Important Changes By Dvla To Driving Licence Points

[Al Milton]

Hi All,

 

Received this message at work today from the company my employer uses for driver notifications and fleet/risk management. I haven't seen any publications or notifications of this anywhere else, so it's a good heads-up:

 

From the 7th November, 2010 the DVLA have changed the ‘concessionary period’ for a driver to send in their driving license for ‘endorsement’ from 12 months to 28 Days!!

 

This means where a driver fails to surrender his/her driving licence for endorsement to the court, DVLA will write to the driver requesting the return of the licence to the Agency.

 

If the driver does not surrender his/her licence within the 28 day period, then it will be REVOKED!

 

Police officers have the right to seize vehicles driven by individuals whose licences have been revoked. Please read the notice from the DVLA below carefully.

 

 

DVLA Notice

 

Revocation of Driving Licences

 

Drivers who receive penalties from the courts or the fixed penalty offices for offences that do not result in disqualification, are required to surrender their current valid driving licence for the endorsement to be added. Many drivers fail to surrender their driving licence to the courts or DVLA and in these circumstances the law provides that we can revoke the licence as a last resort. Before revocation takes place the court will have made the driver aware, on at least one occasion, of the requirement to produce his/her licence for endorsement. Failure to produce the licence will result in the driver receiving a letter from DVLA requesting its return.

 

Current Procedure

 

At the point DVLA revokes a licence our current interpretation is that the law allows a ‘concessionary period’ of 12 months during which the driver may continue to drive. If, at the end of the concessionary period, the driver has failed to surrender their licence their entitlement is revoked.

 

New Procedure

 

Along with the Home Office, we (DVLA) have reviewed road traffic legislation and will no longer advise drivers that they have a 12 month concessionary period. This means from 7 November 2010, where a driver fails to surrender his/her driving licence for endorsement to the court, DVLA will write to the driver requesting the return of the licence to the Agency. If the driver does not surrender his/her licence, then it will be revoked. DVLA will give drivers 28 days to comply before the revocation takes effect. This is indicated on the letter sent by DVLA to the drivers affected.

 

Revoked Drivers pre 7 November 2010

 

In the last year, a significant number of drivers have failed to return their licence and had their entitlement revoked. DVLA would have advised these drivers that despite the revocation, they would have retained entitlement to drive for 12 months as DVLA will have applied that concessionary period. We expect that many of these drivers will have complied during this period and so we do not intend to contact these drivers and will allow the 12-month time period to expire. This means that from 7 November, a 2-tier system will be in place for the following 12 months.

 

 

ACTION TO ALL DRIVERS

 

Given the introduction of the new DVLA procedure described above and in addition to the ongoing desire that no-one receive penalty points while driving, it is important that you ensure that the DVLA has a record of your current address. If the DVLA has an old address listed you will not receive the notice from the DVLA to send in a driving license for endorsement and might only find out in the event of being stopped by the police – which will be too late and result in a long walk home!

 

All drivers must immediately make sure they are up to date with the DVLA with their current home address and make sure in future when moving home, that you notify DVLA of your new address promptly - failure to do this could have serious consequences for you.