V5/license at different address from insurance?

Emphyrio

Hello,

I am currently a university student who spends around 10 months of the year at uni. As my car is down with me at university it is my term time address that I use for my insurance (as this is where the car is kept most of the time).

However, as I will move each year, I have decided to keep the V5/license details registered at my parents house. They keep an eye on my post so any speeding fines or correspondence I may get in future will be received by them and passed onto me.

I was wondering whether the V5 and license details should be registered to my term time address however - would you recommend that I do this or do you think it should be fine to keep these registered at my parents address? If I did change them to my uni address then I'm not sure whether there would be anyone there to pick up or forward me any correspondence when I'm away from the property.

Many thanks,

Peter

huckster

Check DVLA requirements regarding notifying them of the address where the car is kept. If you don't inform them, are involved in an accident or offence, which then Police become involved with, I think you can be subject to a hefty fine. The address on your driving licence will also need to be updated everytime you move as this is again a legal requirement.

You might be able to explain the address differences to your Insurers, but the Police might not be so understanding. You are correctly using the university time address for the Insurance, as that is where you are most of the time. If you had a claim which required sight of your V5 and licence, the Insurers might then ask for an explanation.

thenudeone

AFAIK, the only requirement for an address at DVLA is that you can be contacted by post at that address. There is nothing to stop you putting a trusted friend or relative's address, or even your solicitor if you wish (Different rules apply for new registrations of imported vehicles).
Since car park ticket scammers can easily get name and address details from DVLA, doing so is not such a bad idea. But it may cause difficulty if you don't change it back before selling the car.

anniecave

I had the V5 for my car AND my driving license as my parents address for a couple of years. But I insured my car at the relevant addresses I was living at during the time period.

I even phoned up DVLA and asked them if it was OK to have the driving licence at my parents address and they said it was OK.

Emphyrio

Thanks for the answers guys.

Huckster - while I spend most of my time at my uni address, what happens if I am at my parent's address for a couple of months - would I be expected to change my V5/license details back to this address even for this short period? If not, what would happen regarding any DVLA correspondence to my uni address which wouldn't be received?

Many thanks
Peter

huckster

I would suggest that you ask DVLA. If they say that you don't need to change your address details, get the persons name for future reference, plus keep a note of the date/time of call. Then if you ever had any problems, this could come in really handy.

Rover_Driver

According to DVLA's leaflet INF1D, the address on your driving licence
'must be a GB home address at which you can be contacted'. If that is your parents address, there is no need to change the address on your licence. It may be the same for the registration document address.

vaio

anniecave wrote: »

I had the V5 for my car AND my driving license as my parents address for a couple of years. But I insured my car at the relevant addresses I was living at during the time period.........

Same here, insurance is always at current address but licence is still at my parents (and I haven't lived there since 1979)

huckster

vaio wrote: »

Same here, insurance is always at current address but licence is still at my parents (and I haven't lived there since 1979)

I presume this to be a joke ?

My understanding is that DVLA needs to have an address where you can be contacted directly. If the OP is 10 months at a university address and 2 months at parents, being that the car is mostly in use where they are at Uni, I think DVLA would want the Uni address. BUT perhaps the rules regarding this are not clear. Hence suggestion to contact DVLA.

vaio

Not a joke at all, I've got a licence that doesn't expire for another 15+ years and can't imagine any reason DVLC would want to contact me before then.

As for me contacting them, I can't see that anything good could come of that other than me having to give up my nice old (if somewhat tatty) paper licence in exchange for one of those nice [STRIKE]ID cards[/STRIKE] photo licences which would cost me money now and I get to pay again every time they say the photo needs updating.

huckster

It is a legal requirement to update the address on a driving licence.

I have not updated my licence following a change of address. What are the potential penalties?

If you take steps to correct the error immediately, the probability is that no action will be taken. However, failure to notify the DVLA of the correct address is an offence which will result in a fine.


Does not mention how much the fine would be, only that it is a legal requirement to advise of a change of address.

Edit. The fine can be up to a max of £1000.