Renewing Class 1 HGV Licence???

silvasava

Hi - I'm looking for advice/comments please. DH will be 70 in April (fit, healthy etc) & has renewed his HGV licence each year for the last 5 years or so because we tow a twin axle caravan & he was concerned about changes in legislation.
However, it cost £100.00 every year for his medical - he's never going to actually drive an HGV again this was always 'backup'
My question is is it worth renewing again or let it lapse???

Thank you

Hackman_2

A twin axle caravan and two vehicle will be less than 7.5 tones. Just keep a copy of his car licence when he renews and drive on that.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Far too expensive that medical, if you look on Trucknet or any other UK lorry drivers forum you should be able to find a doctor reasonably local to you who doesn't have a new Bentley on order, maybe a bit of clever googling will find similar results.

I paid £35 couple of years ago where my own surgery wanted £120, shop about.

He may not need the licence but you never know whats round the corner, if he wants to keep it valid then by all means do so.

AnythingButChardonnay

If he's driving a vehicle combination that falls within category C1+E (107) (that is a vehicle up to 7.5 tonnes MAM, with total combo weight not more than 8.25 tonnes) from having a pre-1997 car licence, then it may be worth renewing those categories after 70 because they last 3 years. So he'd only have to fork out for the D4 medical every 3 years.

Whereas renewing 'real' HGV entitlements after age 65 requires a medical every 1 year, which is very expensive.

As a side note, you can do medicals much cheaper by using http://www.driversmedicals.com/ who I used. Don't use your GP!

If he's only driving vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes MAM with trailer, then he only needs to renew category B car which doesn't require the HGV medical rubbish at all.

paddedjohn

If he's not going to drive a truck again then he should just let it lapse, he can drive the car/caravan combo on his normal licence.

silvasava

Many thanks for all the comments - I think he's going to renew as the DVLC keep moving the goal posts and our combined gross weight is approx 6 tonnes. As one respondent said 'you never know what's round the corner' & the 'van is our means of holidaying. I'll investigate the sites for a cheaper medical

Thanks for your help - much appreciated!

Splott

Just let it lapse. He will lose his Cat C entitlement but will retain his Cat E which is the important one when it comes to towing.

His license will revert to Cat B+E or possibly Cat C1+E.

Quinny_2

£100 for an HGV medical??????

I'm guessing that is with your own GP?

Better off to do it via an online company who will be local based, and it's half the price.

silvasava

Splott wrote: »

Just let it lapse. He will lose his Cat C entitlement but will retain his Cat E which is the important one when it comes to towing.

His license will revert to Cat B+E or possibly Cat C1+E.

Problem is there's been whispers about changing some of the categories & as we're quite a long & heavy rig if the cats do get changed & he lets his license lapse we could lose our only form of holidays and there's no way we could afford to re-instate (especially given his age!) I've done a search & he can get his medical done locally for £51.00 so were going with that - its a good saving.
Just as an aside the DVLA left off his motorbike entitlement when he changed over to the paper licence & you have to prove you've taken a test to get it back - too late so he's got a trike! So you can appreciate why he's 'belt & braces':rotfl:

AnythingButChardonnay

silvasava wrote: »

Many thanks for all the comments - I think he's going to renew as the DVLC keep moving the goal posts and our combined gross weight is approx 6 tonnes. As one respondent said 'you never know what's round the corner' & the 'van is our means of holidaying. I'll investigate the sites for a cheaper medical

Thanks for your help - much appreciated!

Yes, in that case you're right to renew it. At 6 tonnes combination weight it will almost certainly fall outside B+E. What's the GVW of the van?

It could well fall within C1+E (107), in which case he may not need to renew it as often every year.

Just to re-iterate what Splott and I have said: If he submits the medical form with his D2 form, C1+E (107) should come back with a 3 year validity (the same as his car entitlement) as it's a grandfather rights car-derived entitlement (I'm assuming he passed his car test well before 1997!). His 'proper' C and C+E and C1+E without the 107 code will only have a 1-year validity.

So, assuming your van is less than 7.5 tonnes GVW and the van+trailer combination is not greater than 8.25 tonnes, and your husband did indeed pass his car test before 1997, he only needs to renew his medical every 3 years to keep driving your van. Not every 1, because it falls within the C1+E (107) with the 3-year validity rather than the C+E/C1+E which has 1 year validity.

When he gets his licence back from DVLA the validity dates should confirm this.

Splott

silvasava wrote: »

Problem is there's been whispers about changing some of the categories & as we're quite a long & heavy rig if the cats do get changed & he lets his license lapse we could lose our only form of holidays and there's no way we could afford to re-instate (especially given his age!) I've done a search & he can get his medical done locally for £51.00 so were going with that - its a good saving.

They're not whispers - they come into effect a week on Monday.

HOWEVER existing entitlements still remain for those who already have licenses.