Motoring Check Your Photo Licence!

[Trem]

Unwitting motorists face £1,000 fines as thousands of photocard driving licences expire

Thousands of motorists are at risk of being fined up to £1,000 because they are unwittingly driving without a valid licence.

They risk prosecution after failing to spot the extremely small print on their photocard licence which says it automatically expires after 10 years and has to be renewed - even though drivers are licensed to drive until the age of 70.

The fiasco has come to light a decade after the first batch of photo licences was issued in July 1998, just as the they start to expire.
Motoring organisations blamed the Government for the fiasco and said 'most' drivers believed their licences were for life.


A mock-up driving licence from 1998 when the photocards were launched shows the imminent expiry date as item '4b'

They said officials had failed to publicise sufficiently the fact that new-style licences - unlike the old paper ones - expire after a set period and have to be renewed.

To rub salt into wounds, drivers will have to a pay £17.50 to renew their card - a charge which critics have condemned as a 'stealth tax' and which will earn the Treasury an estimated £437million over 25 years.

Official DVLA figures reveal that while 16,136 expired this summer, so far only 11,566 drivers have renewed, leaving 4,570 outstanding.

With another 300,000 photocard licences due to expire over the coming year, experts fear the number of invalid licences will soar, putting thousands more drivers in breach of the law and at risk of a fine.

At the heart of the confusion is the small print on the tiny credit-card-size photo licence, which is used in conjunction with the paper version. Just below the driver name on the front of the photocard licence is a series of dates and details - each one numbered. Number 4b features a date in tiny writing, but no explicit explanation as to what it means.

The date's significance is only explained if the driver turns over the card and reads the key on the back which states that '4b' means 'licence valid to'.

Even more confusingly, an adjacent table on the rear of the card sets out how long the driver is registered to hold a licence - that is until his or her 70th birthday.

A total of 25million new-style licences have been issued but - motoring experts say - drivers were never sufficiently warned they would expire after 10 years.

Motorists who fail to renew their licences in time are allowed to continue driving. But the DVLA says they could be charged with 'failing to surrender their licence', an offence carrying a £1,000 fine.

AA president, Edmund King said: 'It is not generally known that photocard licences expire: there appears to be a lack of information that people will have to renew these licences. People think they have already paid them for once over and that is it. It will come as a surprise to motorists and a shock that they have to pay an extra £17.50.'

The AA called on the Government to use the annual £450million from traffic enforcement fines to offset the renewal charge.

Before photocard licences were introduced, old-style paper licences were valid until the age of 70. Many motorists still believe this to be the case with the new ones.

Driving instructor Tony Carter, of Canterbury, said: 'It's outrageous; everybody thinks their driving licence is for life. Why - when you have already paid £50 for your photocard licence - should you pay the Government an extra £17.50 every 10 years? It's another stealth tax. Drivers will be very annoyed.'

Today the DVLA said the date of expiry was carried on the new-style licences, even though the AA says this is 'not clear'.

The Agency was unable to say whether motorists were told the licences would expire when they were first issued.

It said it was issuing postal reminders to drivers whose photograph was due to expire, to get the renewal message across. But a spokesman admitted this was the limit of the DVLA's publicity.

Experts say many drivers will slip through the net because DVLA records are inaccurate and many motorists have changed address, making it impossible to trace them.

A DVLA spokesman said: 'Previous experience has shown that wide-scale publicity is less effective and can generate enquiries and concerns from those not affected. Instead, DVLA focussed on targeted publicity to ensure that we got the message to the right person at the right time.'

The Driving Standards Agency is allowing L-test candidates with out-of-date photocard licences to sit their driving tests as long as they provide a valid passport. This concession will end in January next year, raising the prospect that some L-test candidates will be turned away.

The DVLA said no one had so far been charged with failing to surrender a licence.

*checks*

 

[Moriath]

hehe i stil managed to keep hold of my paper license i not got one of those new fangled things

 

[00dave]

Got 4 years left on mine. Dear god how is this gorvernment allowed to stay in power when they do things like this, I remember getting stung by the SORN declaration a few years back and not even the dealership knew about it until I showed them the fine.

 

[Cadelin]

Just checked, mine expires in May. Thanks Trem!

 

[Jupitus]

July here, but according to:

Renewing the photo on your driving licence : Directgov - Motoring

we should receive renewal reminders 2 months in advance... ?

 

[Trem]

we should receive renewal reminders 2 months in advance... ?

How much you wanna bet they don't send out reminders?

£17.50 you have to pay as well, fucking wankers they are, ok charge us but charge us a decent amount, a fiver maybe.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

I haven't actually lived at my license/car registration address for many years.

I should probably sort this out, but they make it so fiddly and awkward.

 

[dysfunction]

What pisses me off is about a year or so ago I sent mine in to get the address changed. If I had known mine was to expire this year I would have renewed it then as well to save me the bother this year!

They are just bastards!!

I haven't actually lived at my license/car registration address for many years.

I should probably sort this out, but they make it so fiddly and awkward.

Its quite easy to get the address changed...

