Driving licence renewal during COVID 19

Kerryp44

higworth said:

I'm I  the same boat, my wifes and mine are due for renewal but dont have passports, my wife I  in the shielded group so we cannot go out to get a D1 or photos,  dont know what we can do about it, hopefully they will extend the same as MOT,s.

My dad is in the same boat. Hence why I'm on this thread for advice xx

Le_Kirk

Kerryp44 said:

higworth said:

I'm I  the same boat, my wifes and mine are due for renewal but dont have passports, my wife I  in the shielded group so we cannot go out to get a D1 or photos,  dont know what we can do about it, hopefully they will extend the same as MOT,s.

My dad is in the same boat. Hence why I'm on this thread for advice xx

You don't need a licence to drive a boat.

springer5

AdrianC said:

You can take your own photos.

But if you can't get out, then you don't need a driving licence... If you can get out, then you can get to a post office - or you can get somebody to pick you one up.

This advice is both inaccurate and frankly irresponsible.

1 - Inaccurate because many people do not have the facilities to provide a photo of the quality specified by DVLA. Example here (from booklet INFD1)....

The photo must be of "high quality" and exactly the correct size.

Your photo must meet the following agreed standards (amongst other things)...

- be taken against a light grey or cream background

- not have any shadow in it

- be of exactly the correct size at specified

Not everyone has these facilities, nor should they be expected to. "High quality" photos require "high quality" printers, most people are not wealthy, even if you appear to be. In fat many people don't have printers at all!! I know of some personally who don't even have a computer.

What's your advice to them ?

2  - Irresponsible because you are advising people to break the government's own guildelines, which are listed here, by suggesting they visit post offices....

(Souce gov.uk website)

They state quite clearly (the emphases are mine)...

When am I allowed to leave the house?

You should only leave the house for very limited purposes:

• shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible
• one form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household
• any medical need, including to donate blood, avoid or escape risk of injury or harm, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person
• travelling for work purposes, but only where you cannot work from home

If you can find in their any mention in their of visiting post offices to fill out forms and have photos taken please let me know.

The people on here requesting help with their dilemma regarding licence renewal are quite correct to feel let down and at a loss due to the government's useless lack of guidance on this. They don't need to be further exacerbated by flippant and irresponsible advice when they get here as well.

The government have been utterly useless with respect to providing sensible solutions for people on this.They send out letters telling people they must renew their licence before the deadline, and if they don't they're breaking the law, but then provided no safe and practical way for EVERYONE who finds themselves having to renew, to be able to do so. And to make matters worse they don't even provide any means of asking them for advice about it, leaving people forced to come to forums like this and get "guildeline breaking" advice from you.

Enough said.

lr1277

I personally wouldn't drive without a valid licence. Whilst a copper might take a charitable view of the situation, I suspect if you were in an accident and you didn't have a valid licence, then your insurance company may use that as a reason not to payout.

Mercdriver

springer5 said:

AdrianC said:

You can take your own photos.

But if you can't get out, then you don't need a driving licence... If you can get out, then you can get to a post office - or you can get somebody to pick you one up.

This advice is both inaccurate and frankly irresponsible.

1 - Inaccurate because many people do not have the facilities to provide a photo of the quality specified by DVLA. Example here (from booklet INFD1)....

The photo must be of "high quality" and exactly the correct size.

Your photo must meet the following agreed standards (amongst other things)...

- be taken against a light grey or cream background

- not have any shadow in it

- be of exactly the correct size at specified

Not everyone has these facilities, nor should they be expected to. "High quality" photos require "high quality" printers, most people are not wealthy, even if you appear to be. In fat many people don't have printers at all!! I know of some personally who don't even have a computer.

What's your advice to them ?

Not sure cost is the issue really, but skillset might be.  Printers aren't expensive and you don't need a fancy camera.  It's eliminating shadows that is the main issue.  Most places I have been to for passport photos that aren't a booth use a ring flash.  It is also about knowing where to shoot from to get the right dimensions as there has to be a specified distances between certain features.  

ShiverMeTimbers

Even getting a D1 form doesn't help because the DVLC says don't send them any post at the moment. Surely all it needs is for anyone needing to renew a licence (over-70 in our case) to be legally permitted a six-month extension. Like MOTs and over-75s TV licence renewals are being deferred. It would certainly help to be able to make contact. Spent ages on this.

sheramber

I suggest you all contact your MP about it.

naturaljazz

I cannot renew my driving license. This needs to be put on hold just like MOT's have been as DVLA are not accepting any paper licenses and have not sent out renewal paper forms. Useless for those of us with no Passports.

Continental

My son is having the same frustrations although his scenario is slightly different. He is a dual UK/US national and moved back to England last Summer, buying an automatic transmission car straightaway as one can drive on a foreign licence for 12 months (but was informed that he could not take a UK driving test until resident for 6 months and has a Provisional GB licence). 

His theory test was cancelled and he has no idea when he will be able to re-book it and then take a physical driving test. He can’t contact the DVLA/DVSA. His New Jersey licence expires in October but it would be helpful if he would be allowed to continue to drive on it after his 12 months of UK residency in June but there is no way of getting in touch with the authorities.  

onomatopoeia99

springer5 said:

2  - Irresponsible because you are advising people to break the government's own guildelines, which are listed here, by suggesting they visit post offices....

Government guidance is not the law.

The law (The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020) says you must have a reasonable excuse to leave the home and section 6(2) provides a non-exhaustive list of 13 reasonable excuses.  As it happens, this is covered in 6(2)(h) "to fulfil a legal obligation, including attending court or satisfying bail conditions, or to participate in legal proceedings;"  Note the wording is "including" so the things mentioned are examples of legal obligations, not an exhaustive list.  Renewing a driving licence is also a legal obligation, for which some people will need to leave the home.