Expired driving licence

Car_54

sevenhills said:

Car_54 said:

I’ve been participating on pepipoo.com for about 10 years, and AFAIR we have yet to see anyone prosecuted for failing to renew the photocard.

What offence are you suggesting? The expired photocard actually confirms the expiry date of the licence itself.

If you’re stopped, the police can ask to see your:

• driving licence
• insurance certificate
• MOT certificate

If you do not have these documents with you, you have 7 days to take them to a police station. You’re breaking the law if you do not show the requested documents within 7 days.

I am sure they can look online for most things, but you may need to produce at a police station.

Since we’re going down the pedantic road …

You’re actually breaking the law if you don’t have your licence with you, but there is a statutory defence if you produce it within seven days.

Aretnap

Car_54 said:

sevenhills said:

Car_54 said:

I’ve been participating on pepipoo.com for about 10 years, and AFAIR we have yet to see anyone prosecuted for failing to renew the photocard.

What offence are you suggesting? The expired photocard actually confirms the expiry date of the licence itself.

If you’re stopped, the police can ask to see your:

• driving licence
• insurance certificate
• MOT certificate

If you do not have these documents with you, you have 7 days to take them to a police station. You’re breaking the law if you do not show the requested documents within 7 days.

I am sure they can look online for most things, but you may need to produce at a police station.

Since we’re going down the pedantic road …

You’re actually breaking the law if you don’t have your licence with you, but there is a statutory defence if you produce it within seven days.

Seven days or as soon as reasonably practical. So you are not going to be convicted because your licence had gone missing, or if it was at the DVLA to be updated and took more than 7 days to come back, so long as you produce it as soon as you reasonably can.

TooManyPoints

I haven't read all of this so apologies if it's already been covered. However, there is a thread on another forum which explains (at post #30) the distinction between an expired licence and an expired photograph:

Invalid licence - LegalBeagles Forum

Aretnap

MisnerSpace said:

I told her that she cannot drive because she won't have valid insurance...

Just for completeness this is incorrect - and it's likely incorrect for at least two reasons.

The first as discussed is that the licence remains valid even though the photocard is overdue for renewal.

The second however is that if you check your insurance certificate you will probably find that it says "provided the driver holds, or has held and is not disqualified from holding, a valid licence" (or a very similar form of words). If your licence does expire (for example, because you forget to renew it when you are 70), your insurance will remain valid, because you have still previously held a licence and you are not disqualified from holding one. 

The term is worded like that precisely so that people don't end up uninsured because of a minor administrative oversight like renewing their licences a few days late. Contrary to popular belief, insurers are not generally desparate to refuse you cover for the most trivial reasons they can think of. It actually takes a bit of effort to invalidate your insurance.

I should add that a few insurers do use the more restrictive wording "provided the driver holds a valid licence" so this does not always apply. But they are a minority - and probably the sort of insurers you want to avoid using anyway.

EnPointe

MisnerSpace said:

Dear All,

I know there are some very knowledgeable people on this forum so thought this would be the best place to ask.

Just found out my partner's driving licence expired 2 days ago. Her passport has also expired. I told her that she cannot drive because she won't have valid insurance and to go to the Post Office and apply for a renewal there.

My question is this:

Once she has applied for renewal (no motoring offences, clean license and no age restrictions) can she continue driving while the DVLA is processing her renewal?

Thanks for your help in advance

how old are they ? 
do they have any Vocational cateogries subject to  D4 medical ?
do they have a medically  restrcited licence ?

or is it merely that the photocard  has 'expired'