 

[taB]

What pisses me off is about a year or so ago I sent mine in to get the address changed. If I had known mine was to expire this year I would have renewed it then as well to save me the bother this year!

They are just bastards!!





Its quite easy to get the address changed...

Yup, same here. Tossers. Valid 2008-2010.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Does it cost for address change or only renewals?

 

[dysfunction]

Does it cost for address change or only renewals?

Change of name and address on your driving licence : Directgov - Motoring

 

[old.Tohtori]

People are complaining on principle...i'd hope so atleast

I'm not a driver, of any vehicle(thank your god/non-deity) and even i was aware that you have to renew your lisence

But, to the point of "tax", 17.50 every 10 years. If that's a "big deal", you shouldn't own a multi-thousand piece of engineering marvel

 

[Scouse]

I'm not a driver, of any vehicle(thank your god/non-deity) and even i was aware that you have to renew your lisence

But, to the point of "tax", 17.50 every 10 years. If that's a "big deal", you shouldn't own a multi-thousand piece of engineering marvel

Should have figured you'd know...you're the only fucking one tho.

 

[Sparx]

Oh thats nothing. What about the new law coming in that you wont be allowed to even own a car without insurance. So if you have a car thats off the road in a garage while you go travelling or something, you will still need to buy insurance for it

 

[taB]

Oh thats nothing. What about the new law coming in that you wont be allowed to even own a car without insurance. So if you have a car thats off the road in a garage while you go travelling or something, you will still need to buy insurance for it

I saw this epically shit idea mentioned in the news. FGS. Is it applicable if you have a SORN?

 

[Sparx]

it applies to everyone owning a car regardless if you notify it as off the road or not

 

[Trem]

Aye the revenue the government makes from insurance companies is huge. Even so someone must be fucking someone to get such a sweet deal for the insurance companies.

 

[Cadelin]

Oh thats nothing. What about the new law coming in that you wont be allowed to even own a car without insurance. So if you have a car thats off the road in a garage while you go travelling or something, you will still need to buy insurance for it

Wait how does that work? How is a car defined? Can I just remove one of the tires and call it a tri-cycle? What about all the cars that are about to get scrapped? Does that cube of metal still need to be insured?

 

[Sparx]

Wait how does that work? How is a car defined? Can I just remove one of the tires and call it a tri-cycle?

Surely thats just a car with a missing tyre

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Anyone know if car registration can also be changed online or do I have to post that form off from my registration docs?

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Also, for some reason my current license has an expiry length of 8 years. Odd.

 

[Trem]

Also, for some reason my current license has an expiry length of 8 years. Odd.

Sure thats not for a provisional entitlement type thing?

 

[Wazzerphuk]

No, my provisional entitlement end in 2053.

License valid 02-10. Weird

Also, can't change my registration document as it can take up to 6 weeks to return to you and my tax is due end of February. And changing my address was not that easy at all, took about 20 minutes and entry of 5 addresses! Also had to dig up passport. Not the most efficient thing doing it online!

 

[old.Tohtori]

Should have figured you'd know...you're the only fucking one tho.

"Have to go and renew my lisence" is all i needed to hear during my lifetime to get the "epic wisdom".

 

[Tom]

it applies to everyone owning a car regardless if you notify it as off the road or not

Nope, if a car is SORN it will not require insurance.

The licence renewal is a bit of a storm in a teacup really. Nobody complains at renewing their passport every ten years, and that costs more than £100, so frankly £1.75 a year for a licence is a bargain. They probably should increase the font size though so people aren't in any doubt.

 

[rynnor]

I haven't actually lived at my license/car registration address for many years.

I should probably sort this out, but they make it so fiddly and awkward.

Strictly speaking your committing an offence - you get about 6 months grace when you move but after that you could be prosecuted.

 

[Edmond]

hehe i stil managed to keep hold of my paper license i not got one of those new fangled things

Me too, but it is starting to fall apart a bit now

 

[DaGaffer]

Strictly speaking your committing an offence - you get about 6 months grace when you move but after that you could be prosecuted.

This is something I need to look into. I don't live at the house I own, but my driving licence (and car) are registered there (in fact the car is parked there right now - I hope!). I'm not sure whether that's OK or not, and to further complicate the issue, I don't actually reside in the UK, so I don't know if I need to change my driving licence to an Irish one, and what the implications of that are.

 

[Sparx]

Nope, if a car is SORN it will not require insurance.

The licence renewal is a bit of a storm in a teacup really. Nobody complains at renewing their passport every ten years, and that costs more than £100, so frankly £1.75 a year for a licence is a bargain. They probably should increase the font size though so people aren't in any doubt.

Yeah your right, if you SORN then you wont have to pay

Uninsured motorists risk a £1,000 fine and losing their car... even if they don't drive it | Mail Online

I dont really see whats the difference as it is now then

 

[00dave]

I dont really see whats the difference as it is now then

Same way the Sorn declaration works, if I don't retax my car or declare it off road I get fined after so many days, the only difference now is that if my isurance runs out they'll fine me again. It's all on a datbase these days so they'll just rattle them off automatically.