Driving licence renewal during COVID 19

flossy_splodge

i have a friend who most definitely is a frontline worker whose license has expired. They didn't realise until a fault developed with their car which is now off the road awaiting a part from Italy.
So they went to hire and of course got refused.
They are not over 70, just need to do the 10 year renewal.
Any suggestions please?

naturaljazz

flossy_splodge I sent away to a company online for a set of passport-specific photos (no photo booths working as lockdown) and when they came I went online and created a document with all the details filled in which would have been on the form had I been able to get one from a Post Office that did tax (non here open at that time). I wrote a cheque and sent it in recorded, signed for . It got signed in at DVLA (only the post sorting centre of course, not the desk of anyone working). That was 26th April. Had a processing Post Office been open in my City (yes City had not got one as it moved into a WH Smith!) I would have gone there and queued up to do it there. I am guessing they are open again, but whether they are doing non-passport holders like me I do not know. If your friend has no passport I would try asking on Twitter as they DVLA will give them an answer on there.

Just to add, if your friend has the form s/he could just send it off, I didnt have a reminder sent to me!!

naturaljazz

Dinghy said:

As an update to this ,

I have spoken to police about this issue , If you send your licence away and it is not back in your possession by the expiry date on your old  licence you are committing an offence by driving !  My wife has obtained a D1 form from post office as she's not got a reminder for renewal next month .

The person I spoke to said they'd not been asked this before and she looked through the DVLA site and could see the problem there is in contacting them , and could see that it was about 3 weeks at the best of times and that due to the chaos people could be in an awkward position . Only suggestion was to contact the local MP . Good luck with that.

Interesting the Police said that as this came up on Twitter DVLA and they said to me as long as it is sent in and nothing except my photo has changed you can continue to drive. Look on DVLA on Twitter to confirm, but they clearly directed me to that legal page.

born_again

Hexham2018 said:

applied for mine online as a replacement for A misplaced licence , they accepted all my details including my photo passport , and payment of 60 quid , 4 weeks later they sent money back no explanation nothing They won’t entertain any1 unless they are frontline workers . And still no licence . 12 weeks later can’t work , can’t get any job for driving , no income . They ask if your frontline u can’t even get a front line job with no Licence . 

Me thinks you not been on the DVLA website.
Get a replacement provisional or full driving licence online with DVLA if yours gets lost, stolen, damaged or destroyed.
>>pay £20 by MasterCard, Visa, Electron or Delta debit or credit card<<

https://www.gov.uk/apply-online-to-replace-a-driving-licence

naturaljazz

born_again said:

I suggest everyone in need of renewing emails

Chris Heaton-Harris MP

It's his department.
I've just fired one off.

DVLA are not responding to any contact via social media. Email via online form is useless as the option you need is not there.

Lots of people have been contacting him since lockdown. Useless he just sends a 'thank you for contacting me'

naturaljazz

born_again said:

Kloppster3 said:

 What is the other option? I am high risk so can't go and get a photo taken. Even if I could there is no point as they wont allow postal applications. Going round in a circle here.

Your only option is to go to a post office that has the facility to take your driving licence (they destroy it and give you a receipt) & the photo. It only takes a few minutes. Link to these is on the DVLA site.

But as you can not go out, then the fact that your licence has run out is a bit of a moot point at the moment. I would keep a check on the DVLA site as they may start taking postal applications again. But then you still need to get to a post office for D1 form.

Of course good advice in normal times born_again but in lockdown the post offices which are in W H Smiths shut! No chance of a license for a very long time.

AdrianC

flossy_splodge said:

i have a friend who most definitely is a frontline worker whose license has expired. They didn't realise until a fault developed with their car which is now off the road awaiting a part from Italy.
So they went to hire and of course got refused.
They are not over 70, just need to do the 10 year renewal.
Any suggestions please?

They can renew their photocard online. The only caveat likely to be an issue is if they don't have a UK passport. https://www.gov.uk/renew-driving-licence

452

TooManyPoints said:

Dinghy said:

As an update to this ,

I have spoken to police about this issue , If you send your licence away and it is not back in your possession by the expiry date on your old  licence you are committing an offence by driving !  

Which demonstrates clearly that you should never take legal advice from a police officer.

The officer concerned needs to acquaint himself with Section 88 of the Road Traffic Act. This says, essentially, (subject to a few exceptions which do not apply here) that provided a licence application has been received by the Secretary of State (i.e. the DVLA) the applicant may continue to drive beyond the expiry date of his current licence. The Section can be read in full here:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/52/section/88

It's a bit involved so here's the relevant passages:

Notwithstanding section 87 of this Act [which says you must have a driving licence in order to drive], a person may drive or cause or permit another person to drive a vehicle of any class at any time if—

(a)the driver has held—

(i)a licence under this Part of this Act to drive vehicles of that or a corresponding class,...

and

(i)a qualifying application by the driver for the grant of a licence to drive vehicles of that class for a period which includes that time has been received by the Secretary of State,...

Sending an application by recorded delivery and having advice of its receipt should be sufficient to be confident that the application has been received. This does not, of course, overcome some of the other problems, such as getting a suitable photo. But police officers should not dish out advice which is outside their competence.

You're going to struggle to produce your licence on demand and would therefore commit an offence. 

born_again

naturaljazz said:

se good advice in normal times born_again but in lockdown the post offices which are in W H Smiths shut! No chance of a license for a very long time.

Good thing then that.....

Drivers granted 7 month photocard licence extension

• English
• Cymraeg

The extension applies to drivers with a photocard driving licence due to expire between 1 February and 31 August 2020.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/drivers-granted-7-month-photocard-licence-extension

naturaljazz

born_again said:

naturaljazz said:

se good advice in normal times born_again but in lockdown the post offices which are in W H Smiths shut! No chance of a license for a very long time.

Good thing then that.....

Drivers granted 7 month photocard licence extension

• English
• Cymraeg

The extension applies to drivers with a photocard driving licence due to expire between 1 February and 31 August 2020.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/drivers-granted-7-month-photocard-licence-extension

Brilliant news. Thank you for sharing this.