What is going on with DVLA? (1 Viewer)

[acropolis22]

My licence renewal application has been with those useless idiots since the first week of January. How long are these taking at the moment? Anyone any idea? It's a C1 renewal. I sent them a letter from a consultant with additional information. They gave me an email address to get it there as quickly as possible, then said "it takes 10 days to scan it into our system"....... Could they be any more useless?

 

[Googlebot]

If you have source for the information maybe you could tell us how many doctors there are and which are full-time and how many hours part-time doctors work.

Why don’t you do an FOI request and they will tell you all that?

 

[x17ken]

I sent for my medical 70yo licence in October 2023 and received it 24th December 2023 by the last post before Christmas (we actually set off for Folkestone 25th Dec )it took many many phone calls a second medical questionnaire and one from my GP (which the surgery took 3 weeks to give it to him - as they only do them once a month !!!!!) to get it in time

I think you have made some very important points here. There are many links in the chain in securing your lovely new licence as you have described. Let's get this out of the way first - recognise that none of the participants in the chain could give a toss about your holiday bookings. The bookings were done without consultation with them first. So that's your problem not their's. Your GP is too busy to worry about your particular timelines and holiday bookings - they are busy saving lives and dealing with NHS paperwork -when they have got time. DVLA have to process an enormous amount of medical referrals every day without enough people. They were also not able to deal with holiday deadlines that they did not commit to. I'm not trying to be being political on this, but for many reasons this is illustrative of the poor standards of service we have become accustomed to in the UK in 2024. When you vote for governments to make laws that control the people and vehicles that can be on our roads every day - you have to recognise that the legislation has to be backed by resources to enforce the laws. The absence of the required resources is, in my opinion, the root cause cause of many of the problems and delays experienced by people who have reported issues on this forum. But adequate resources come at a cost to all of us as taxpayers. There is no easy and cheap solution in my opinion.

 

[JockandRita]

Section 88 allows drivers to drive on the road until they actually receive their new licence.

But only in the UK, and certainly not abroad.

DVLA signed for my annual HGV/PSV renewal application in October, complete with forms D2 & D4, which were sent in at the start of the 90 x day period.
Getting worried and desperate that my 12 x month licence would expire, and we'd have to cancel our trip to Spain, I tried several ways of trying to get to speak with someone. Eventually, I got a call back from a very nice helpful lady, who informed me that my application had gone to DVLA's Medical Dept. WHY? There were no medical issues whatsoever, as I passed the driver's medical without any problems, just as I do every year.
She could not understand why it had gone to the Medical Dept, but would investigate for me. She then proceeded to inform me that my C1 Category was still valid and in date until March 2027. True, but what she failed to recognise, is that the date at 4b on the front of the UK licence.....................is it's expiry date, (have a look), regardless of when the categories expire, ie, the licence is issued annually, and is only valid for 12 x months.

If I had listened to her, then been pulled by French or Spanish plod, and asked to produce my licence which had already expired, can you imagine the trouble I would have been in, by taking her advice.

It's your licence, not theirs, so you need to look after it and be fully aware of the rules/regs.................because they clearly aren't.

Regards,

Jock.

 

[acropolis22]

I stand to be corrected on this, but my understanding is that the leaders of the team meet, as any other team would, to discuss and agree standards and processes. And I would guess that from time to time there are cases that require some collective decisions. But for the generality of cases they work as full and part-time workers in a process that is well defined and understood. The idea that every case that goes for medical determination has to go to a meeting is pure nonsense.

I certainly hope that is true.

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[acropolis22]

When I phoned they said I couldn’t sent a letter from my consultant as it could be a forgery

I sent in my consultant's letter telling me that there had been no change in my condition and that he would see me again in 5 years. (DVLA were happy to give me an email address to send in the scanned letter). But then they sent me a letter telling me they are writing to the consultant to ask if I'm OK to drive. Presumably they want him to spell out in words of one letter that I'm OK to drive. I wouldn't mind but it's taken nearly 5 months to get to this stage, and my ferry is booked for May 12th.

 

[denisejoe]

GPs get £40 for filling in the form I saw it on the form as my doctors put it on my records

 

[acropolis22]

GPs get £40 for filling in the form I saw it on the form as my doctors put it on my records

And also charge patients £50 plus......

 

[denisejoe]

Haven’t charged me

 

[acropolis22]

Haven’t charged me

You're lucky. A lot of them do charge. And a lot of them don't seem to want to do the medicals.

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[JockandRita]

Haven’t charged me

You're lucky. A lot of them do charge. And a lot of them don't seem to want to do the medicals.

The last time I went to my own GP some years ago to ask for a Driver's Medical, I was quoted £135 back then. I hot footed it to a surgery in P/boro who did them for £48. I now use a local HGV/PSV Driver Training Centre who employ a GP. They charge £55.00.

