Anyone got a contact?
Son applied for provisional in March, no response yet. Applied again as this is what his peers have had to do but still no response.
Web chat bot just states no one available. Telephone is the same.
Birthday is a couple of weeks so a bit pants if he can get driving due to the DVLA being crap.
There's been a lot on a local FB page about this recently - seems a very common occurrence / timescale at present.
Best responses seemed to be try the web chat as soon as it opens at 8am, and someone got through on an alternative number 0300 790 6802.
Someone else called the vehicle and SORN number and got them to transfer the call to the licencing department! Still a bit of a wait though.
Been waiting about 8 months for a medical extension now. For the first 6 months all I got was "it's in progress, please wait", then after 6 months they actually looked and discovered it'd literally not been touched for that entire time.
Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately no progress.
Been waiting since late June for daughters provisional. Her Birthday was over a month ago now! ‘Kin useless!
Long story short. We started an online application but had to submit a paper form with a new photo. We did that in early July. We heard nothing until early October when we were told that they couldn’t proceed with the application as daughters passport had expired since we sent the form ( because they took so long and we had sent off for a passport renewal a week earlier )
Now the new passport is back we have applied online and hopefully it should arrive. Same thing happened to friends and the online app took 3 weeks and they got refunded for the earlier paper application.
They do reply to tweets but not that helpfully. Appears to be no other way to contact them.
TL:DR The online application process is working in about 3 weeks but the paper application is months beyond due to strikes / Covid.
If he has a passport, Apply again but online. If not you just have to wait!
Both applications have been online.
He sent a follow up hand written letter but all that came back was check progress online.
Absolute farce.
My wife had an unexplained and unexpected seizure whilst out running in early May. Told by Docs not to drive for 6 months and DVLA process to go through. She has not been driving since. Paperwork sent off to DVLA. NOTHING. Her licence has remained valid for the entire time as her case has not been looked at, until 2 weeks before 6 months is up she gets a "We're looking at your case." letter. Still no outcome, but licence still remains valid looking at the online checker.
GP and Neurology say that they cannot give her the OK to resume driving as it is the DVLA's decision, which sounds reasonable. DVLA are absolutely unfit for purpose - they were prior to covid, and covid has made working conditions unbearable for the DVLA staff.
We know that she has done the 6 months not driving, and if the licence is valid then legally she can drive, but we ideally want the OK from DVLA as in theory that could still say not to drive for 12 months.
There are post 6 month DVLA forms for that you should fill in and send to DVLA if they decide to take away licence. They get in touch with your Dr and based on their response give you the yay / nay. Can take up to a year after the 6 months so best not to delay.
They are D1 and FEP1 I think. I’m no expert so best to check with them and DVLA…
Wife has been waiting 2 months for a straightforward licence renewal. System is totally screwed - this used to take a matter of days to a few weeks.
Changed address on mine earlier in the year and came back in under 2 weeks. Things must have changed fairly quickly for it to get as bad as you say.
Bought a car in July, dealer said they'd sort tax* and just to renew when the V5 came through, showed online as taxed but no new V5 issued for six weeks, chased online and managed to speak to someone on chat who said it can take 8 to 10 weeks, couple of weeks later got a letter saying the tax category of the car had changed and it needed retaxing, V5 turned up shortly after so retaxed the same day, then got a letter saying it had effectively been untaxed since I bought it. If the dealer hadn't done what dealers do, we couldn't have driven the new car for more than two months.
*Naively I believed him
I had a minor panic a month back when I realised I needed an updated license (actually, when I rediscovered the reminder letter I’d ignored for ages).
I had to apply for a new passport and once I’d got that could I apply for a driving license. The passport took about 3 weeks, the license came less than a week after I filled in the online form. Guess I was lucky.
They do say that you can still drive while waiting for your license if it’s in progress and you’re not aware of exemptions.
I’m a doctor, but not a neurologist. This is not medical or legal advice and there are clearly parts to the story that I don’t know. But you may wish to rediscuss the driving with your doctor / another doctor. The DVLA guidelines for medical practitioners are relatively prescriptive - it’ll come down to whether your wife’s seizures are likely to recur/ are ‘controlled’. In most cases (outside of group 2 HGV licenses), the decision lies in your doctor’s hands and does not need to go through the DVLA’s doctors (though obviously they issue the license and will usually write to your doctor). If your doctor has told you that they believe you can drive, then the above s88 applies.
@sillysilly @ Superficial Thanks. We have filled in the initial forms, but now 6 months have elapsed and the DVLA have not suspended the licence, and it is still valid, therefore she can't apply to get it back as it hasn't been taken away yet!
The DVLA call handlers say if the online check shows that her licence is valid, then she holds a valid licence, but only her Dr can say if she is ok to drive.
The Neurologist has submitted a report to the DVLA, but this is just an assessment of her neurological health, there is no recommendation as to whether she can drive or not from the Neurologist - they maintain the DVLA Dr makes this call based on the information they supply. All the GP seems to know is that there are no abnormalities on any of the test results.
Weirdly wife's 3yr medical license was renewed in about a week recently. It true DVLA style the license turned up the day before the letter telling her that they had reviewed the paperwork and issued the license.
Son got his provisional amidst the middle of all the proper lockdown stuff no problem so I doubt the issue is covid - although it might be strikes related to covid working arrangements. Now your bigger issue will be finding an instructor with capacity and then test centre space when you need it.
