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

[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.

[Cat]

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.

There is a difference between passing your test in another country (EU excepted where it is not permitted to hold more than 1 licence) and exchanging your licence. You passed a test in the US so didn't have to surrender your licence, the OP's brother exchanged their licence for a foreign one.so did have to surrender.

Cat

[Carbon Sasquatch]

Cat said:

There is a difference between passing your test in another country (EU excepted where it is not permitted to hold more than 1 licence) and exchanging your licence. You passed a test in the US so didn't have to surrender your licence, the OP's brother exchanged their licence for a foreign one.so did have to surrender.

Cat

Strange but true - the whole thing is a minefield.

I've just got residence in another country, but will still be spending a lot of time in the UK & retaining a UK car as well.

I can either exchange my licence or take a new test and keep my UK one. However, if I exchange, I only get a car 'B' licence & not the other stuff the UK gave me for being old like D, BE etc. So I'm planning to do a local test & keep the UK licence.

Different countries have different rules - as do insurance companies. So there's no universal answer other than ask your insurance & if it's a problem, pick a different company next time.

[GCH]

Cat said:

There is a difference between passing your test in another country (EU excepted where it is not permitted to hold more than 1 licence) and exchanging your licence. You passed a test in the US so didn't have to surrender your licence, the OP's brother exchanged their licence for a foreign one.so did have to surrender.

Cat

In my case the road test was waived because I had a UK licence and they did need to see it. I only had to take the written test. So a partial exchange I guess.

[andrebar]

I’ve never had an issue getting cover for foreign licence holders who are resident in the UK. What did once prove impossible was arranging cover for a non UK resident driver, even though he still had a clean UK licence.

[Biker 1]

OP: would it make a difference if your relative obtained an international driving permit?

[anonymous-user]

white_goodman said:

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.

My experience. My son is visiting from Australia. He doesn't have a UK licence, just an Australian one.

I thought of getting short-term insurance for him but two companies I tried said if they can't check with DVLA then they can't insure him.

My insurer, LV, said yep, you can have short-term insurance for maximum 6 weeks as a named driver on my policy and having an Australian license only doesn't matter one bit.

[Rushjob]

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

Big difference between you and the OP's relative is that you passed a driving test in the US so are therefore able to hold licences in both countries where you have passed a driving test.
The OP's relative EXCHANGED his UK licence for one for the country where they now reside, you cannot hold a UK licence if you have exchanged it unless you permanently return to the UK and exchange again, however the foreign licence is then cancelled.
He cannot hold both unless driving tests have been passed in both countries.
Your advice to fraudulently apply for a UK licence is just brilliant, I mean, what could go wrong there??

[caziques]

Rushjob said:

Your advice to fraudulently apply for a UK licence is just brilliant, I mean, what could go wrong there??

Why would it be fraud? Why would DVLA know or bother about it? What do you think could go wrong?

I wouldn't hesitate to apply for a UK licence under these circumstances - government agencies of any country don't necessarily know what they are talking about.

ETA. Just checked the NZ requirements. With a UK full, valid, UK licence you can get an NZ one. No tests to sit, no exchanging done.
Each time I leave and return to NZ, my UK one is validated again for 12 months.
Perfectly possible to have two (or more) licences, all valid.

Edited by caziques on Thursday 19th May 03:02

[anonymous-user]

When ever I've had to surrender my uk licence for a forign one I simple report it lost, Done it twice no issue, providing you use a Uk address you can be contacted at,
The licence is effectively lost because they will never find it, my esperience is it simple thrown away it certainly doesnt appear to held in any way it can be recovered.
For My current licence I simple had to show a uk license. But the photo on my Uk license is 20 years old so i don't use it.

[MustangGT]

caziques said:

Why would it be fraud? Why would DVLA know or bother about it? What do you think could go wrong?

If the licence has been exchanged in the EU then, yes, it would be fraud because there is no longer a UK licence to get a copy of. DVLA will have been informed by the EU country as part of the exchange process. Not difficult to understand.

Countries outside the EU are different.

[essayer]

Some insurance companies will insure non-EU licence holders as temporary drivers, some (e.g. DL) won't.

[jm doc]

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

This

[jm doc]

Rushjob said:

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

Big difference between you and the OP's relative is that you passed a driving test in the US so are therefore able to hold licences in both countries where you have passed a driving test.
The OP's relative EXCHANGED his UK licence for one for the country where they now reside, you cannot hold a UK licence if you have exchanged it unless you permanently return to the UK and exchange again, however the foreign licence is then cancelled.
He cannot hold both unless driving tests have been passed in both countries.
Your advice to fraudulently apply for a UK licence is just brilliant, I mean, what could go wrong there??

Rubbish. It's not fraud, he is entitled to hold a UK licence having passed his test. His licence has been lost abroad.
And do you seriously think the DVLA is capable of doing anything other than checking he is entitled to a licence and re-issuing it, it's struggling even to do that currently!

[CABC]

there's a difference between whether the DVLA would ever take any action and whether it is fraud. you're 99% certain to get away with it. However, when you apply for a UK licence you have to tick the box "are you a UK resident". as people keep posting, it's not difficult to understand.

[Cat]

CABC said:

there's a difference between whether the DVLA would ever take any action and whether it is fraud. you're 99% certain to get away with it. However, when you apply for a UK licence you have to tick the box "are you a UK resident". as people keep posting, it's not difficult to understand.

This. The relevant sections of the RTA are 97, 97A and 99. It is quite clear you have be normally resident in Great Britain to get a licence (including renewing a photocard, updating name etc.).

The fact that DVLA don't check if you are using a relative/friend's address doesn't alter the fact that it's not allowed.

You are highly likely to get away with it - unless something untoward happens and there is a more in depth investigation into your circumstances.

Cat

[C-J]

OP...below is my reply to a similar query back in Feb...

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Driving on UK insurance with a foreign driving licence...


Similar situation a few years ago with relatives visiting from o/seas.
We were able to add to my wife's policy (standard/mainstream, not classic) with Privilege (part of the Direct Line group I think).

We actually activated it twice, once in one policy year, and again approx 6 months later. It did seem to depend which operator I spoke to. Answers ranged from 'No' to 'Yes for 30 days/year' to 'Yes for 90 days/year'. Curiously the 'No' was when we called to activate it the 2nd time, only to be told that it wasn't possible on their policies - they were adamant until I pointed out that they had been happy the previous year.

The price turned out to be very reasonable - premium increase for 90 days was 21, plus 26 admin fee so 47 total...although on the 2nd occasion one operator was insistent that it could only be done for 30days per instance, and that I'd have to call back on day 30 and pay 14 + 26 each month - I just called back later and spoke to someone else who was happy to set-up again a full 90 days for 47.

The point of the above ramblings is that had I not successfully done it once, on the 2nd occasion I would have been convinced that the company could not support - when they could. So worth asking repeatedly.

From memory the relative probably got a 1 year international driving permit, and the excess went quite high (just for when they were driving) to 750. Therefore I/they bought a separate excess policy for 40. Probably overkill, but worth it for peace-of-mind (for me anyway!)

ps: Last tip, do ensure they are aware that the pretty yellow painted photo machines are in fact speed cameras - our guest won an invite to a speed awareness course, which then required another relatives to accompany to translate!

Edited by C-J on Friday 20th May 19:12

[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.