The end of paper driving licences - forced to pay for plastic one?

chris-j

jizzler wrote: »

These were only brought out because the id card scheme they was going to introduce failed, Its an id card in disguise really :cool:

Rubbish, photocard driving licences were introduced in 1998, the I'D cards were introduced in 2009 and scrapped in 2010.

The biggest issue is the notion of a fine for not renewing. Renewal is only required as people change but probably more than half of all people remain identifiable for well over 10 years. Question will always be why should i be forced to pay for a renewed licence after 10 years if I am still identifiable from picture when my licence to actually drive a vehicle is valid till I am 70.
I expect next thing will be compulsory retests every 10 years:mad:

Yolina

johnmc wrote: »

Of course if, like me or Yolina, you were not born in the UK you will have to prove you have the right to permanent residency before you can renew.

I don't have to prove a right to permanent residency as such, EU and all that Obviously they have no access to the French passport authority so cannot check electronically that the details match (which they can do with the UK biometric passports) hence why they need to see my passport. Which is fair enough but as I've said, I am absolutely not prepared to just send my passport away. Hence why having to waste a day - if only they could at least allow people to make an appointment - but nope, it's going to take over an hour just to get to the DVLA office I need to get to, then wait for no-idea-how-long and then over an hour to get back. Just a bit annoyed that obviously when it was paper licences, they never needed to see any ID or anything to issue that! If there had been an easier way, I would probably have done it many years ago

molerat

UK birth and adoption certificates

UK birth and adoption certificates can also be used, but need to be sent with one of the following:

• National Insurance card or a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions showing your National Insurance number
• photocopy of the front page of a benefits book or an original benefits claim letter
• P45, P60 or pay slip
• marriage certificate or divorce papers (decree nisi or absolute)
• college or university union card or school record

Getting your documents back

You’ll get your driving licence and identity documents separately.
If you don’t get your identity documents back within 2 weeks of receiving your driving licence, contact DVLA Customer Enquiries.

With DVLAs track record for losing things !!

Gloomendoom

chris-j wrote: »

Question will always be why should i be forced to pay for a renewed licence after 10 years if I am still identifiable from picture when my licence to actually drive a vehicle is valid till I am 70.

It could be worse. When driving licences were first introduced, they had to be renewed annually at a 2013 equivalent cost of £24.00.

It makes ten years for £20 seem like a bargain.

Yolina

molerat wrote: »

With DVLAs track record for losing things !!

Yeah exactly why I am *not* sending them my passport!

And actually the new format is issued from 19th January 2013 so I'll get it done this year rather than wait until 2014 when they make people swap as it's likely to be less busy now.

neilmcl

Yolina wrote: »

Yeah exactly why I am *not* sending them my passport!

And actually the new format is issued from 19th January 2013 so I'll get it done this year rather than wait until 2014 when they make people swap as it's likely to be less busy now.

They're actually issuing them now. I got mine last week.

AnythingButChardonnay

neilmcl wrote: »

They're actually issuing them now. I got mine last week.

Actually they're interim-style until 19th.

To save money, they're printing the new design but on the old stock of plastic cards. So there's a subtle difference between the two.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPX5kH4L-SE

jizzler

chris-j wrote: »

Rubbish, photocard driving licences were introduced in 1998, the I'D cards were introduced in 2009 and scrapped in 2010.

The biggest issue is the notion of a fine for not renewing. Renewal is only required as people change but probably more than half of all people remain identifiable for well over 10 years. Question will always be why should i be forced to pay for a renewed licence after 10 years if I am still identifiable from picture when my licence to actually drive a vehicle is valid till I am 70.
I expect next thing will be compulsory retests every 10 years:mad:

Rubbish eh ?

Its is a fact that these things are a hidden I`D cards & i wasnt referring to the exact dates when issued but its clever that they put them out much much earlier than the official I`D card isn`t it ?

neilmcl

AnythingButChardonnay wrote: »

Actually they're interim-style until 19th.

To save money, they're printing the new design but on the old stock of plastic cards. So there's a subtle difference between the two.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPX5kH4L-SE

I've definitely got the new one according to that then.

thor

Garage_Flower wrote: »

I had to renoew my licence this year as the photo was out of date. I did it online in a couple of minutes and it was free of charge.

That contradicts at least one other post in this thread which states there is a charge to renew a photo license. I just can't see the DVLA passing up this opportunity to rack up a bit of dosh for their xmas party.