If you have a licence from another country, (have you got a german one?) you can drive for a certain period even if you are on a uk provisional. swmbo had a uk provisional, but a full abu dhabi licence and was able to drive while she took some lessons here and then passed, the examiner did remark that she seemed to be a very experienced and cautious driver and was satisfied when she explained. If you south african licence is still valid or your german one you have little to fear. just ask a friend to get a copy for you.

Yet again it seems failure to follow matters up leads to a BIG problems and another tale of woe....

Somewhere along the line a hickcup has occurred.

Where was the test sat in UK?. An approach to that office may be able to unearth confirmation a pass occurred. I doubt a dupl;icate now will assist other than (see later).

If you sent the pass certificate to DVLA and delay in doing so. I seem to think (not researched) a pass cerificate does not have a finite life and expires after so long if not activated so one has to go back to square one .....a learner driver and all that entails plates and supervision. I presume the Office would advise DVLA of the pass so that when yours was sent it could be married up.

If sent within time and DVLA sent full Licence out then this would be a life Licence (to 70 trs of age) so that they would have an active record. In saying they cancelled because the Pass certificate was not actioned would indicate you were lax in sending it off????? or even following matters up.

The exemption from L Plates and unsupervised under the Regs would only apply whilst the Pass certicate was valid which seems was not the case when you were stopped so expect summons for the offence of failing to comply with conditions of Licence.

If DVLA have dug their heels in then you will have a hell of a job this change this. The only solution ut would seem will be to retake the test and pass again.

If you can trace through the Office where the test was carried out the issue of a Pass certificate this could form some mitigation at Court to prove your not a chancing boy racer as such.

Sorry but there does not seem to be a magic wand to wave and you are the master of your own downfall.

dvd

.Your back to L status and because of the fact that you seemed to have been driving continuously (illegally) you should have no problem in passing the test. However on that note a word of caution. Bad habits creep in with time after taking a test and it would not be a bad idea to have a couple of runs out with a local Driving Instructor who will be aware of current requirements. You do know where the fan belt is?

dvd

Thanks for the input dvd. Just to clarify, I have already retaken my test. I got a local instructor for a couple of hourse beforehand and passed with zero minors although for anybody needing to retake a test, it isn't easy and signal, mirror, manouver is the wrong way round!

As regards the test certificate, this isn't an issue. DVLA have a record of my 1988 pass and don't dispute it. Even the roadside officer was able to confirm it on the radio.

But you are spot on when you say that it all stems from a failure to follow up. Had I followed up when I sent my two parts off none of this would have happened.

I am now also battling with DVLA over the New Drivers Act. I wanted to be sure that the New Drivers Act didn't apply to me. In particular, I want to be sure that if I pick up another speeding ticket, that I wouldn't automatically lose my licence yet again. I asked DVLA to clarify and they came back this morning to say

I can confirm that if a test pass was left unclaimed and was lost, and another test subsequently passed, then the licence would commence on the date that the second test was passed.

Therefore the licence holder would fall under the rules for The New Drivers Act which was described in the previous email.

Their response doesn't fit with the legislation which reads:

(1)For the purposes of this Act, a person’s probationary period is, subject to section 7, the period of two years beginning with the day on which he becomes a qualified driver.

(2)For the purposes of this Act, a person becomes a qualified driver on the first occasion on which he passes—

(a)any test of competence to drive mentioned in paragraph (a) or (c) of section 89(1) of the M1Road Traffic Act 1988;

In my case the first occasion on which I passed a test was 1988 and it seems fairly clear cut to me. The problem with this particular legislation and DVLA's interpretation is that it is automatic without any appeal mechanism. If the worst happened and I picked up another few points nobody would exercise any discretion and I wouldn't be able to contest it. I would simply get a letter telling me my licence had been revoked.

I will update here on any progress made but if anyone has any thoughts on the New Driver bit it would be much appreciated.

Me thinks a Barrister would agree with your arguement SE.

dvd

And there's the rub. A Barrister would never have an opportunity to argue the point. The decision to revoke a licence is not made by a court, it is made by the DVLA and it is automatic on getting 6 or more points. There is no appeal mechanism of any kind to change DVLA's decision. The only thing that could be appealed would be the conviction that gave you the pointsbut not on the basis that DVLA had interpreted the consequences incorrectly.

Bottom line is if you have been driving without the correct licence you will be prosecuted and rightly so. Yo maybe experienced but not all inlicenced drivers are anywhre near competent. The law is there to protect people in a many cases and this is one of them. I have been correctly licenced since 1974 and can see no reason why you should not be.

My Husband is in a similar situation to you. I'm curious to know where you stand now with regards to the new driver status and having your licence re-instated. As you say it can be very difficult to get information from the DVLA. Everyone we have spoken to have given us a different answer. Your response would be very much appreciated.