Steve001

iTrader: (7)

This might be of interest to the speeders amongst you who might need to

produce their documents only to find that you are out of date.


Very Important for drivers.


Unwitting motorists face £1,000 fines as thousands of photo card 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 photo card 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 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 photo cards 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 haveb 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 photo card 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 photo card 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 photo card

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.

Spooky Mulder

I am good until 2013 - news to me though so good spot!

BMWhere?

I changed to a photocard license pretty much as soon as they were released, so mine expired just before Christmas!

I was always aware that there was a 10 year limit on the photocard! DVLA sent me a renewal form around mid November. Filled it in, sent it off and had the new license back about a week later!

I really don't see the problem! DVLA send the reminder in plenty of time so anyone who doesn't get it replaced, its their own fault!

andy97

iTrader: (1)

I'm good till 2035

Aaron1978

iTrader: (12)

i agree completely, first thing i did was read all my driving license see what i was covered to drive and read all the codes on the back! took me a good 5 mins too . Its just like small print on things, you can't really be bothered to read it but you know you should/should have.

IMHO

Aaron

filfy

Ha im still useing the old paper license refuse to get a new one.

G-string

iTrader: (1)

Changed mine before Xmas as well but thought the £17.50 charge was a bit naughty, when you consider that people with the old style license dont have to change.

BMWhere?

Yeah, agree the extra charge is a bit out of order! I guess I always expected a small administration charge, but £17 is a bit steep IMHO!

I would have kept the paper license too, but it was either a EU conforming photocard license or a German license for me!

audioscape

they need to get money back into the economy why not hit the motorist yet again

DannyBoy007

iTrader: (7)

what a con. I think I'd rather move (on paper) to my sister house for a week and then back again to avoid giving them any more of my money

Aaron1978

iTrader: (12)

this doesn't work as i've recently moved house and the 'valid until' date remains the same.

Aaron

DazW

iTrader: (1)

Googled this:

Photocard driving licences - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

I like post #19

DazW

iTrader: (1)

Googled this:

Photocard driving licences - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums

I like post #19

fl6

bugger me, me hgv and car run out this year

Gilesdwrc

I sent a new photo with my tacho card application, they used the 9.5yo photo from my licence, it expires at the same time. Luckily my company pays for the tacho card.

Midnight Runner

I have a year to go exactly from today, how mad is that????

scoobyboy

2016 for me

stigaz

still got a year to go on mine but its illegal anyway got my old address on it, the police stopped me a while back informed me its illegal and to get it changed, i think it would be the same if it had ran out.

am i right in thinking that i'll have to pay to update the address, and then again in 10months to update the photo. or can i do both now ?

Boro

iTrader: (1)

LOL, me too but i gotta do it, address is out of date by 3 addresses lol

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Why should we have to pay though?

G-string

iTrader: (1)

Free for change of address mate but you will be charged for renewal

ian.b

I got mine just after chrstmas jan infact wot aload of crap £17.50 too renew it ???? were getting ripped off more and more in this country!!!!

Nurse Gladys

Another back-door tax brought in by this wonderful government.

Not to mention the revenue raiser when you are fined for letting it run out.

I was fined £40 for not changing my address on my old paper one (admittedly it was a fair few years ago).