When does your driving licence run out?

Many thousands of motorists are unnecessarily risking prosecution resulting in fines of up to £1,000 and putting at risk their insurance cover, simply because they are driving without a valid licence. Unlike the old paper licences, all photocard driving licences must be renewed every 10 years – even though drivers are licensed to drive until the age of 70.

Licence showing expiry at 4b

The reason so many are falling foul of the law is that they have failed to spot the extremely small print on their photocard licence telling them that their licence will expire automatically after 10 years unless renewed – something the Government has not seen fit to warn everyone about.

The problem has only recently come to light as the first batch of photocard licences, which were issued in July 1998, started to expire.

As if this wasn’t bad enough, the renewal of the licences isn’t free. Although drivers do not need to retake a test every ten years, the will at least need to make sure that their picture reflects how they currently look – meaning they will need new photographs for their licences and drivers will have to a pay £17.50 to renew their photocard licence – a charge which many motoring organisations have condemned as a ’stealth tax’ and which, it is estimated, will earn the Treasury £437million over 25 years.

Whilst the DVLA has stated that it will endeavour to remind drivers of their requirement to replace their licences, it is not a defence in court to allege that they did not do so. You are advised, therefore, to check your licence expiry date (can be found in the section marked 4b on the front of the photocard) and ensure that it is still valid.

In particular, businesses who rely upon their staff being able to drive will need to review licence holders – especially since out of date licence could affect vehicle insurance and make sure that they keep, and update annually, a record of all drivers’ licences and expiry dates.

If you have any problems relating to this area of law, you should contact keepmedriving as soon as possible, either by requesting a free, no obligation call-back using the call-back form to the right or phoning us during office hours on 084 4804 4804.