Is Your Photocard Driving Licence About To Expire?

This is a timely warning on the impact of the DVLA’s go-slow and the matter of driving licences expiring. Many people don’t realise that the photocard licence has a ten year lifespan, you have to renew it with a new photo. By letting it expire you could invalidate an insurance claim, although if that could be proven to be entirely the fault of the DVLA then it’s hard to see how a refusal to pay out could be justified.

Let’s imagine a claims scenario; You make every reasonable effort to comply with the rules by sending your licence off to the DVLA, where it remained untouched for 10 weeks. During that time, you had an accident, or the car was stolen. That delay on documentation is hardly the fault of the policyholder.

Here’s the info from Co-op Insurance;

Co-op Insurance is urging motorists not to delay in renewing their driving licence as figures obtained from the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) show that a huge 2.5 million motorists will see their driving licence expire before 31^st August 2022 – over 6% of the total 40,666,276 licences in operation today.

What’s more, data shows that over 450,000 driving licences expired during the past year, so a lot of drivers could be at risk of not being authorised to be on UK roads. Co-op Insurance is therefore encouraging motorists to check the expiration date on their licence and to act fast if necessary.

Driving Without a Licence is a legal offence and can result in 3-6 penalty points and a fine of up to £1,000. Also, not holding a valid driving licence could lead to an insurance claim being rejected.

Photocard driving licences must be renewed every ten years, and a recent photo must be used.

Paul Evans, head of Co-op Motor Insurance, says: “We’re urging motor vehicle owners to check the expiration date on their driving licence and if it’s due to expire within the next month, to start the renewal process as soon as possible. Driving licences can be renewed online, by post, or in person at most Post Offices.

“Due to last year’s national lockdown, motorists with driving licences which expired between February and December received an automatic 11-month extension to renew their licence. However, over 450,000 motorists whose driving licence expired between September 2020 and August 2021 need to be sure they’ve definitely renewed, as they run the risk of facing a serious fine. We’re urging all drivers to check their licence and renew quickly if they need to.”