C1 medical at 70

[EdwardFT]

I will be 70 later this year. I understand that I will need a medical to continue driving my 4000kg-plated motorhome, but I am.currently in France and I don't want to go to the U.K. and do quarantine. Does anyone happen to know a British doctor in France, who could do the medical?

 

[Gaston aires]

There was a post recently on MF about C1 and the government putting off the medical for 12 months due to Covid ?
You should check this out and see.
Phil

 

[Clipgate]

Check out the exemption if is still current, otherwise your in a bind, as cross border qualifications are no long recognised.
DVLA may accept a French doctor my advice is contact DVLA medical branch and get it from the horses mouth. They usually reply quite quickly

 

[Jimbohorlicks]

I will be 70 later this year. I understand that I will need a medical to continue driving my 4000kg-plated motorhome, but I am.currently in France and I don't want to go to the U.K. and do quarantine. Does anyone happen to know a British doctor in France, who could do the medical?

Surely you will have to come back to the UK after your 90 days are up.you could do it then.

 

[peterc10]

I suspect if you contact the DVLA they will say that if you are in France for that length of time you should have swopped your UK licence for a French one. That was the law even before Brexit. Maybe better to come back over to get it done.

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[eurajohn]

Are you living in France?
It is not possible to renew a UK licence after the age of 70 unless you live in UK and following the latest issues with licence requirements for EU countries you may find that you will have to take a French driving test to gain a French licence.
That is of course you wish to stay legal.

 

[EdwardFT]

I am afraid that I disagree with most of the points that people made in order to state that what I asked can't be done.
I am resident in France so I can stay here as long as I like, I don't have to return to the U.K. after 90 days.
I will apply for a French licence but in the meantime the French authorities are actively discouraging applications to exchange, in order to avoid their systems being snowed under. My U.K. licence remains legal in France for now, even though I am resident.
As I understand it, what DVLA requires is not some form of residence in the U.K., but "an address in the U.K. at which you can always be contacted", and I have one of those.
I understood from the MF posts that the C1 entitlement that had been established by testing will be extended, but the C1 entitlement grandfathered from before 1992 will not be extended. This latter is my case.
And I didn't ask about how to have the medical done by a French doctor, I asked if anyone knew a British doctor who happens to be in France at the moment.
I guess it's looking like a "No"!

 

[EdwardFT]

Just for info in case anyone wonders why I don't just either accept loss of C1 on the U.K. licence, or go for the French licence right away anyway, there are complications.
The French licence will date from the exchange and therefor will not have the C1 entitlement, same as renewing the U.K. licence without a medical.
My MH is plated 4000kg. Downplating in France is not a paper exercise, you need a complete Single Vehicle Approval, so I am thinking of downplating in the U.K. before registering the MH in France. But later, not during Covid peak.
Coming to the U.K. for a medical would cost money, and risk quarantaine and/or infection. I would just rather avoid it.

So my solution seemed simple, don't they always at first. I need to see a British doctor, but he doesn't need to be in the UK.

 

[peterc10]

I am afraid that I disagree with most of the points that people made in order to state that what I asked can't be done.
I am resident in France so I can stay here as long as I like, I don't have to return to the U.K. after 90 days.
I will apply for a French licence but in the meantime the French authorities are actively discouraging applications to exchange, in order to avoid their systems being snowed under. My U.K. licence remains legal in France for now, even though I am resident.
As I understand it, what DVLA requires is not some form of residence in the U.K., but "an address in the U.K. at which you can always be contacted", and I have one of those.
I understood from the MF posts that the C1 entitlement that had been established by testing will be extended, but the C1 entitlement grandfathered from before 1992 will not be extended. This latter is my case.
And I didn't ask about how to have the medical done by a French doctor, I asked if anyone knew a British doctor who happens to be in France at the moment.
I guess it's looking like a "No"!

I suspect our answers would have been different, or, in my case, non existent, if you had told us the wider story.

Good luck with your search, which I can't help you with. I would still counsel not contacting the DVLA as that may give them the excuse to reject anything you put in.

 

[Pausim]

but the C1 entitlement grandfathered from before 1992 will not be extended.

There was an extension but it ended on 31/12/2020. Licenses that expire after that date have to be renewed in the normal way. There are some exemptions for HGV licenses.

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[EdwardFT]

I suspect our answers would have been different, or, in my case, non existent, if you had told us the wider story.

Good luck with your search, which I can't help you with. I would still counsel not contacting the DVLA as that may give them the excuse to reject anything you put in.

I'm sure you can read between the lines and guess that I wasn't planning to ask the DVLA anything.

You are right, giving some information about why I ask a question, is bound to suggest to people other ideas that might help with the situation, even if they are not a direct answer. It's the "XY problem", instead of asking the real question X, you ask the question Y because you think you know how to solve X if you can get to Y.

