DVLA License Changes - How Will it Affect You?
17-03-2015
As of the 8th of June 2015, the paper counterpart of the UK’s driving license will not be valid, and will no longer be issued by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
Last year also saw the end of the paper tax disc, which was replaced by an electronic system back in October. It’s hoped that the drive to digitise motoring records will save taxpayers money and streamline the DVLA’s services.
How will changes affect you?
Most of Britain’s 46 million motorists won’t be affected by the changes, and won’t need to take any action – you’ll simply need to hold onto your photo card license.
For those who only have a paper license it will continue to be valid - at least until it needs to be renewed. The DVLA said:
"Those who have an old style paper driving licence issued before the photocard was introduced in 1998, this change won't affect you, and you should keep your licence.
"The next time you need to update your name, address or renew your licence, you will be issued with a photocard only."
How will this affect car hire?
There have also been warnings that there could be delays for motorists looking to rent a car with a paper license.
The DVLA is in the process of developing a new digital enquiry service that will allow car hire companies to view information that could have been seen on the paper counterpart.
However, as the service is not due to launch until later this year, The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) fears that car rental companies will not be able to gather essential information about a driver in time, leading to long queues for rentals.
Gerry Kearney, BVLRA chief executive said: ‘Rushing the abolition of the paper counterpart before the DVLA is ready with a real-time driver checking service is going to cause huge disruption and may result in customers having to pay to have their own driving licence details verified.
‘We applaud the Government's attempts to reduce red tape and bureaucracy, but this piece of poorly-timed political point scoring could cause chaos for our industry and its customers during this busy festive season.’
7 Ways Rental are open 7 days a week should you need to get in touch with a member of our team for more information on license changes.