Driving on UK insurance with a foreign driving licence...

[white_goodman]

Don't know if this the right section but not much luck on GG, so thought that I would try here. Thanks.

My brother and his family are visiting from overseas for a month in August and due to the exorbitant cost of renting a car for a month, I had a spare vehicle available for him to use, so was going to add him to my insurance for a month so that he could use it whilst he was here. However, despite him passing his test here and having held a UK driving licence for 15+ years, his UK driving licence is no longer current, so my insurer will not allow me to add him to my insurance. He has come over and rented a car in the past with his foreign driving licence without issue. Has anyone else tried to do this? Is it typical? Are there any insurance companies that allow you to add a named driver to your insurance driving on a foreign driving licence? Any insight would be much appreciated.

[white_goodman]

Sebring440 said:

In what way is his "UK driving licence" no longer current? Is it the photocard that's expired? His licence will still be current though.
(Unless he's been banned for a long, long time, of course).

He had to give it up to get his foreign driving licence. Plus he wouldn't have a valid UK address of course.

[white_goodman]

Cat said:

No I'm saying if you exchange your UK licence, which is what the OP says their brother did, for an EU one the foreign authority take the licence and return it to DVLA informing them that it has been exchanged. The DVLA then cancel your UK licence as it's not permitted to have more than one EU licence.

Cat

Exactly this, although my brother is outside the EU.

[white_goodman]

Buffalo said:

My UK licence had to be surrendered for a Canadian one several years back, but on visits to the UK I was able to drive various family members cars. Insurers were ok with it, so not sure why yours is not accepting. As far as I can recall, it was just explained as a returning ex-uk resident/holder of licence, now holding foreign due tonexchange requirement returning for short period, etc.

Edited by Buffalo on Monday 16th May 22:48

Out of interest, do you know who you're family members were insured with? My policy is up for renewal before August, so this is an option. I'm not unhappy with my current insurer but I have switched insurers before due to silly rules eg when I switched from a performance car to an ordinary diesel, my premium skyrocketed because that wasn't their specialisation and then when I went back to an Impreza, Churchill insisted on me fitting a Tracker despite the car being 6 years old and living in a low risk area, so I had to switch again.

[white_goodman]

QuickQuack said:

We have a Ukranian family now living with us, a mother and 2 children. She has a Ukrainian driving licence, never had a UK or EU licence. My insurance company is Admiral and it cost me £80 to add her to my insurance policy for the remainder of the policy term (about 8 months) including the admin fee for my Range Rover. My wife's insurance company is LV or Direct Line, can't remember which one as she swapped from one to the other. She drives a BMW X1 and they wanted £120, and even then they would only provide cover for 42 days at a time, it had to be renewed every 42 days at £120 a time.

As is always the case, call your insurance company and ask them. You may be pleasantly surprised (or plainly shocked!) by their response.

Cheers for that. I will call Admiral and give them a go (have insured with them in the past actually). Fair play to you for supporting a Ukranian family too.

[white_goodman]

GCH said:

I have a US license and a UK licence. I did in fact just renew the UK one as the photo was ten years old and had just expired. I did not have to surrender my UK one when I passed my US test, and even if I did, they would have simply shredded it, not contacted the DVLA about anything.

UK entitlement to drive after passing your test lasts until your 70th birthday. The photo expires after ten years, but that does not void the licence - it is a separate and distinct non-endorsable offence for driving with an expired photo.
A UK photocard licence can be fully current & compliant if you have a UK address that it can be registered at, and that they can still be reached at or via. As stated by a poster above, it does not have to be yours, it can be a family members which fulfills that requirement.... this was also clarified with some legalese on here a long thread here some years ago.
The easiest solution to your problem is to get him to apply for a replacement UK licence, using your address, using his driver number and stating that it has been destroyed. Cost is £14. The DVLA won't ask, or care, if they currently hold a licence from another country.

Edited by GCH on Tuesday 17th May 22:57

Thanks for the tip. He was forced to surrender his UK licence in order to get his new licence and I guess they must have sent it back to DVLA. Not sure he knows his driving number, that's the thing. Maybe he still has a photocopy of it somewhere.

[white_goodman]

Thanks for all the replies. Yes, I did manage to get both my brother and his wife as named drivers on my policy by switching companies (was with DL before). There is a 30 day limit per visit or something like that, which works just fine. Thanks again.