Deciding not to renew a licence 70+ - how to do it

Grey_Critic

***

Emmia said:

But once the licence expires 3 years later, a renewal won't be possible if you're not medically fit.

When you sign the decleration you are giving up driving you are asked to return your licence. If you claim you have lost it -at that point you legally lose the right to drive so even if you found it you still would not be able to drive. At age 70 you renew your licence and every 3 years after. When they issue the licence it has an expiry date so it would have expired anyway

In the case of a medical licence the expiry date may different.

GreenTed

Thank you everyone, very interesting discussion about ID.  Mum hasn't been declared medically unfit to drive but  has lost confidence and isn't able to get around to ask the professionals if it's ok to drive or not, plus she's just decided not to.  It would be complex trying to fill in the form at the moment.  There's a small possibility that she could be able to drive again in future if her confidence returns.  The thought of returning the license is upsetting for her after all these years of driving & independence, plus there's nothing on the form to say she has to, so she's going to keep it.  It's great to hear this means it could still be used for ID in some circumstances even if it's expired, all the more reason to keep it for now.  Her passport is still valid for now, I think, and we'll keep the bus pass for this reason too.

I got through on the 'phone to the DVLA this morning to ask them, and they said yes, that's fine, although they'll keep sending reminders, which she doesn't need, but it's fine for her to simply not return the re-application form and she won't get into trouble for not returning the expiring license.

If she did decide to return the form with her license there's a box near the top-right which can be ticked, then the very last section to sign, although the wording doesn't quite logically follow through as the form is mostly geared towards re-applying.

EnPointe

prettyandfluffy said:

lr1277 said:

One thing to consider is that a driving licence can act as a form of ID. If your mum has an expired licence how would she prove her ID? I have no good answers in this situation. Sorry.

A good point, my MIL found herself without photo ID after not renewing her driving licence or passport.  Your Mum may have another form of photo ID, or the expired driving licence might suffice; for voting purposes details are here: https://www.gov.uk/how-to-vote/photo-id-youll-need

the Selfservatives ensured the Pensioners  Twirly pass counted as photo ID though