British-Australian COVID Prisoner Needs UK Car Insurance

Jenni_D

I think you can surrender exchange your licence from one country in order to get a driving licence for another country without taking a test in that country. Here's an example link:

https://www.britzinoz.com/transferring-a-british-driver-licence-to-an-australian-driver-licence/

PRAISETHESUN

For what it's worth, Admiral and Aviva were both happy to provide me with car insurance before I got around to exchanging my Aussie license for a UK one, so there's definitely insurer's who are happy to accept foreign licenses in the UK. That said exchanging your NSW license for a UK one seems to be the easiest way forward. It was fairly straight forward when I had to do it. I had to fight a bit with my state government to get the Aussie portion refunded but you should be able to get in touch with the NSW RTA for a pro-rata refund. Then when you move back to Oz, you just exchange your UK one back again. 

Grey_Critic

But surely there is no rule that says you may not hold a driving licence in multiple countries.

sheramber

As long as you pass the driving test for that country.

Exchanging your licence does not require you to pass the driving test for that country so people opt for that easier choice

.

DB1904

Grey_Critic said:

But surely there is no rule that says you may not hold a driving licence in multiple countries.

Depends on where the licenses were issued.

Emmia

Jenni_D said:

I think you can surrender exchange your licence from one country in order to get a driving licence for another country without taking a test in that country. Here's an example link:

https://www.britzinoz.com/transferring-a-british-driver-licence-to-an-australian-driver-licence/

The official DVLA page to check is https://www.gov.uk/exchange-foreign-driving-licence

Looks like exchange is possible - and if the test was taken/passed in Australia, then it needs to be done as the licence is only valid for 12 months.

Jenni_D

In this case the test was passed in the UK, then exchanged for an NSW state licence when the OP lived in Aus.

Ditzy_Mitzy

The answer is that the OP probably shouldn't be driving in the UK at all, sorry.  Regardless of citizenship, a non British licence holder can drive on a foreign licence for the twelve months following arrival in the United Kingdom.  After twelve months, the foreign licence ceases to be valid and must be exchanged for a British one; a driving test may or may not be required.  Given that the OP arrived in 2020, he must now have been here longer than a year.  He cannot, therefore, drive on the Australian licence.  
That's not to say he cannot hire a car; the hire firm will have no idea when he came here, but taking the car out on the road will place him at risk of being prosecuted for driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence or whatever the offence is.  It's unlikely, but even something as simple as setting off a speed camera might open a can of worms.  

ian16527

Would the OP's UK license number be still valid as he passed the test in the UK, even though he has exchanged it for the Oz one for use over there?

DB1904

ian16527 said:

Would the OP's UK license number be still valid as he passed the test in the UK, even though he has exchanged it for the Oz one for use over there?

Who knows with the DVLA, they may have lost/deleted his record.