DVLA £20 to change a photo on your licence

[katedave 10]

just received a form from dvla to renew my photo on driving licence cost 20 pounds plus four pounds fifty for paying at post office. anyone else think this exse what do you think.ssive im on oap things already cost enough with everything else for a car.

[Jeffrey Shaw 90]

But the photograph does not cost £20 or anything like it. The licence does.

Why do you need to renew your photograph, anyway?

[Teddybare 10]

just received a form from dvla to renew my photo on driving licence cost 20 pounds plus four pounds fifty for paying at post office. anyone else think this exse what do you think.ssive im on oap things already cost enough with everything else for a car.

 

Got mine through this morning too. Seems way too much for an admin fee just to scan in a photo.

Gives me two choices: renew photo or surrender my entitlement to drive. Haha. Guess not using buses and taxis for work is worth 20£. As with most government fees, they have you over a barrel.

 

 

 

Edit: yeah it's more like 30£ with the cost of having the photo taken and the post office fee.

Daylight robbery. Meanwhile there's still only one license per 100 taxi drivers down abbeydale road.

Edited June 12, 2012 by Teddybare

[katedave 10]

to jef shaw d v l a want 20 pounds for new photo which only lasts ten years failure to renew means you canott drive and face up to a thousand pound fine. still expensive

[medusa 16]

But the photograph does not cost £20 or anything like it. The licence does.

Why do you need to renew your photograph, anyway?

 

Everybody now has to renew the photo on their licence every 10 years, which entails paying their admin fee. To not do so renders your licence invalid (even though your ability to drive is not being questioned) and therefore makes it illegal to drive.

[PeteMorris 10]

Everybody now has to renew the photo on their licence every 10 years, which entails paying their admin fee. To not do so renders your licence invalid (even though your ability to drive is not being questioned) and therefore makes it illegal to drive.

 

What a swizz!!!!....my old paper licence told me it was valid until 2026, or something like that! Money for old rope. Another crafty tax if you ask me! But nobody is, so I'll shut up!

[medusa 16]

What a swizz!!!!....my old paper licence told me it was valid until 2026, or something like that! Money for old rope. Another crafty tax if you ask me! But nobody is, so I'll shut up!

 

If you have replaced your paper licence with a photocard licence for any reason (moving house etc) then please do check the valid dates on your licence. They are only valid for 10 years and a fair amount of people that I know have been shocked to find that they have already driven illegally because they didn't know about their licence expiring.

 

This didn't apply in my case because of a name change due to getting first married and then divorced, so the licence has been updated as we have gone along with new photos as part of that process.

 

Ironic that the licences which are almost worthless as a piece of identification are valid until you're 70 though.

[PeteMorris 10]

If you have replaced your paper licence with a photocard licence for any reason (moving house etc) then please do check the valid dates on your licence. They are only valid for 10 years and a fair amount of people that I know have been shocked to find that they have already driven illegally because they didn't know about their licence expiring.

 

This didn't apply in my case because of a name change due to getting first married and then divorced, so the licence has been updated as we have gone along with new photos as part of that process.

 

Ironic that the licences which are almost worthless as a piece of identification are valid until you're 70 though.

 

I was aware that at some point you have to send a new photo, but I thought it would just be a 'nominal' fee. But obviously it's more than that. I had to surrender my old paper one, as I changed address.

 

You'll find that a serious percentage of people have no idea that they even need to update their photo, or the licence becomes invalid.

 

Would be interesting to post a poll on this and see what the straw poll on here comes up with, percentage-wise.

[PeteMorris 10]

If you have replaced your paper licence with a photocard licence for any reason (moving house etc) then please do check the valid dates on your licence. They are only valid for 10 years and a fair amount of people that I know have been shocked to find that they have already driven illegally because they didn't know about their licence expiring.

 

This didn't apply in my case because of a name change due to getting first married and then divorced, so the licence has been updated as we have gone along with new photos as part of that process.

 

Ironic that the licences which are almost worthless as a piece of identification are valid until you're 70 though.

 

This thread had me going for a while, I just checked mine and it's ok until 2015. Which seems slightly odd (never really scrutinised it before), it says it is valid from 04/2010....Which is only 5 years?.....Hmmmm..maybe it's from when I last changed address?

[medusa 16]

It should (I say 'should' but we all know that some of these things defy explanation!) be valid for 10 years from the date that you last updated your photo, if I understand this correctly.

 

So if you move house and change details after 9 years but don't update your photo then the new licence will be valid only for a year.

[namtaB 10]

Its just a way to remind you that you are getting old

[PeteMorris 10]

It should (I say 'should' but we all know that some of these things defy explanation!) be valid for 10 years from the date that you last updated your photo, if I understand this correctly.

 

So if you move house and change details after 9 years but don't update your photo then the new licence will be valid only for a year.

 

Hmmmm..I see what you mean.

 

Slightly off at a tangent. Why do they bother with the paper part of your licence. As I understand it, all it says is how many points you have or endorsements or whatever. If a copper asks to see your licence, you show him the plastic card, and he can find out instantly your driving history, so what's the point?