Driving Licence

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wkd

I am in a bit of a pickle and I wondered if anyone can shed some light on what I should do.

I recently was awarded enhanced PIP for mobility and ordered a car. However, I haven't driven in years and my driving licence expired. i didn't even know it expired.  To cut a long story short within that time I got married, but my ID was in my maiden name, so my rent, my bank account, and my pip award are in my maiden name.

When my passport ran out I decided to put it in my married name to match the other passport that I have, great idea until this award when I was told my driving licence should match my PIP award. I thought that sucks I guess I will have to change my name on my PIP award, which no doubt will go to UC too probably.

Now I've told UC I am married as it asked when I first claimed, but I don't live with my husband he is abroad and does not have British Citizenship, right now we live apart for personal reasons but we are still together, in the sense we are still married and he recently came over for a visit at Christmas.  I know it's an unusual situation and I know people might think why don't I sponsor him? Well, the fact is in a year or so I intend to go back and leave England. I don't want to sponsor him here, because he isn't far off retirement.

So I applied for my driving licence, great I thought that should be relatively easy. However, because I was changing my name, and my address and also renewing my driving licence I had to do it via post. I filled in the form and gave all my details, including my new passport number which is in my married name. I then enquired at 4 post offices what fee I should send and 3 didn't know and 1 said you send nothing as your changing address.  I knew instinctively this was wrong.  I decided to send £14 and I waited for my new licence.

After a couple of weeks of waiting the letter from DVLA dropped through the post.  I thought that was quick and efficient until I opened the letter and it stated I needed to send £3 more. So I resent the letter with the correct amount and waited.

A couple of weeks later, I again received a letter from them.  This time they said that you need to send a photo. I understand they want a photo as it has been over 10 years, but they have my passport number in my new name with a new photo that was only taken 7 months ago. I now wish I hadn't bothered changing my name as it has been a headache and I am still not sure they need a photo.  I know this might sound a tad petty, but with my low self-esteem I cry when I have to have my photograph taken and that's why my passport and my driving licence expired, it filled me with dread just having a photo taken.  I've tried to find my passport photos, but can't find them, so now I don't know whether to say you have my passport details with a photo or just build up the courage to go out and get a new one which will probably take me weeks if not months.

BrettW

If you wish to have a car on Mobility they won't even let you place an order until you have a valid driving license.

I was in a similar position to you back in October when I was upgraded from standard to enhanced mobility. 

My driving license had expired at the end of 2019 just before I had my heart attack and because I could no longer work or afford a car I didn't bother renewing it. I also had the added complication of having class D on my license having been a bus driver which had also expired and needed to change it to my new address. When I became eligible for a Motability car I decided that I would renew my license, remove the class D from it as theres no way I will ever be able to drive buses again and get back on the road as without a car I had been pretty much stuck in the house for the last three years as my heart problems leave me breathless and unable to walk far.

I also told them I had had a heart attack which I realised later I didn't need to and it was this that caused me big problems when it came to renewing my license. Because I had told them about this it automatically triggered my license to be sent to their medical department which over the last few years has been notoriously slow in processing applications and some people have ended up waiting over a year to get their license back and some have lost their jobs because of this!

To cut a long story short I ended up calling them nearly every day chasing my license and the only response they could give me was that it was with their medical department. In the end it took over 2 months to sort out my license and I was really lucky in that respect as like I have previously said some people have waited 12 months +. 

Motability wouldn't even let me start the process off until my license displayed my correct address and DVLA wouldn't update the address until my license had come back from their medical department and from numerous calls I had with DVLA it was obvious that the various departments of DVLA simply don't communicate with each other. It was a vicious circle I was stuck in until the middle of December.

Luckily once the license was granted I was able to start my order with Motability in December and am now waiting for delivery of my car.

All I can suggest you do is contact DVLA customer services and ask them why they can't use the photograph from your current passport if you gave them the passport details on your application form as this is what they used to renew my license and my passport is nearly 10 years old. It's very odd why they haven't done this automatically to be honest when passport details have been supplied.

Good luck with your application and please try and get this sorted one way or the other as getting a car will greatly improve your life if like me you have been stuck at home.