DVLA has added an automatic only restriction to my license

[Tommo87]

swistak said:

QuickQuack said:

Great result!

The fact that you've had to go through this and that it took 6 months is unbelievable though.

It took ~ 1 month (getting DVSA to look into it, then notify DVLA then wait for DVLA to react and update records and notify me, then send a new plastic)
I just remembered about this thread and figured it might come in useful for somebody!

Good to hear you got it sorted in a reasonable time, given the lockdown.

[KevinCamaroSS]

Oilchange said:

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/blog/entry/legislation...

Just to reinforce my argument for those few that are interested...

If legislation has come into effect in the mean time so be it

On licences dating back to that time 4b stated 'Date of expiry of photo' or similar. It now states 'Date of expiry', no mention of photo.

Recently the paper 'counterpart' was removed, I believe that legislation change may have also included this change. I also note that when I allowed my 4b date to pass without doing anything I went online and got the result 'No licence found'. This leads me to conclude that your information is likely to be out of date.

[Oilchange]

If the date of expiry of your licence is your 70th birthday then it should be still legal to drive with an out of date photo but I guess only testing it in court will confirm.
In fact, when they extended the expiry dates due to Covid, they specifically mentioned on the DVLA website that the extension was for the photocard expiry date and did not exclude the right to drive.

Edited by Oilchange on Tuesday 11th August 05:30

[RSTurboPaul]

Purely as an anecdotal comment related to earlier discussion on this thread, I'm pleased to say that I appear to have kept all my codes whilst (reluctantly) moving from paper to photocard licence.

I did do one of the 'online licence checks' before sending it off, PDFing / printing the report showing the classifications I had, and also took a copy of the licence - 'just in case'...

[Psycho Warren]

The irony is the DVLA have backups of the database regularly taken and stored off site. However they refuse to access the database in cases like this. ie it costs them money.

fking you over and making you retake the test costs them nothing.

[vaud]

Psycho Warren said:

The irony is the DVLA have backups of the database regularly taken and stored off site. However they refuse to access the database in cases like this. ie it costs them money.

fking you over and making you retake the test costs them nothing.

Recovering a large database is a very expensive task. It's not a case of just putting the tapes / disk in the machine.

Plus it is outsourced and so would be a project for, I think, IBM.

[Psycho Warren]

That may be the case but surely the onus is on DVLA who have said backups to check before wiping out someones entitlement to drive which can mean losing their career.

[anonymous-user]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

I doubt I'll ever own a manual car again, and both my sons, in their 20s, who have manual licences, wouldn't consider buying a manual.

Mildly off topic, but, as above, automatic is very normal now. None of our last 7 cars have even offered manual.

It will be looked back on as archaic and twee that for so many years we manually levered gears into place when alternative technology was widely available. (Notwithstanding the satsifaction/enthusiast angle).

[98elise]

vaud said:

Psycho Warren said:

The irony is the DVLA have backups of the database regularly taken and stored off site. However they refuse to access the database in cases like this. ie it costs them money.

fking you over and making you retake the test costs them nothing.

Recovering a large database is a very expensive task. It's not a case of just putting the tapes / disk in the machine.

Plus it is outsourced and so would be a project for, I think, IBM.

In a well designed database there would be no need to check backups if key data has changed. Stuff like that should sit in a separate table as a dated change log, or an audit trail. It's basic stuff when storing data that goes through a series of status changes.

Edited by 98elise on Tuesday 16th February 18:20

[vaud]

98elise said:

In a well designed database there would be no need to check backups if key data has changed. Stuff like that should sit in a separate table as dated change log, or an audit trail. It's basic stuff when storing data that goes through a series of status changes.

I don't disagree though this is an outsourced IBM contract from DVLA, the masters of competence.

[croyde]

I had this with TV licensing. On phone telling me I didn't have one whilst I was holding the paper one in my hand and the on line account one on the screen in front of me.

Still claimed I didn't have a licence even when I offered a photo and a screen grab.

Morons, the lot of them.

[MB140]

The really worrying thing is I passed my test in 1994, I have no idea where the pass certificate has gone.

If my licence just lost catalogues how could I prove they existed. I have taken photos of my photo card licence and saved a pdf form of it from the dvla licence check page but would they accept that as evidence.

Knowing and having dealt with the dvla in the past I truly believe they couldn’t organise a piss up while swimming in a bath of booze.

It is a worry. I do know of someone who lost there motorbike entitlement to ride and had to go through the more difficult process it has now become.

[Bigends]

If I recall correctly, all paperwork submitted by way of test passes etc used to be retained on microfiche by the DVLA - nothing gets thrown out - so all original records of test passes are accessible

[MB140]

Bigends said:

If I recall correctly, all paperwork submitted by way of test passes etc is retained on microfiche by the DVLA - nothing gets thrown out - so all original records of test passes are accessible

Well that’s good to know I suppose you would have to go down the Freedom of Information request to get it. I wonder how long the dvla would drag there feet for. I hope there is a time limit to answer the request.

[Bigends]

MB140 said:

Bigends said:

If I recall correctly, all paperwork submitted by way of test passes etc is retained on microfiche by the DVLA - nothing gets thrown out - so all original records of test passes are accessible

Well that’s good to know I suppose you would have to go down the Freedom of Information request to get it. I wonder how long the dvla would drag there feet for. I hope there is a time limit to answer the request.

Shouldnt need an FOI request if its your personal info that youre after. I'd suggest a detailed email/letter to the DVLA outlining exactly what you are after

[vaud]

Bigends said:

Shouldnt need an FOI request if its your personal info that youre after. I'd suggest a detailed email/letter to the DVLA outlining exactly what you are after

Indeed. It's almost the opposite of an FOI.

[Oilchange]

And yet it is just this that I suspect they will demand before they lift a finger.

Incidentally, I believe there is a legal time requirement for a FOI request to be actioned.

[RSTurboPaul]

vaud said:

98elise said:

In a well designed database there would be no need to check backups if key data has changed. Stuff like that should sit in a separate table as dated change log, or an audit trail. It's basic stuff when storing data that goes through a series of status changes.

I don't disagree though this is an outsourced IBM contract from DVLA, the masters of competence.

I thought it was Siemens?

Or is that just the vehicle database?

Good to know our info is secure and not being held in some remote location, of course...


(Mind you, it is probably safer than any Government-produced system would be, lol.)

[vaud]

RSTurboPaul said:

I thought it was Siemens?

Or is that just the vehicle database?

Good to know our info is secure and not being held in some remote location, of course...


(Mind you, it is probably safer than any Government-produced system would be, lol.)

Apologies - I was way out of date. It seems they in-sourced in 2015.

[944 Man]

swistak said:

Not really sure what to do about this. For the past couple of years I noticed that my insurance premiums were rising, for no reason. Today I was looking how much it would cost me to insure a new car and I decided to check my license. It turns out that a couple of years back they have changed it to automatic only! I don't have the driver license pass certificate (sent it out to get the plastic) but I have the original of practical driving test report that says I have passed on a manual. Has anyone had any luck getting this sort of problem sorted out?

Without proof even police motorcyclists have been unable to get their motorcycle entitlement back!

A member here passed his HGV in the army in the seventies and the army still have the paperwork, but the DVLA have tried to mug him off... In theory you should be alright, but the above example worries me as it was clearly one person making up new requirements to still be 'right', which should not happen.