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I've been chasing up my new licence having sent off my application with paperwork mid June. Despite sending it 1st Class signed for, there is no evidence Royal Mail ever received or delivered it. Today 6 August I discovered that DVLA are currently processing applications received BEFORE 2 June 2021. There is a 6-10 week+ wait for the new licence. The website advised me to get clearance to drive, in writing, from my GP, which I have done. Hope this info helps others waiting like me.
The DVLA is chock full of muppets and numpties. I applied for mine back in July last year when I turned 70.
They bounced back returning all the paperwork no less than 6 times in the intervening 9 months. Once they returned it for not having a 'photo. On the front page of the application was a big notice saying a 'photo was not required. I just wanted my Aussie motorcycle licence to be included, they wanted a written confirmation of my licence which I got as an email. Oh no, that wasn't good enough for the resident numpties, they wanted a certified paper copy of the letter. I must say the WA licencing dept were real bricks helped me out by sending a paper certified copy really quickly.
More than I can say for our lot. Eventually I got so cheesed off I asked my MP Conor Burns (He may be a tory that some call a twit but he's a really good constituency MP) to intervene on my behalf. I had my licence within 3 days of him contacting the DVLA.
Tony
The DVLA is chock full of muppets and numpties. I applied for mine back in July last year when I turned 70.
They bounced back returning all the paperwork no less than 6 times in the intervening 9 months. Once they returned it for not having a 'photo. On the front page of the application was a big notice saying a 'photo was not required. I just wanted my Aussie motorcycle licence to be included, they wanted a written confirmation of my licence which I got as an email. Oh no, that wasn't good enough for the resident numpties, they wanted a certified paper copy of the letter. I must say the WA licencing dept were real bricks helped me out by sending a paper certified copy really quickly.
More than I can say for our lot. Eventually I got so cheesed off I asked my MP (He may be a tory that some call a twit but he's a really good constituency MP) to intervene on my behalf. I had my licence within 3 days of him contacting the DVLA.
Tony
Well at least you knew they were "processing" your application, even if they would lose out to snails in a race. I don't even know if they've got my application, despite 2 emails asking them!!
Writing this without checking so treat as hearsay, however, sometime ago I got a letter from DVLA saying something like you could continue driving for some? time while waiting for your case to be decided. Will see if I can find any correspondence. Found DVLA letter about "section 88"
"visit GOV.UK and search INF188/6"
Writing this without checking so treat as hearsay, however, sometime ago I got a letter from DVLA saying something like you could continue driving for some? time while waiting for your case to be decided. Will see if I can find any correspondence. Found DVLA letter about "section 88"
"visit GOV.UK and search INF188/6"
Yes Section 88 was where I found out about getting my GP to sign me off as fit for driving. Fortunately I'd had all the necessary tests and my 6 month review in recent months.
My mum has had type 1 since she was 22 so has had 3 year licences for pretty much all of her driving life. When I was about 6 and my brother was 2, our dad had a bad car accident that he was lucky to survive, he was in hospital for many weeks and then took a long time recuperating at home (I don’t know how long he was off work for, I was too young to realise such things, but it must have been a few months). Mum must have been under much stress worrying, and trying to keep positive for us children, and keep me in school, and deal with visiting and relatives and doing all the jobs that he normally would have done at home and then looking after him at home etc etc. One day for some reason she got her driving licence out and realised that it had expired 8 months ago and she had just carried on driving without realising 😱
Nobody questioned it when she did finally get it renewed though, and luckily she wasn’t stopped by the police for any reason in the meantime!
Writing this without checking so treat as hearsay, however, sometime ago I got a letter from DVLA saying something like you could continue driving for some? time while waiting for your case to be decided. Will see if I can find any correspondence. Found DVLA letter about "section 88"
"visit GOV.UK and search INF188/6"
Yes Section 88 was where I found out about getting my GP to sign me off as fit for driving. Fortunately I'd had all the necessary tests and my 6 month review in recent months.
An important clarification recently received by Diabetes UK (given the ongoing delays at DVLA, and the number of people this is currently affecting), is that like Felinia, you should actively seek confirmation from your Dr about your current fitness to drive, rather than assuming all is well because they haven’t previously told you to stop driving when you last saw them.
I've been chasing up my new licence having sent off my application with paperwork mid June. Despite sending it 1st Class signed for, there is no evidence Royal Mail ever received or delivered it. Today 6 August I discovered that DVLA are currently processing applications received BEFORE 2 June 2021. There is a 6-10 week+ wait for the new licence. The website advised me to get clearance to drive, in writing, from my GP, which I have done. Hope this info helps others waiting like me.
I am in a similar situation, my paperwork came in in April and was filled in and sent back the same day. Now in August, nothing, license is now out of date. Query to DVLA got a response about delays. I did find a statement on their web site that if you have NOT been told you cannot drive and meet the eyesight standards, you may continue to drive. I have checked with insurance, and they are taking a similar attitude, with the advice to retain proof of making enquiries to the DVLA. I gather DVLA staff have been striking, a lot !, but it seems to have slipped the media gaze.