Cheers,

Jock.

 

[angusboy]

Sent off a month ago so it's going to be a long wait

 

[stevec]

Sent off a month ago so it's going to be a long wait



View attachment 891424

At least you have notification that they are doing something.

 

[angusboy]

True

 

[Kirsten]

No t had any response from them re progress, I know they wrote to my oncologist a month ago as she rang giggling / puzzled asking if I was driving a bus for a living ..she filled in form and I assume sent it back. She didn’t want paying as she said the DVLA pay so ??? Re people saying the Drs charge them ( this is for follow up not first sending in forms ) Check every day on net - now know driving licence no off by heart . Have booked France for September but now feeling it’s unlikely I wil have a response by then from reading this thread

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[acropolis22]

Sent off a month ago so it's going to be a long wait



View attachment 891424

Can't see any date on that. How long ago did your doctor reply to DVLA?

 

[acropolis22]

No t had any response from them re progress, I know they wrote to my oncologist a month ago as she rang giggling / puzzled asking if I was driving a bus for a living ..she filled in form and I assume sent it back. She didn’t want paying as she said the DVLA pay so ??? Re people saying the Drs charge them ( this is for follow up not first sending in forms ) Check every day on net - now know driving licence no off by heart . Have booked France for September but now feeling it’s unlikely I wil have a response by then from reading this thread

So DVLA have had a response from your doctor a month ago, but you still don't have your licence? Looks like my ferry ticket will be down the drain and I'll be having a UK holiday.

 

[acropolis22]

No t had any response from them re progress, I know they wrote to my oncologist a month ago as she rang giggling / puzzled asking if I was driving a bus for a living ..she filled in form and I assume sent it back. She didn’t want paying as she said the DVLA pay so ??? Re people saying the Drs charge them ( this is for follow up not first sending in forms ) Check every day on net - now know driving licence no off by heart . Have booked France for September but now feeling it’s unlikely I wil have a response by then from reading this thread

I just noticed your mention of checking on the net. I didn't know you could do that? I guess you are talking about an online application? I don't think you can do that for a postal application us C1 oldies have to do.

 

[ChrisL]

I just noticed your mention of checking on the net. I didn't know you could do that? I guess you are talking about an online application? I don't think you can do that for a postal application us C1 oldies have to do.

I think he means check if it's already been updated on their servers. Use your driver license number to check below.

View or share your driving licence information

Find out what information DVLA holds about your driving licence or create a check code to share your driving record, for example to hire a car

www.gov.uk

 

[angusboy]

Can't see any date on that. How long ago did your doctor reply to DVLA?

He hasn't recived it yet checked with him today

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[Kirsten]

I just noticed your mention of checking on the net. I didn't know you could do that? I guess you are talking about an online application? I don't think you can do that for a postal application us C1 oldies have to do.

No I applied on paper after visit to D4D; daily checks on DVLA website just show my entitlement has lapsed ... I am an oldie too xx

 

[acropolis22]

He hasn't recived it yet checked with him today

OMG. How long ago did they write to you?

 

[angusboy]

OMG. How long ago did they write to you?

2 days ago

 

[acropolis22]

2 days ago

My letter was dated 23rd April, received by me 27th. Checked yesterday with consultant, they've had nothing yet. It's like watching paint dry.

 

[angusboy]

Yes I'm expecting very long wait

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[acropolis22]

Yes I'm expecting very long wait

I've now been waiting nearly 4 months. My ferry is booked for May 12th. Seems unlikely we will be going. Thanks DVLA for ruining our summer holiday.

 

[angusboy]

I've now been waiting nearly 4 months. My ferry is booked for May 12th. Seems unlikely we will be going. Thanks DVLA for ruining our summer holiday.

That's discusting

 

[stevec]

I've now been waiting nearly 4 months. My ferry is booked for May 12th. Seems unlikely we will be going. Thanks DVLA for ruining our summer holiday.

Thats why we haven't booked anything for our normal August/September trip to France. We'll be tripping around the UK instead. If I get my licence by Christmas I'll be happy. Applied three weeks ago so probably still in someone's in tray!

 

[Pausim]

Just got the new registration of my Malibu Van through in less than 2 weeks, 1 week earlier than I expected. Sometimes the DVLA can outperform it’s target times.

 

[The Artilleryman]

Delays at DVLA needing medical approval are nothing new, see post no.14 and I retired over 6 years ago.

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[acropolis22]

Delays at DVLA needing medical approval are nothing new, see post no.14 and I retired over 6 years ago.

Well, they're new if it's the first time it's happened to you..... And post #14 refers to a D licence not a C1. I shouldn't have to write off a year's European trips to allow for 9 months to renew a licence.