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driving whilst waiting on dvla decision - davuck

Hello,

Im waiting on dvla coming back to me after informing them of me having a notifiable medical condition and I have been told i am ok to drive until they make their medical enquires etc.

What I was wondering was say i go on a weekend break somewhere away from home in my car and miss any potential correspondence from the dvla and in the worst case scenario its me having to send my licence back to them, what would be the legal situation as far as me being able to drive back home.

I ask because in the worst case scenario im stranded away from home if say I got stopped or any reason similar to that and my licence checked and then confiscated and although its looking like their enquiries to my doctor are going to be ok because its been a few months and they have all the information and I haven't heard anything its looking like I might be just worrying but to be super safe I was wondering if anyone could tell me the legal position.

Thanks

driving whilst waiting on dvla decision - HGV ~ P Valentine

Hi, I understand your worry, might I suggest you phone the police non emergency number and simply explain to them and ask if they can check for you.

If you have been at the same addressfor years then unless they have told you by post it is unlikely that they have suspended your licence, and if you go after last post on sat then you can argue that you did not recieve notification.

You could trying asking your insurance company to do a check for you on your behalf, but make sure you fullly explain why you are asking them to do it

www.askmid.com/

The above link reckons they can check also, but read the page, it states that " I further understand that this check on askMID is not proof of insurance nor is it proof of no insurance .", which to me makes the site worthless, it is a gov website as well.

My advice ask the police to check, or your own insurers, you could try one of those sites that give you insurance day by day, who have to check to see if the vehicle is insured before they give you a quote, so its kinda using them, and try and get some proof that you tried to check, just in case.

Legally the law states that it is solely your responibility to make sure you are covered, no excuses, rhyme or eason for not having it will be given the light of day, sorry but that is the bottom line.

On a diff matter but it does show how anal the authorities are, I once asked a police officer to breathalize me in the morning to make sure I was under the limit, he said he can only do it after I start driving, when I argued and told him I am trying to prevent myself from driving while over the limit, he said if you are not sure then don't drive, I waited until the evening.

so mayne thats your answer mate, get someone else to do the driving if you are not sure, I hope this was helpful to you. Regards Paul V

Edited by 30 yr's a Professional Driver on 18/07/2018 at 22:30

driving whilst waiting on dvla decision - HGV ~ P Valentine

Ps you could try asking dvla direct by calling them, explaining your concerns, but if they say you should be ok, then get them to confirm with an email, and take a copy of that email with you on your weekend break. Make sure you get the full name of the person who gave you the green light.

driving whilst waiting on dvla decision - davuck

Thanks Paul, thats more or less what i was thinking the case would be, you are correct when you say the authorities are anal etc and the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing etc. Its not that im planning going away its more of me wondering what would happen "if" etc. Its that I have a relative a bit away that i should visit . I have read cases of people being stopped and when the police done checks the car was confiscated, which if that happened to me would be a real inconvenience . I recken i will just wait let sleeping dogs lie for now as its not urgent.

Thanks again

driving whilst waiting on dvla decision - HGV ~ P Valentine

You are welcome, I would suggest you go mate, none of us know how much time we have on this earth and tomorrow may be too late. Anyway safe motoring.

driving whilst waiting on dvla decision - Bromptonaut

You could trying asking your insurance company to do a check for you on your behalf, but make sure you fullly explain why you are asking them to do it

www.askmid.com/

The above link reckons they can check also, but read the page, it states that " I further understand that this check on askMID is not proof of insurance nor is it proof of no insurance .", which to me makes the site worthless, it is a gov website as well.

I'm struggling to understand your rationale here Paul. OP's issue is about inquiries being made by DVLA Drivers' Medical bods. If there's a query about how long it's taking or likely outcome then question needs to be raised with DVLA. If it's suspended will that be forthwith or is there a 'grace period'?

If his license is suspended forthwith and letter informing him is sitting on his doormat at time he's stopped Police may well be sympathetic. Even if they considered charging an offence of driving unlicenced it's unlikely, unless OP has 'previous', that they'd charge lack of insurance as well.

Ask MID is a service provided so that the public can check their own car is on the database as insured and won't ping police ANPR. All it tells you is that the database does or does no have an extant insurance shown aginst the registration. It could be wrong due to errors or ommissions. My car shows as insured but if my son were to drive it it's not so it's hardly surprising there are disclaimers.

What makes you think it's a .gov website? Neither the domain nor the design of the page suggest any such thing.

driving whilst waiting on dvla decision - JohnM52

Having experience,as part of my work, of medical enquiries resulting in suspension of a licence all the letters I have seen have advised that the licence will be suspended with effect from a future date, usually about a week after the letter has realistically been received.

The letter also includes the appeals process for both England and Scotland.