Long road to get my driving licence renewed

IN response to David Goodger’s letter Leicester Mercury (“Fear that disaster has struck staff of DVLA”, Mailbox, July 29), I had a similar experience to him when renewing my driving licence.

Being of a similar age to Mr Goodger, I received notification at the end of January that my licence was due for renewal by the end of March so immediately filled in the form online.

I checked it had been received and was assured it had and that “the application was in progress”.

I continued to check for several weeks, with the same result.

I also contacted DVLA by phone and eventually got through to speak to an operator and expressed my concerns that my licence would soon be past the expiry date.

She said she could send me an official letter which I could use if challenged stating that my application had been received and that I could continue to drive for up to a year from the application date.

I agreed to this and subsequently received the letter.

Ultimately, I received my new licence over three months from the initial application.

I understand that DVLA staff have been under extreme pressure during the pandemic due to staff shortages and have threatened strike action, although I don’t think this has been carried through.

Incidentally, a word of caution: I completed my application online believing the site I went to was the correct one.

As it transpired it was not the official gov.uk website but that of a business offering to make an application on behalf of individuals and businesses (this was not made clear when I completed the form).

As a result of this I was charged £79 for the privilege.

It was not until after I had completed that I realised that there was no requirement for me to make payment due to my age.

Unfortunately, I could not recoup the money, but on the positive side they did forward my application to DVLA as soon as I had completed the form.

So readers beware!

Make sure you use the official gov. uk website.

Karen Cane, Birstall