DRIVING LICENCE. (1 Viewer)

[MitchandJenny]

My licence arrived today. ( Previously lost it for Nocturnal epilepsy )
Fab U lous darlings.
Mitch.

 

[StephandJohn]

Interesting you posted this. John has recently had one episode of unconsciousness lasting about 4 minutes at night and is now having a huge range of tests. Nothing shown up yet.The doc says its not unusual to have a one off episode and they often don't know why.
He's been told not to drive at the moment and the DVLA will make a decision on it once the verdict is back from the docs.
Very worrying and upsetting.
Do you mind telling us if your's was a one-off occurrence or more and how long you lost your licence for? Maybe PM me if you would rather keep it private. It would help to know other people's experiences which would maybe calm us down.
We'd already been planning next year's long trip to the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Greece. Although I can drive the van we wouldn't want to go that far for 4 months or so with just one driver.
Thanks
Steph

 

[StephandJohn]

PS. Sorry, it just goes to show how wound up I am about all this because I didn't say well done to you Mitch and that's great news.

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[MitchandJenny]

Hi Steph.
VERY sorry to hear your news and I DO know how upsetting it is.
My first seizure was in 1015 and I had no more until this year, when I had 3 more.
I was told by the specialist to notify DVLA (which I did ) but kept my actual licence at home (informing them that I couldn't find it at present ).
I had an EEG which showed no damage and no apparent cause. My specialist wrote to DVLA informing them of that.
We then found an Epilepsy nurse to get some information for my wife Jenny on what to do during an attack. That nurse said "oh you MUST send off your licence straight away".
Which I did the next day. 2 days later I had a letter from DVLA informing me that because I had 3 years history of only Nocturnal seizures, that I met the requirements and could drive. I rang and spoke to the Medical department of DVLA and told them I had posted off my licence to them and she said "Oh you shouldn't have done that".. ! ! !
She spoke to someone at her end and said we will issue you another on ASAP, which they did and I have it ! !
We were, however prepared to go to Spain with jenny doing the driving. IF she had benn "stricken down" with something that rendered her unable to drive, I WOULD have stepped in.. How many times have you been asked to produce your licence ?? You have to make your own decision on that...
I must say that the Medical dept could not have been more helpful ! ! ! ! !
Yes, a very pleasant surprise ! ! ! !
I lost my licence for 1 year in 2015 and was banned this year for 1 year, the outcome of which, you now know.
The Medical dept of DVLA is on 03007906801.
I sincerely hope that this helps and that you have a good outcome
I DO hope this helps in some way.
Apologies to all the other "Funsters", but who knows, there may be others and this may help them too, which is why I didn't PM Steph.
Yours.
Mitch. xx

 

[mfw]

My son has had 3 seizures since 14 and 1 since getting his license - he is 36 now - lost license when it last happened probably 16yrs ago - think it still only lasts 3 years even now but he takes tegretol tablets all the time - when they tried taking him off them he had a seizure which is when it cost him with his license

 

[MitchandJenny]

PS. I am on Lamotrigine tablets. 2 x 100mg at 12 hour intervals. But my specialist prescribed that and I had to "work up" to that dosage in 25mg increments 2 weeks at a time.
Mitch.

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[Puddleduck]

So pleased that it has worked out for you Mitch.

If anyone is told not to drive for medical reasons and to advise the DVLA my experience is you should voluntarily send back your licence. When you get the all clear you can then notify them you are fit to drive again.

In both my case and my husband's case (different problems) we were told to inform them which we did. We did not know about the voluntary surrender and we both waited for the DVLA decision. Martin had his licence suspended and it took only a short time to have it re-instated.

In my case instead of 6 months it took almost 2 years and my MP had to become involved. The board only met twice a year and if your case wasn't decided it was held over ..... Had I done the voluntary surrender I could have had the licence back once I was 6 months without symptoms. Oh, and the board only cancelled my licence 4 months after I informed them which was the next time they met. Obviously I had not driven during that time.

EDIT: I found the clerks at the DVLA very polite but it isn't their decision and you never get to talk to someone who can make a decision. Quite correctly they will always err on the cautious side.

 

[StephandJohn]

Thank you Mitch and everyone. Its nice to know we aren't the only one's in this difficult situation.
Thanks Puddleduck for the heads up about the voluntary surrender. It makes sense to do that now and then follow up with the medical info. later.
Thinking about the insurance - did you tell them at the same time or can that wait until we've got a verdict on what happened which should be in a couple of weeks?
The doc said it might be a slow heartbeat and this should be picked up by the 24 hour heart monitor next week. In this case he'll need a pacemaker. All we need to do is notify the DVLA but he probably will be told not to drive for only a month.
The insurance would be a real pain as John is the main driver and I'm the named driver for the motorhome so we'd have to cancel the insurance and then start again with just me as the driver. You can only claim your no claim bonus on one vehicle and the car is in my name with him as second driver so it would cost us to fiddle about with it now before the verdict.
This last few years John has had many unrelated to each other illnesses which have caused us many problems but this is the worst! He loves driving the van and we both feel very upset at this potentially major 'blip' in our plans.
Sorry about the moaning and apologies to everyone for whom this thread doesna't apply at all.

 

[Puddleduck]

T

Thinking about the insurance - did you tell them at the same time or can that wait until we've got a verdict on what happened which should be in a couple of weeks?

We told the insurance and they made a note on the policy. Our insurance drivers are the same as you, I queried main driver etc but they said they would review at next renewal.

Because I provided all the medical stuff and my specialist confirmed we were waiting on the DVLA there was no change to the main driver on the policy, just the note about what was happening. I also sent them a copy of all the correspondence with the DVLA. We do have to declare we have medical conditions that the DVLA are aware of.

Hope this helps.

Insurance companies were ERS and Direct Line.

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[MitchandJenny]

Steph. I got it slightly wrong. The first time, I was banned for 6 months only.
I did NOT inform the Insurance Company, as we are both named and I had no intention of driving (except in dire straights).
I was also diagnosed with Bradicardia (Slow heartbeat) mine was because I had an enlarged heart, due to having to work hard to keep up with bigger ( Malformed freaks of nature ! ! )
This meant when I sat doing nothing, my pulse slowed and deprived my brain of oxygen
causing me to pass out.
I have a pacemaker (fitted way before my first seizure in 2015.) to keep my pulse up to above 60 bpm.
I wish you and John all the luck in the world.
Mitch.

 

[StephandJohn]

Thanks Mitch and Puddleduck for the extra info.

 

[Puddleduck]

I was banned

No, not banned but suspended due to medical reasons...... I always think "banned" is for things like too many points, drunk or dangerous driving.

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[MitchandJenny]

Stephandjohn.. The law says that a person cannot be treated as a separate case (money wise) just because they are Epileptic. So NO extra charge can be applied...
( I call it "Being Paralytic" ) It sounds more interesting ! ! !
Mitch.