regaining a voluntarily surrendered licence

Spirit_2

I voluntarily surrendered my driving licence following a stroke 8 months ago. My rehab is going well and My GP and Physio think I should be able to drive now although I think I may need some small adaptations to operate functions currently a stretch too far for my left hand in my current (BMW auto)car
I was told to apply for a driving assessment which I have done and paid for , however the assessment centre has come back to me and said I need to get my licence back from DVLA before I can be assessed.

DVLA have said they wiil send me an application then if my Dr agrees that I am fit to drive, I can drive from the date I send the application in. they have said it can take up to 8 weeks. The assessment centre will not assess me until I have the licence to take with me.

I am a tad confused. I want an assessment asap so I can get any adaptations made or change car if necessary and to have an expert opinion on my driving skills so I can arrange lessons if required, but seem to be in a chicken and egg situation with the licence and assessment criteria.

Are the any MSE posters on this board who can help clarify the process?


I live in a rural area without public transport and after 8 mostly housebound, months, want to regain my independence and lessen the burden on my husband and daughter to take me to appointments etc.

RS2000.

What do you need to clarify?

The DVLA have said you can drive from the date of your application and you can legally. The fact you won't until you've been assessed is down to you and the terms set by whoever is assessing you. It's a case of waiting for the card to comeback from the DVLA.

Car_54

If you post on this forum http://www.2passforum.co.uk/index.php there's a guy called John Brown ("JohnP") who's an expert in this area.

Joe_Horner

Well done (and, on behalf of other road users, THANK YOU!!!) for taking the responsible route

As RS2000 says, DVLA will reinstate your licence just on your own, and your doctor's, say-so. They don't need you to take any assessment beyond that.

The assessment you've booked is voluntary, although it's also a really good idea to do it. Because people are so amazing at adapting to things like strokes it's quite possible to have developed potential problems wrt driving that you won't be aware of yourself - that applies in many cases even without the stroke btw!.

The assessment will help you identify anything like that and, hopefully, suggest ways to compensate for anything that's noted. Seeing as you obvioously take your ability to drive safely seriously, I suspect that the biggest advantage you'll get from it will be simple confirmation that you're still safe

InsideInsurance

Spirit wrote: »

they have said it can take up to 8 weeks

The Mrs' took 4 months last year, now there was a slight delay because she forgot to answer the organ donor question and so they sent the form back to her after a couple of weeks but clearly doesnt add up.

Hers was to renew her shortened license, due to medical but not stroke, and the first assessment took around 3 months and thats without any paperwork errors.

Certainly the advice she got from the DVLA was that as long as her Dr says its ok for her to drive and she herself felt ok then she could continue driving until they have made their decision.

Johno100

The subject of undue delays in re-instating voluntarily surrendered licences has been highlighted on these boards before.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4867520

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4841223

Seems to be a combination of under-staffing/cuts at DVLA and the matter not being a priority for GPs.

It is almost encouraging individuals who are told not to drive for a period to just put their licence in the draw and just get it out when they get the all clear, missing DVLA totally out of the equation.