Is your driving licence still valid?

[MarkPAman]

The title says it all really.

 

Photo licences were first issued in 1998 and are only valid for 10 years. Number 4b on the front is the "Licence valid to" date. This is written in very small print on the back, next to a table that seems to show that the licence lasts until you're 70.

 

Clicky link thing

 

:** laughs out loud **:

[Lamplighter]

Thanks for that Mark.

Mine expires shortly, though I only realised when I checked it just now. The expiry date also appears as part of the hologram in the bottom left corner, there is no explanation of this on the card.

Brian

[backwater]

I had a look at mine. The 10 years is not from the last time a change was made on your licence as I passed my car test a year ago having previously held a full motorcycle license (and hence got a new card) - my card expires in 2012, 10 years from me changing from a paper license.

 

There doesn't seem to be anything on the DVLA website about it either. It is however mentioned in the Driver Licensing Information leaflet you get with the license which also says that "When your photocard is due for renewal DVLA will send you a computer-produced application form to the address on your license"

 

Bit annoying really!

 

Andy :** laughs out loud **:

[charlyfarly]

This was brought up on another forum I frequent, as far as I can gather; it is the photo which needs changing every 10 years and unless you are over 70 (short term licenses) you have to shell out £17.50 for the priviledge irrespective if your appearance has changed or not :** laughs out loud **: ....however if you want to change your photo in the 10 year period it's free.

 

What a con. Rip-off Britain at its best B-)

[iamchristuffin]

So could you change it after 9 years with no cost other than postage and the photo?

[boatman]

As long as the DVLA have a current address, you will get a reminder through the post. My first 10 year one expired last August and the new one will only last until 2017 as I will be 70 by then. Oh, and if you're interested, £17.50 for a 10 year license is 0.48 pence per day. Seems to me it's quite cheap.

[David Lee]

Some people just like complaining :** laughs out loud **:

[Andrew Edwards]

....however if you want to change your photo in the 10 year period it's free.

 

Please could you point me to the relevant section on the DVLA website which corroborates this statement?

As far as I can tell the only instance whereby you do not have to pay anything is a change of name and/or address.

 

The renewal of a photo on a driving licence is no different to that of a passport.

 

Tabloid over-reaction. Those who have a licence due to expire will be notified. The article mentions that people have change address and therefore cannot be notified. This indeed is a far more serious situation as if they have changed address and not informed the DVLA their Licence is not accurate and therefore possibly invalidates insurance. There are possible implications with the law I would of thought too.

[hounsome]

just to let you all know it does cost to update your licence. it is only free if you do not change the photo. DVLA let you know when it is due. or they did for me. it takes about 14 days from when you sent it in. mine was back in 7 days.

 

colin

[peternewman]

Its also worth noting for anyone who has only learnt to drive in the last ten years, the date is from when you got your first photocard from the looks of things. i.e. if you applied for a provisional then its that date that matters, not when you passed your test.

[paulears]

I don't smoke, but a mate of mine always assesses prices by how many packets of fags something costs. So he'd simply say "less than four packets!" - kind of puts things into perspective - or two late night cab rides, or...............

[charlyfarly]

....however if you want to change your photo in the 10 year period it's free.

 

Please could you point me to the relevant section on the DVLA website which corroborates this statement?

As far as I can tell the only instance whereby you do not have to pay anything is a change of name and/or address.

 

 

Sorry, my bad. :)

Still think it's stupid. I still look the same.....even my hairstyle! ;)

[Stewart Newlands]

VERY INTERESTING READING BELOW:- THIS IS NOT A JOKE. PLEASE READ THIS THROUGH, AND CHECK YOUR OWN LICENCE….IT COULD HAVE EXPIRED, WITHOUT YOU REALISING IT !!

 

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.

Enlarge

 

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.

[timtheenchanteruk]

You do get a reminder, I just received mine, and my licence expires in may, however if you do not get your reminder because your address is not correct on your licence, than that is apparently also an offence as I was warned shortly after moving house.

 

I do baulk at the extra cash for the photo change though on top of what I already pay to the DVLA/government for the privilege to drive on their roads

[DavidLee]

VERY INTERESTING READING BELOW:- THIS IS NOT A JOKE. PLEASE READ THIS THROUGH, AND CHECK YOUR OWN LICENCE….IT COULD HAVE EXPIRED, WITHOUT YOU REALISING IT !!

...

 

Tabloid nonsense in an urban-myth wrapper!

 

Whilst it is indeed an offence to continue to drive with on expired photocard licence DVLA make quite clear in an article in issue 333 (Autumn 2007) of DVL Today (a publication aimed at the media and professional organisations):

 

In order to raise awareness the DVLA will prompt drivers with a reminder that their photo is due to expire.

 

The DVLA will start to issue reminders in May 2008 for licences which are due to expire in July 2008 onwards.

 

I don't yet have a photocard licence myself but surely all new licences are issued with the explanatory leaflet Your photocard driving licence explained?

 

This clearly states:

 

The date shown in 4a is the date the photocard was issued.

4b shows the date the photocard must be renewed.

 

To complain that you didn't realise that the licence has an expiry date is really no different from failing to be aware that your licence doesn't entitle you to drive a motor cycle or bus because you couldn't be arsed to check the terms and conditions of your driving licence!

 

It's horrifying how how much many drivers don't know or have forgotten about basic motoring regulations. I've recently come across two drivers (including a serving police officer!) who have argued vociferously that the the 70mph national speed limit applies to ALL British roads!

 

David