Sue Pertwee-Tyr
Accuphase all the way down
Bit of a saga, apologies, I'll try to be brief.
I still have a paper driving licence. I resisted the change for a number of reasons: firstly, mine is valid until age 70 without a 10 year renewal fee; secondly, when the photocard licences came out (with paper supplement) there were many stories of new licences being issued which 'lost' entitlement to drive certain classes, such as minibuses, and motorcycles. In the case of the bike licence, if you couldn't produce a valid pass certificate, there was no way to reinstate the class to your licence and you'd have to resit the test. Bugger that for a game of soldiers, so I kept my paper licence.
A few years on, and our postcode changed due to changes in administration and a new postcode district. I informed the DVLA and all my car documents bear the correct address, but the paper driving licence never got updated, for reasons I'm not clear about they never arranged a fresh one or asked me to upgrade to a photocard one. Because of the reasons above, I never pursued it. (It's been back to DVLA at least twice since then, to have speeding endorsements added).
So, now that photo ID is becoming more useful and I don't want to have to carry my passport around (in case I lose it), I thought I'd change to a photocard licence, because my new passport has a digital image on file and they can use the same one. Also, now that I've passed 60, that annoying 10 year renewal fee will be a thing in my future anyway.
Tried online, but it has a meltdown when I try to input my 'old' postcode as printed on the licence (as requested by the online form) because it can't find it. Clearly the data has been updated. So try again, and when it asks for the address as printed on the licence, input the updated postcode. More meltdown.
Abandon attempt to apply online and call the number. Go through the options menu, and reach the point where a recorded voice tells me they're all very busy and can't take my call, and drop the line.
So, try to email. Go through the pre-email pages (why TF can't they just give you a ****ing email address) filling in the various data fields. Input licence number, fine, input date of birth, fine, input postcode... meltdown.
So it seems I can't contact the DVLA. I may have to write to them!
Any pitfalls fishies can see before I do that? Am I likely to find myself devoid of any driving privileges because my paper licence and actual postcode don't marry up, even though the DVLA has known my correct address and postcode for decades? Should I just let sleeping dogs lie?
I still have a paper driving licence. I resisted the change for a number of reasons: firstly, mine is valid until age 70 without a 10 year renewal fee; secondly, when the photocard licences came out (with paper supplement) there were many stories of new licences being issued which 'lost' entitlement to drive certain classes, such as minibuses, and motorcycles. In the case of the bike licence, if you couldn't produce a valid pass certificate, there was no way to reinstate the class to your licence and you'd have to resit the test. Bugger that for a game of soldiers, so I kept my paper licence.
A few years on, and our postcode changed due to changes in administration and a new postcode district. I informed the DVLA and all my car documents bear the correct address, but the paper driving licence never got updated, for reasons I'm not clear about they never arranged a fresh one or asked me to upgrade to a photocard one. Because of the reasons above, I never pursued it. (It's been back to DVLA at least twice since then, to have speeding endorsements added).
So, now that photo ID is becoming more useful and I don't want to have to carry my passport around (in case I lose it), I thought I'd change to a photocard licence, because my new passport has a digital image on file and they can use the same one. Also, now that I've passed 60, that annoying 10 year renewal fee will be a thing in my future anyway.
Tried online, but it has a meltdown when I try to input my 'old' postcode as printed on the licence (as requested by the online form) because it can't find it. Clearly the data has been updated. So try again, and when it asks for the address as printed on the licence, input the updated postcode. More meltdown.
Abandon attempt to apply online and call the number. Go through the options menu, and reach the point where a recorded voice tells me they're all very busy and can't take my call, and drop the line.
So, try to email. Go through the pre-email pages (why TF can't they just give you a ****ing email address) filling in the various data fields. Input licence number, fine, input date of birth, fine, input postcode... meltdown.
So it seems I can't contact the DVLA. I may have to write to them!
Any pitfalls fishies can see before I do that? Am I likely to find myself devoid of any driving privileges because my paper licence and actual postcode don't marry up, even though the DVLA has known my correct address and postcode for decades? Should I just let sleeping dogs lie?