Is DVLA covering up mistakes?
Chris Hogan, 14th August 2015, Motor
While researching articles about recent changes to driving licences we discovered that DVLA appears to be 'losing' people's qualifications and refusing to reinstate them when this is noticed.
Have you had to send your driving licence off to be updated? It might seem like a strange question but there are quite a few reasons why you might need to do this:
- Change of address – it's illegal not to notify DVLA
- Update the photo – many people don't realise it's an offence not to do this every ten years.
- To add new qualifications after passing further tests.
- Endorsements – a licence has to be sent off to remove them as well as have them added.
- Age – drivers over seventy have to renew every three years.
How carefully do you check it when it comes back?
If you don't, then you should, because there is significant evidence that DVLA is making mistakes with the groups – and therefore what you're qualified to drive – but refusing to admit that those mistakes are possible.
The Guardian (see link below) among other newspapers have picked up on this. Shane Rae is a driver whose motorcycle qualification was removed when he sent his licence off for a change of address. When he complained the DVLA told him he would lose his car driving qualification too.
Shane happens to live in the Prime Minister's constituency and as part of his fight, David Cameron wrote three times to DVLA on his behalf, without a response (as of 23rd June 2015). But a few weeks after the Guardian started covering the story, documentation proving Shane's driving qualifications were found.
How many others?
Shane Rae's persistence in chasing DVLA eventually resulted in his licence being reinstated and all his costs reimbursed – the charges for the tests he has had to retake, legal costs and lost wages.
Another driver, Dave Knox, was caught speeding and also prosecuted for riding a motorcycle while unqualified, even though he'd passed his test in 1972. He decided to have his day in court and the judge threw the case out because the driving records presented by DVLA were so full of errors.
The trainer
Paul Chapman runs a motorcycle training centre and realised something was up because of the number of people coming to him for emergency retests. He raised a number of Freedom of Information requests on the DVLA to find out what was happening.
There's a link to one of them at the bottom of this page which has some interesting comments – including many from Shane Rae – about the difficulty of dealing with an apparently unaccountable agency.
But many others haven't had the time to chase the situation – it's more important for them to re-take the tests and get back to earning, particularly if they're driving for a living.
What can you do?
The first step is to check your licence and in particular make sure that all the groups are present and correct. Also go online and make sure that record is correct (link below).
If you find an error, try and find an old licence to compare it with. It won't be a surprise if you can't, because we're meant to send them off for updating. But try former employers, insurance companies, any other organisation who might have had a reason to ask for a copy of your licence in the past.
Find people who are prepared to swear that you had passed your test: family, friends, employers, perhaps instructors or even examiners.
Then take your fight to the DVLA but be prepared to pay for legal advice and help along the way.
Who to complain to?
One of the problems is that there's no easy way to raise a complaint and have it heard. There is an independent complaints assessor at the Department for Transport but only the DVLA can refer cases to it – motorists can't.
There is also the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman who can investigate but again you can't raise the issue – you have to ask your MP to contact them. It's easy to see why so few people have actually put up with the stress of fighting their corner.
Stay on the case
This situation is likely to get worse as DVLA is now asking people to destroy the paper counterparts of their licences as the digitisation of driving records nears completion. But at least a precedent has been set.
As Shane Rae has pointed out: "Remember, if the DVLA issued you a license and then mistakenly loses your documentation, it is THEY that must prove you are no longer entitled not the other way around."
So if it's happened to you, don't give up.
