DVLA Licence Delays....what to do

Those who have drivers that have sent licences for renewal or may be doing so shortly here’s the latest regarding Enforcement

Vocational Driving licence applications and delays at DVLA

Due to continued delays in processing paper vocational

applications for driving licences DVSA have issued the following instruction to all DVSA personnel.

At the last time of checking the DVLA were dealing with applications from 11th June 2021.

Rather than place an additional burden on the industry due to driver shortages etc. DVSA are to adopt a pragmatic approach to roadside enforcement in a similar way as they have done with the delays to digital driver cards.

Therefore, examiners should accept the following information from a driver where they have applied to renew their vocational licence and have not yet received it.

Situation 1 – driver has already sent the application to the DVLA and has no evidence of it being sent or received:

A declaration from their employer/operator stating:

The driver has submitted their application but have no proof of sending it or a text message from the DVLA to say it’s been received

Confirm they meet all the Section 88 criteria apart from evidence that the licence has been received by the DVLA (see below for more detail on Section 88)

Situation 2 – driver is about to send their licence off and is able to provide proof of this, for example:

a photograph of a completed application which should be dated or

evidence of posting, to the DVLA, from the Post Office

In these circumstances DVSA examiners should not take any enforcement action until such time as the delays in processing paper applications have been reduced/resolved or they receive further instruction updating this information.

By law, all drivers must make sure that they always

meet the medical standards for fitness to drive when driving. If DVSA have any concerns about the driver’s ability to drive, due to an obvious medical condition, they should request a copy of the medical evidence which would have accompanied any application to the DVLA.

Section 88 of the Road Traffic Act allows a driver to continue to drive, in certain circumstances, when not in possession of a licence. If an application has been sent to DVLA, drivers may be able to continue to drive while DVLA is processing their application. This applies to most types of application. For further information about this, read the guidance leaflet ‘Can I drive while my application is with DVLA?’