TroutWrestler - I can understand why she won't want to drive without it in writing but the DVLA call handler is right, if DVLA haven't revoked the licence she still has a valid license. Her doc can advise her not to drive (just as they might after surgery) and even to advise dvla of a condition but they don't directly revoke your license, and if they said "don't drive for 6 months" then she seems to be in the clear. It could become murkier if they said "advise dvla, they'll usually let you drive again after 6 months" - but legally she's not driving with a revoked license ( I would be checking it online weekly to make sure she doesn't miss a letter). The only issue (and of course it could be a major issue) would be if she had another fit and was behind the wheel and caused a serious accident - questions will then be asked if you should have been driving. But I'd suggest that the people who should really be worried about being called in front of a coroner or sheriff to explain that are probably in Swansea rather than your house!
Oh, and everyone who's having problems - drop a line to your MP. This is actually the sort of stuff that a letter on HOC headed paper seems to help get prioritised!
Wife has been waiting 2 months for a straightforward licence renewal. System is totally screwed – this used to take a matter of days to a few weeks.
Mine got renewed earlier in the year and took about a week - sounds like things have gone really downhill. Similar when son passed his test.
yeah it's grim. She's called a few times and just gets told wait a few more weeks and call again.
I have to get a copy of my UK driver history for an official thing, but for various reasons it can't be done online through the website - sounds like it's going to be a complete gong show trying to get hold of someone to explain it to them
Birthday has arrived but the provisional hasn't, which is pretty crap. Will need to find a big car park.
Managed to eventually (couple of hours in the queue) to speak to someone but no progress yet. Apparently if you're case isn't on the normal path it gets held up.
The alternative number listed above was useful although since there was an article/letter in The Times they seem to have changed the system to stop you even getting to the options list if they are busy.
They are the government agency most obviously in crisis, for all manner of reasons I'm sure.
There but for the grace of God etc
Birthday has arrived but the provisional hasn’t, which is pretty crap. Will need to find a big car park.
Just in case you are not aware - any car park that you as a member of the public can just drive into is a "road or other public place" and so covered by the Road Traffic Act with the inevitable requirements for licenses and insurance. And "causing or permitting" him to drive without a license or insurance can also get you some lovely points on your license too. May be very unlikely to get caught - but could be a bad start to his driving career if he does, and won't be pleasant for insurance premiums if you both have those offence codes on there for the next 4 years.
DVLA website still says
Your licence should arrive within one week if you apply online. It may take longer if DVLA need to make additional checks.
My sister applied for my niece and it came within a week. A friend of hers applied at the same time and still waiting three months later.
My daughter is 17 next October, I think I might apply now!
My daughter is 17 next October, I think I might apply now!
May as well, in the mean time get her on a moped!
I had a renewal due end May this year. Can't use my passport as the first names are slightly different (long story). So after much frustration trying to use the DVLA website, I gave up and filled in the paper form. And then spent far too much of a Saturday morning in the post office filling in more forms.
Amusingly DVLA then kept sending me letters telling me my license had expired, while at the still time showing they were processing the renewal.
14 weeks later the license arrived. I did try and call them a couple of times but didn't even get in a queue (busy/industrial action msg followed by dial tone)
So good luck! On the other side, I applied for a (just before Brexit took hold) passport renewal and it was done and dusted in a week
For those struggling to get hold of anyone to confirm whether the license has been processed. We went through this with daughter not so long ago.
DVLA posted a link on twitter at some point in the past which can tell you whether the license has been issued or not.
https://www.viewdrivingrecord.service.gov.uk/driving-record/personal-details
If its been issued obviously there's still the issue of then chasing the missing license but its a start.
Ooh exciting, after 9 months they've managed to write to me and say "you'll need to get a medical", which I said I'd probably need to do in the first line of the covering letter 9 months ago.
@Northwind - don't get too excited!
I had a medical 7 months ago today and I still have not heard anything from them.
My 1 year medical licence expired a while ago and I am driving around under Section 88 of the Road Traffic Act.
Interestingly enough the revenue generating side of the organisation has been unaffected by the strikes.
I'm coming up on 4 months waiting for my photocard to be renewed.
The dates they're (claiming to be) currently processing can be found on this page:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/dvla-coronavirus-covid-19-update
(Appreciate that doesn't help you/your son OP.)
After 9 months it has finally arrived!
Repeated attempts to call them seems to be the only way if for some reason the application falls of the normal processing path.
We heard nothing until early October when we were told that they couldn’t proceed with the application as daughters passport had expired since we sent the form ( because they took so long and we had sent off for a passport renewal a week earlier )
I’m not sure what the connection is with passports; is there some sort of requirement for needing a passport if applying for a car licence/renewing one? My passport ceased to be valid some years back, but it didn’t seem to make any difference to renewing my driver’s licence more recently. I do recall there being something about using the same photo if in possession of a valid driver’s licence - is that the situation?
I keep meaning to renew my passport, but I’ve got more important things to spend £72 on at the moment.
My wife had her licence revoked in February after a brain bleed caused by a fall. The DVLA were pretty useless in terms of contact and giving the correct information.
Eventually the 6 month revocation period was over and there was no sign of getting her licence back, despite having reapplied for it a month before the revocation expired.
We eventually simultaneously wrote to the complaints department and started an official complaint and emailed the CEO explaining that my wife was a rural working community physio and that there was a backlog of patients due in part to her lack of licence.
We got a call 3 days later to say that she would get her licence back within a week and that she could drive in the meantime.
I really feel for non-urgent cases, my wife was told that there would be no upper time limit to resolve her case, anecdotally I read that it could have been over a year!