So here's Y:
I need to find a registered British doctor in France, anybody know one?
And here's X, the real question:
I am In France, pushing 70 with a grandfathered C1 and a Motorhome plated over 3500kg. I don't want to go back to the U.K. this year and I don't want to register my MH in France before downplating it in the U.K., nor indeed very soon until I see how my life and residence in France pan out, say also this year. What can I do? Or at least, what are the options, if I have to pick one.

 

[peterc10]

I cant offer any practical advice because you have backed yourself in a corner with all the provisos and the only solution is "Y", which I think you will find is very difficult.

All I can do is say what I would do in your situation. Which would be to come back to the UK with the motorhome to live in, get the licence and downplating done in the UK and then go back to France. But remember with the downplating the DVLA will require you to provide a certificated weighbridge ticket to show that you have enough payload left.

The alternative is to sell your motorhome while the prices in the UK are still high and buy one that is at 3.5t either here or in France.

 

[nicholsong]

Check out the exemption if is still current, otherwise your in a bind, as cross border qualifications are no long recognised.
DVLA may accept a French doctor my advice is contact DVLA medical branch and get it from the horses mouth. They usually reply quite quickly

Could you please give a source for that please, or is it just your assumption?

DVLA used to state any EU Registered Doctor.

I have had my last 3 Medicals done by a Polish Doctor in Poland, including the last one in Nov 2020, but that was before the end of the Transition Period.

Geoff

 

[EdwardFT]

I cant offer any practical advice because you have backed yourself in a corner with all the provisos and the only solution is "Y", which I think you will find is very difficult.

All I can do is say what I would do in your situation. Which would be to come back to the UK with the motorhome to live in, get the licence and downplating done in the UK and then go back to France. But remember with the downplating the DVLA will require you to provide a certificated weighbridge ticket to show that you have enough payload left.

The alternative is to sell your motorhome while the prices in the UK are still high and buy one that is at 3.5t either here or in France.

That may be what I have to do, having backed myself into a corner, with an aggrieved feeling that they are not "my" provisos, they are being forced on me.

I have thought of selling it and buying another in France, I guess the problem there is that it has a fair amount of cosmetic issues inside and out, which doesn't bother me, but I fear that its resale value might be quite a bit lower than I would need to stump up to buy another.

it needs a bit more thought, and a bit of waiting until the Covid crisis is over. So can I please not approach 70 so quickly? Or I need to import it to France before Covid and Brexit. Where is that time machine when you need one?

Seriously, thanks again everyone for giving my problem some thought.

 

[EdwardFT]

Could you please give a source for that please, or is it just your assumption?

DVLA used to state any EU Registered Doctor.

I have had my last 3 Medicals done by a Polish Doctor in Poland, including the last one in Nov 2020, but that was before the end of the Transition Period.

Geoff

That is an interesting point. Yes, qualifications are no longer recognised cross border as being equivalent (I.e. a Polish doctor can't just come and practise in the U.K.), but they may be accepted for certain purposes.

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[nicholsong]

I will be 70 later this year. I understand that I will need a medical to continue driving my 4000kg-plated motorhome, but I am.currently in France and I don't want to go to the U.K. and do quarantine. Does anyone happen to know a British doctor in France, who could do the medical?

Edward

I think I have the definitive answer to your getting a DVLA Medical done without going to UK.

I went to internet and typed in DVLA form D4 which took me to the DVLA website where I could open the D4 form.

If you scroll to the bottom where the doctor has to sign he/she/ signs as a UK GMC registered doctor
OR

" I am a doctor who is medically registered within the EU if the report was completed outside theUK"

This is the current D4 form on the website so it seems that DVLA still after 1st Jan accept a EU doctor just as my doctor in Poland did my D4 medical in Nov 2020.

So just download the form and trot along to your French doctor and have your medical there.

That is the D4 medical sorted, but have you got a D2, the actual application form? That is more difficult, as it cannot be downloaded because it has a sticky place to put your photograph. You can request it by post from DVLA, I think request can be online. Maybe better to do what I did - get a friend in UK to pick one up at a main PO and post it to you.

So still no UK doctor needed only EU, and forms sorted.

One of us on here should have done this a few days ago. I apologise for my tardiness.

Geoff

 

[EdwardFT]

Edward

I think I have the definitive answer to your getting a DVLA Medical done without going to UK.

[...]

So still no UK doctor needed only EU, and forms sorted.

One of us on here should have done this a few days ago. I apologise for my tardiness.

Geoff

Great! Well done, thanks.

