Car Insurance Renewal

joffer

Just wondering if anyone any advice for the following:
I have just come to renew my car insurance and decided to use the Money Supermarket comparison site.  However there is a question on there which I'm not sure how to answer, the question relates to how many years  have I held my driving licence?  I passed my test in 1976 but not sure of the actual date.  So I clicked on the information button which shows as follows "Insurers use how much driving experience they have to help work out how much to charge they.

Please tell us how long they’ve held their current driving licence. If they're unsure, please check on the back of their licence for the ‘valid from’ date.  So I checked on the back of my current licence only to see the valid date is 23.08.18.....so do I say I have been driving for 2 years as per the licence date or for about 41 years as per my pass year?  My instinct is to go with the 41 years but not sure if that is correct or not.  Can anyone help me please?

TadleyBaggie

The date in your licence is probably when the photo card was renewed. So 41 would be the correct thing to enter.

BoGoF

My photocard licence shows the date I passed my test (on the back) some 34 years ago.

CliveOfIndia

If you look online there are plenty of sites that explain what all the different date mean - here's just one for example: https://www.perrys.co.uk/blog/how-to-read-your-driving-licence/116729

I suspect you're looking at section 4a on the front of the licence, which is when that licence was issued (they need renewing every 10 years).  It's columns 10 and 11 on the back that you need to look at.  These show the dates that you're licenced to drive each category of vehicle.  Column 10 will be the date that you passed the relevant test, column 11 is your 70th birthday.

joffer

TadleyBaggie  I think you are right about the photo card renewal date.  Thanks to both you and BoGoF for the answers.

DullGreyGuy

Alternatively go to a different site that allows you to simply enter your license number and they recall the data from the DVLA themselves rather than you having to type it in/work it out. 

maman

I was curious so checked my photo licence. The year I started driving is about 10 years out. 🤔 I suspect it's the date when the folded paper licences came in. Before that I had a licence that was like a small book.

DullGreyGuy

maman said:

I was curious so checked my photo licence. The year I started driving is about 10 years out. 🤔 I suspect it's the date when the folded paper licences came in. Before that I had a licence that was like a small book.

DVLA only started issuing licenses in 1974, before that they were done by local authorities. If you passed before 1974 the date can be inaccurate