"You can check if your new licence has been issued by using our view driving licence service. The ‘licence valid from date’ will be the date your last licence was issued. Once your licence has been issued please allow 2 weeks from the ‘licence valid from date’ to be received."
The top link also shows whats currently being processed, so any guess as to how long the process takes from that point is just a guess. they're doing vocationals from the 21st June, so they may get round to starting mine in mid September, and I may get my license back end of November.
Type of application
Date currently being processed
Renew a driving licence with a new photo
4 June 2021
Apply for a first provisional driving licence with UK identity
28 June 2021
Renew a driving licence if you’re 70 or over or after disqualification or revocation
4 June 2021
Apply for or renew a vocational driving licence
21 June 2021
Apply for a driving licence with non-UK identity
28 June 2021
Apply for or renew a tachograph card
2 August 2021
Apply to change your name or address on your driving licence
4 June 2021
Tell DVLA about the sale of a vehicle
2 August 2021
Vehicle registration certificate (V5C) changes
30 July 2021*
Apply for a replacement V5C log book
26 July 2021*
Register a vehicle for the first time (including previously used and imports)
To say it's not moving fast would be an understatement. 46 days since the above list and 18 days work done for 'Renew a vocational driving licence'. Now as the vocational was taken off me, I can't drive anything over 3.5. Wonder if I'll get my licence back before May next year.
Type of application
Date currently being processed
Renew a driving licence with a new photo
14 July 2021
Apply for a first provisional driving licence with UK identity
10 August 2021
Renew a driving licence if you’re 70 or over or after disqualification or revocation
15 July 2021
Apply for a first vocational driving licence
15 September 2021
Renew a vocational driving licence
15 July 2021
Apply for a driving licence with non-UK identity
3 August 2021
Apply for or renew a tachograph card
24 September 2021
Apply to change your name or address on your driving licence
15 July 2021
Tell DVLA about the sale of a vehicle
21 September 2021
Vehicle registration certificate (V5C) changes
9 September 2021*
Apply for a replacement V5C log book
8 September 2021*
Register a vehicle for the first time (including previously used and imports)
My new licence arrived - I look awful as they have cut out just my face, no hair no jaw line - yet it was done as required.
I sent it off in March, so it took 6 months.
I submitted my application on 16 June then nothing. Phone calls - straight to a machine then cut off. Emails - acknowledged then nothing. Registered post requesting update two weeks ago - a miracle occurred. Today, some three and a half months later, I get a letter from DVLA asking me to go for an eye test. FINALLY - proof they have my application and are processing. Perhaps I'll actually get a licence before the new one runs out and we go through the whole rigmarole again! But at least I finally have the written proof they are processing, to go with my GP letter saying I'm fit to drive, so I can legally drive under Section 88. I've never been asked for my licence in 50 years of driving, but sods law!!!
An important clarification recently received by Diabetes UK (given the ongoing delays at DVLA, and the number of people this is currently affecting), is that like Felinia, you should actively seek confirmation from your Dr about your current fitness to drive, rather than assuming all is well because they haven’t previously told you to stop driving when you last saw them.
All well and good, but my GP is not the one in charge of my diabetes, the hospital is, and due to covid they have managed to drop me off their radar for two years. I have had a phone appointment long after the license renewal went in, and it's not just diabetes, but sleep apnea too, different hospital, and their consultants don't even get involved these days !. Down to DVLA, they have the consent to access medical records, and only they know what they need.
Now coming up for October, for an application put in in April. About time the DVLA actually responded or the Government announced an extension to the licenses waiting to be renewed.
So are the DVLA sending out the renewal forms on time? Mine is due for renewal on Christmas eve and last time it took them 12 weeks to sort it out, so long before covid came along.
All well and good, but my GP is not the one in charge of my diabetes, the hospital is, and due to covid they have managed to drop me off their radar for two years. I have had a phone appointment long after the license renewal went in, and it's not just diabetes, but sleep apnea too, different hospital, and their consultants don't even get involved these days !. Down to DVLA, they have the consent to access medical records, and only they know what they need.
How frustratng for you Andrew. I don’t think it needs to be your GP who can sign you off to drive under section 88 - it could be any Dr or consultant you see?
How frustratng for you Andrew. I don’t think it needs to be your GP who can sign you off to drive under section 88 - it could be any Dr or consultant you see?
That would be pointless, only the relevant consultant is in a position to make any decision, and at the moment even getting a phone appointment with GP is bad enough. I've had my current phone appointment cancelled twice as it is, the last time they phoned to say they'd cancelled it an hour after the appointment time !. Imagine if you truned u an hour late at the surgery.
So are the DVLA sending out the renewal forms on time? Mine is due for renewal on Christmas eve and last time it took them 12 weeks to sort it out, so long before covid came along.
That would be pointless, only the relevant consultant is in a position to make any decision, and at the moment even getting a phone appointment with GP is bad enough. I've had my current phone appointment cancelled twice as it is, the last time they phoned to say they'd cancelled it an hour after the appointment time !. Imagine if you truned u an hour late at the surgery.