 

[pampam]

Good luck edwardFT i thought it was only me that suffered bad timing and rotten circumstances, i hope you get it sorted ,( perhaps giving me food for thought about the size of van we eventually buy) cheers pampam

 

[EdwardFT]

Good luck edwardFT i thought it was only me that suffered bad timing and rotten circumstances, i hope you get it sorted ,( perhaps giving me food for thought about the size of van we eventually buy) cheers pampam

Thanks. Yes, talking it over here did help me to clear my thoughts, as well as having some answers. Why I really want is the current motorhome (not some other one), but registered in France. Is that possible? Yes. So I will go for that. A C1 medical report might just give me more time to do it, it is not the final answer in itself.

 

[Clipgate]

Could you please give a source for that please, or is it just your assumption?

DVLA used to state any EU Registered Doctor.

I have had my last 3 Medicals done by a Polish Doctor in Poland, including the last one in Nov 2020, but that was before the end of the Transition Period.

Geoff

Please refer to the Brexit checker on professional cross border recognition.
I had not checked specifically medical doctors cross acceptance.
The question asked about a UK doctor, this is a little different to the UK acceptance of a now another country doctors recognition. Unfortunately the whole cross border working is now a challenge.
https://www.gov.uk/transition-check
This not wholly upto date it seems however it gives a rough guide.

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[Clipgate]

This may also be of assistance:

Driving in Europe: UK licence holders living in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland

Driving licence exchange and rules for drivers living in the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.

www.gov.uk

 

[eurajohn]

I am afraid that I disagree with most of the points that people made in order to state that what I asked can't be done.
I am resident in France so I can stay here as long as I like, I don't have to return to the U.K. after 90 days.
I will apply for a French licence but in the meantime the French authorities are actively discouraging applications to exchange, in order to avoid their systems being snowed under. My U.K. licence remains legal in France for now, even though I am resident.
As I understand it, what DVLA requires is not some form of residence in the U.K., but "an address in the U.K. at which you can always be contacted", and I have one of those.
I understood from the MF posts that the C1 entitlement that had been established by testing will be extended, but the C1 entitlement grandfathered from before 1992 will not be extended. This latter is my case.
And I didn't ask about how to have the medical done by a French doctor, I asked if anyone knew a British doctor who happens to be in France at the moment.
I guess it's looking like a "No"!

Your assumption ref. just needing an address that you refer to above is incorrect.

It is illegal to renew your licence in the UK if you are resident in France, which can have further implications on your residency in France and HMRC in the UK. But also be aware the licence you wish to exchange must have obtained the licence before you arrived in France.
DVLA
This is the statement from the DVLA, with regard to renewing a licence in the UK if you are no longer a resident.
This is written on all GB driving licence applications, as part of the legal declaration that has to be made when the application is submitted or signed.

It states the following:
"I declare that I am a resident in the UK (*) and understand that it is criminal offence to make a false declaration to get a driving licence and that to do so can lead to prosecution and a maximum penalty of up to two years imprisonment. I also understand that failing to provide correct information is an offence that could lead to prosecution and a fine or up to £1000."

If you agreed to this declaration when not a resident in the UK, this would be considered as a breach of the declaration and would be a criminal offence.
This is also on the hard copy Form D1

Even if you manage to renew your UK licence it will only buy you a maximum of one year of legality and then you will need to change to a french one, (which I note you are aware of), that will then require you to register your van in France as you cannot legally drive an owned English registered van with a French licence.

​

 

[TheDogMan]

There was an extension but it ended on 31/12/2020. Licenses that expire after that date have to be renewed in the normal way. There are some exemptions for HGV licenses.

I was 73 last june and the DVLA was in chaos with a big backlog so they could not deal with the medicals & renew licences, after a few letters they sent me a one year licence which expires in August 2021, I have to go through the medical etc again in June and pay again. i don't think a C1 is worth all the stress I am thinking about getting a 3.5t one and selling my existing one so I don't need a C1 at all

 

[TheDogMan]

There was an extension but it ended on 31/12/2020. Licenses that expire after that date have to be renewed in the normal way. There are some exemptions for HGV licenses.

I was 73 last june and the DVLA was in chaos with a big backlog so they could not deal with the medicals & renew licences, after a few letters they sent me a one year licence which expires in August 2021, I have to go through the medical etc again in June and pay again. i don't think a C1 is worth all the stress I am thinking about getting a 3.5t one and selling my existing one so I don't need a C1 at all

 

[EdwardFT]

Your assumption ref. just needing an address that you refer to above is incorrect.

It is illegal to renew your licence in the UK if you are resident in France, which can have further implications on your residency in France and HMRC in the UK. But also be aware the licence you wish to exchange must have obtained the licence before you arrived in France.
DVLA
This is the statement from the DVLA, with regard to renewing a licence in the UK if you are no longer a resident.
This is written on all GB driving licence applications, as part of the legal declaration that has to be made when the application is submitted or signed.

