a minor accident that is caused by another driver, you could be pulled up simply because a brakelight bulb has gone out, in either event, you can be asked to produce your licence. It would be silly to risk getting a fine of £1000, when you can avoid it for £20.

Can you borrow the money until next week? Otherwise, I recommend you don't drive anywhere, just in case.

mrs:optimist_2

snowdogg wrote: »

absolutely nothing to worry about. I only updated my driving license address when I bought a car recently after 7 years of living at several different addresses while my license address was my parents old address. Even sent the license renewal in the same envelope as the V5 to save on postage so it must have been blatantly obvious I was only updating the license so it matched my current address.

The earlier posters are correct to say that as long as they have up to date details, the DVLA are not interested in punitive retrospective measures, as government departments go I've always found DVLA easy to get along with and generally prepared to use some common sense rather than sticking rigidly to bureaucracy.

The £1000 fine is simply a scare tactic to make you comply, in practice though to carry out a prosecution would cost them more than £1000 in working hours and legals costs. This is why they won't bother.

Thank you, I feel silly for panicking to that degree now, thanks to you all on here I will sleep a lot better tonight

mrs:optimist_2

easy wrote: »

Please let me make this clear. You won't receive a fine when you send your licence to change the details, even if it is late.

BUT if you are involved in an accident, or stopped by the police and required to produce your licence, and then they find your licence is out of date, you WILL be fined.

So now that you know the details are out of date, you should send the licence for renewal IMMEDIATELY.

Remember that you could be involved in a minor accident that is caused by another driver, you could be pulled up simply because a brakelight bulb has gone out, in either event, you can be asked to produce your licence. It would be silly to risk getting a fine of £1000, when you can avoid it for £20.

Can you borrow the money until next week? Otherwise, I recommend you don't drive anywhere, just in case.

Thanks for the clarification, I will make sure I don't drive until I've sent it off! Unfortunately we don't have anyone who could lend it to us. Luckily I don't usually have to drive so can avoid it. Thanks again