driving licence and expired endorsements

hinchy

Anybody got advice on whether I must replace/update my driving licence now my endorsements have expired?
It is a paper licence and am wondering what would happen should I fall foul to a driving offence in the future.Say I got another fine and points and sent my licence in for endorsement would fined etc for not having the previous points removed?
thanks in advance

paddedjohn

No, you can leave them on until you have reason to return your licence to DVLA

forgotmyname

If you only have a paper one will you have to update it to a photocard one?

thenudeone

There is no need to send it back unless / until:
-it expires normally
-you are disqualified
-it is revoked (eg medical reasons)
-your name or address change
or
-the government decides to force everyone to have a photocard licence

Thee is no need to send it back just because it contains old points.

Richard53

My paper licence is a nice little history of my misdemeanours over the years. I'd prefer a clean one, but if I send it back for a new one (as you once were able to do) I'll have to pay for a photocard licence and keep paying every few years. My paper licence is valid until I am 70, and I'm keeping it until then, thanks very much.

The only downside is that if you are stopped and the police ask to see your licence, they will be aware that you have had previous convictions. This may or may not affect their treatment of you. I can't say it bothers me much.

Lum

You can fold the paper licence in such a way that all your personal details and qualifications are visible but not the list of endorsements.

Put it in a little plastic wallet to make it awkward to get out.

Having the endorsements removed counts for almost nothing, they don't count against you after 3 years regardless of whether they remain written there or not.

You need to weigh up whether having them physically removed from the paper is more important to you than the hassle and cost of changing to a photocard.

Richard53

Lum wrote: »

You can fold the paper licence in such a way that all your personal details and qualifications are visible but not the list of endorsements.

Put it in a little plastic wallet to make it awkward to get out.

Having the endorsements removed counts for almost nothing, they don't count against you after 3 years regardless of whether they remain written there or not.

You need to weigh up whether having them physically removed from the paper is more important to you than the hassle and cost of changing to a photocard.

The little plastic wallet things don't fit in my money wallet, so I have the licence 'naked' and folded so it fits. A policeman would probably have to unfold it completely to read my details. I know the points expire after a certain time (I thought it was 5 years now?) but my point was that the existence of a string of expired offences may change the officer's attitude towards you, regardless of whether they are current or not. Ello, ello, we're a right boy racer, Sir, aren't we?

I don't let it worry me. I only mentioned it as a possible downside for keeping a paper licence now that requesting a new clean one is no longer an option without paying for a photocard licence.

Another downside, now I come to think about it, is that a lot of places mention a driving licence as an acceptable form of ID, but they insist on a photocard licence. A paper licence is not good enough.

Lum

Well like I said, it's for you to weigh up the pros and cons.

I have no idea how old you are, but given a paper licence and the 53 on the end of your username, I'm going to presume that you're past the point where you need to prove your age to buy cigs and beer and so that aspect is probably less useful to you. Do you have a passport as that also counts?

If you don't have a passport or some other photo ID, a photocard licence is cheaper to maintain than a passport.

As for points expiry it goes.

3 years - points no longer count against you for totting up, except for certain special offences e.g. drunk driving
4 years - eligible to have them taken off your licence
5 years - insurers are no longer interested in them
11 years - points for those special offences can be taken off.

Again, this is down to a balance of the risk of a copper seeing those old points vs the cost of maintaining a photocard. How often are you getting a tug at the roadside anyway, and have you considered just not carrying your licence with you?

Aretnap

Depends what the endorsements are for. I can't imagine a copper, or anyone else who matters, ever giving a toss about the fact that someone had a five year old speeding endorsement on his licence, still less about something in the distant past. If it was something more serious, like drink driving, I'd be inclined to have the endorsement removed, not so much because of the police but just in case I ever had to show my licence to an employer/potential employer. They can't legally refuse you a job or otherwise discriminate against you once the conviction is spent,* but what an employer can do legally and what they actually do aren't necessarily the same thing.

*Unless you're in certain very sensitive lines of work, in which case they'd probably find out about it from your enhanced CRB check anyway.

harrys_dad

I had two expired endorsements on my paper licence (last one from 2005). I am 62 and was not prepared to pay £20 for a new photocard licence until I am 70. Having moved however I found that through the DVLA website I could update my address details, give them permission to use my signature and photo from my passport and a shiny new photocard arrived by post just two days later for no charge. Result! Oh, and you have to cut up the old paper licence and send it back to DVLA.

My wife unfortunately could not find her licence, and as she did not have it, or know her driver number, she was charged £20 for the new photocard licence.

Lum

It would have been a shame if your wife had posted that licence and it got lost in the post, wouldn't it?