Hold-up makes my licence invalid

M.L. writes: My driving licence was due to expire in March. As I have a medical condition, I had to renew by post and not online, so I sent the necessary forms to the DVLA in Swansea by recorded delivery in January. Just over a week later, I received the same renewal form from Swansea, but it advised me to ignore this if I had already applied. I did telephone a few times but was always told staff were too busy. I have continued to drive, but now I have received a DVLA letter saying my licence is no longer valid. We live in a rural area and I need to drive my wife to regular hospital visits.

THE letter from Swansea thanks you for your ‘recent correspondence’, which can only refer to the renewal application you submitted last January.

But the unpleasant sting in the tail is that you have been driving for months without a valid licence, which of course means that your insurance will also not be valid.

After some reluctance when I first contacted them, DVLA staff called you and explained that more medical details were needed, though there was no explanation as to why you were not told this months ago.

Officials said: ‘Medical applications are taking longer due to targeted industrial action and the deprioritisation of medical checks by the NHS to support the pandemic and vaccine roll-out. We expect to be back to normal processing times for medical applications by September.’

And the really good news is that the DVLA has agreed you can carry on driving without a licence, under special rules in the Road Traffic Act which lets you do this while your renewal request is considered.