It states the following:
"I declare that I am a resident in the UK (*) and understand that it is criminal offence to make a false declaration to get a driving licence and that to do so can lead to prosecution and a maximum penalty of up to two years imprisonment. I also understand that failing to provide correct information is an offence that could lead to prosecution and a fine or up to £1000."

If you agreed to this declaration when not a resident in the UK, this would be considered as a breach of the declaration and would be a criminal offence.
This is also on the hard copy Form D1

Even if you manage to renew your UK licence it will only buy you a maximum of one year of legality and then you will need to change to a french one, (which I note you are aware of), that will then require you to register your van in France as you cannot legally drive an owned English registered van with a French licence.

​

Your assumption ref. just needing an address that you refer to above is incorrect.

It is illegal to renew your licence in the UK if you are resident in France, ....

Even if you manage to renew your UK licence it will only buy you a maximum of one year of legality and then you will need to change to a french one, (which I note you are aware of), that will then require you to register your van in France as you cannot legally drive an owned English registered van with a French licence.

​

Thank you for a careful and comprehensive answer. I could still nitpick (years of practice) But I really just have one quibble, since I am not actually trying to cheat, just (among other things) trying not to travel around different countries and get quarantined. I am resident in France, my UK licence is nearing expiry, and France asks us not to exchange for a French licence at the moment, saying that a U.K. licence is still valid. But it won't be if it has expired. Incidentally my daughter did exchange her licence last year and it took many months to get the French one. Okay they let you keep the British one in the meantime but that's not much use if it has expired.

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[Grummyb]

I really want to write this us why no one likes the French but thsts not really very helpful (although I bet it got some people laughing) I would ring the dvla at Swansea they are normally really helpful and due to the covid issue the exemptions keep changing so the press are not always upto date I expect you will find that the the medical exemption has been extended by a year so you should be ok

 

[SmithsInFrance]

I am resident in France, my UK licence is nearing expiry, and France asks us not to exchange for a French licence at the moment, saying that a U.K. licence is still valid. But it won't be if it has expired.

Why don't you send off for a French licence and ask the mairie for an attestation that you have applied for it. Our mairie is always really helpful with things like this (but check with them before you send it off).

 

[EdwardFT]

Why don't you send off for a French licence and ask the mairie for an attestation that you have applied for it. Our mairie is always really helpful with things like this (but check with them before you send it off).

That is the right idea. I think that is the straight line to getting this fixed.
Minor point, it is not now the Mairie or Préfecture, it is online, but yes they should give an attestation that you have applied for it. (It won't cover C1 but that's another problem).
Personal point: my official home address is in the 93, France's Covid hotspot. At nearly 70 and on chemo, I don't want to set foot there for the moment.
Confusion point: the French website

kernel (1)

Le site officiel du Ministère de l'intérieur : Actualités, votre sécurité, vos démarches administratives, collectivités territoriales, immigration, préfet, gendarmerie, police, sécurité civile, sapeurs-pompiers, secrétariat général, sécurité routière, élections.

www.interieur.gouv.fr

Says you have to provide an attestation less than 3 months old from the DVLA, and I bet the DVLA have not heard of this yet.

• Attestation de droits à conduire de moins de 3 mois des autorités britanniques permettant de vérifier que vous ne faites pas l'objet d'une mesure de suspension, de retrait ou d'annulation du droit de conduire ; l'attestation doit être accompagnée d'une traduction effectuée par un traducteur habilité

 

[EdwardFT]

Also, you out in your application then at some point they ask for your original UK licence, and give you an attestation that allows you to drive until the expiry date of the original licence. They warn that the procedure from then may take several months. I still fear being unable to drive for some months.

 

[SmithsInFrance]

Says you have to provide an attestation less than 3 months old from the DVLA, and I bet the DVLA have not heard of this yet.

• Attestation de droits à conduire de moins de 3 mois des autorités britanniques permettant de vérifier que vous ne faites pas l'objet d'une mesure de suspension, de retrait ou d'annulation du droit de conduire ; l'attestation doit être accompagnée d'une traduction effectuée par un traducteur habilité

I know it all has to be done online now, but I would still go to the mairie and present them with the problem (!). There are a lot of delays on licences, re-registration of vehicles - I know someone who has been waiting for the former for over a year, and for the latter it took best part of a year.
So basically, as long as you are armed with a photocopy (certified by the mairie as a true copy?) of your old licence and then an attestation from them that you have applied for a new one, you should be covered. If you do have a problem with a gendarme then get the mairie to intercede!
Also, your local mairie should be sympathetic (hopefully) to your plight in covid times regarding not going back to 93. But presumably your new licence will - eventually - be sent to your 93 address, so you will need someone to check for you.
Bon courage