Cherished Number Plates News

Licences Due For Renewal say DVLA

17 October 2008

Thousands of drivers could be breaking the law without even knowing it because they do not realise that their photo card licence has expired, motoring organisations have said.

Those who do remember to renew will have to pay £17.50, a charge the RAC has said to be completely "unreasonable". The charge to update your I.D. comes as the DVLA admitted that over 200,000 fakes of some sort are within the system and a good proportion of them are active.

Reminder letters are sent out by the DVLA two months before the expiry date in order to try and remind drivers. However they are well aware that some people will simply forget and drive around thinking that their licence I fully up to scratch. The sad news is that most will only find out that their licence isn‘t worth the paper its written on until the boys in blue pull you in for a chat having blipped you as an unlicensed driver on their onboard ANPR.

The new-style licences, launched in July 1998, expire after 10 years, unlike the paper ones they replaced.