Disabled Train Pass & Epilepsy

ultimatedingbat

Hi all,
I found out my partner may be entitled to a train pass as he has epilepsy and is not allowed to drive under medical advice.

Now I phoned up the number to order the form and they said he needs a letter from the DVLA saying he is unfit to drive as they won't accept a letter from his doctor as he isn't taking any epileptic medication. The medication's did nothing to help him you see which is why he isn't taking any.

Any advice on what to do? Is it as simple as phoning them and going we need this letter as they will surely having him on file from his original surrender of his driving licence.

Anubis_2

I don't drive, I am not able to, and I would imagine if you ring the DVLA they should be able to assist you and yes, they should certainly have it on file. I am not sure how they would proceed, but I would imagine a letter should not be an issue - not sure if they would charge for it though.

kurgon

As far as I am aware the GP first has to notify DVLA that he can#t drive......so seems silly that he can't provide a letter. I may be wrong though....

iluvmarmite

Wouldnt the DVLA have written to your partner telling him to surrender his licence as hes not allowed to drive? If so you could use that for evidence, if its too soon after being told he isnt allowed to drive and the doctor has only just written to the DVLA it wont take long for them to send you a letter so you wont have to wait long to use it as evidence.

[Deleted User]

kurgon wrote: »

As far as I am aware the GP first has to notify DVLA that he can#t drive......so seems silly that he can't provide a letter. I may be wrong though....

you surrender your own licence,the DVLA then look into it and write to confirm that it has to be surrendered,i still use the same letter from 1998 to apply for different things

ultimatedingbat

To clarify after speaking with my partner he's not sure if he ever had a drivers licence. He did used to have a motorcycle licence but isn't sure if he formally surrendered it as he had his wallett stolen some years ago. He was told not to drive some years ago

MrsManda

ultimatedingbat wrote: »

To clarify after speaking with my partner he's not sure if he ever had a drivers licence. He did used to have a motorcycle licence but isn't sure if he formally surrendered it as he had his wallett stolen some years ago. He was told not to drive some years ago

It doesn't matter if he has a driving licence or not. If his condition means the DVLA would turn him down for a licence/ask him to surrender it if he already had one then he can claim a free bus pass.

But if he's got a licence it's worth telling the DVLA that he has lost it and is no longer driving due to his health as I think it'll make life easier if he wants to start driving again in the future.

For details regarding the DVLA and medical issues see the DVLA website:
http://www.dft.gov.uk/dvla/medical.aspx