driving licence

can anyone give me any advice about my driving licence.when was diagnosed with ms 2 years ago i was advised to stop driving for a while.well now i would like to start again however i,ve been told i have to tell the dvla ,will this mean they will take my licence away.also what do insurance companies do when you tell them you have ms.i really miss not having the independence my car used to give me. can anyone give me any advice on what to do.

Unless you have visual problems you wont need to prove you can drive ok. Therefore you should let DVLA know you suffer ms and they in turn send you a medical form for you to fill in and your doctor to countersign to say you are fit to drive. Your license shouldnt be revoked, only if you have something which stops you driving for the time being and you havent that I know of. Also the insurance companies only need to know because if for instance your not being totally honest and there is an accident which was your fault caused through a condition you havent told them about you would be liable. No need to panic, all should be ok, happy driving now and in the future. bren xxx

mistymoo wrote:

can anyone give me any advice about my driving licence.when was diagnosed with ms 2 years ago i was advised to stop driving for a while.well now i would like to start again however i,ve been told i have to tell the dvla ,will this mean they will take my licence away.also what do insurance companies do when you tell them you have ms.i really miss not having the independence my car used to give me. can anyone give me any advice on what to do.

Hi… Just received my licence back today after telling dvla I had ms. Basically I got forms off Internet, and filled them in, faxed it off to dvla, putting very basic details on form. They wrote back saying they would be in touch after consultant had filled in questionnaire ( apparently it is quite specific). Once they got this back, they have issued me with a three year short term licence, to be reviewed every time. Ths is very normal. I think , being an ex driving instructor, that being ‘advised’ is very different to ’ we are revoking your licence’ so I would tell them,it is illegal not too, and get out on the road. I drive a company car in the day and a freelander in my personal time… Have no issues with insurance on either of them. ( freelander fully comp is only £220 per year!!,) Hope this helps and outs you at ease You can always pm me if you want a hand or more details, Jo x

Most people get put on a 3 year renewable licence (no fee to renew). At the end of the 3 years you just fill the form in again. If everything’s the same, then they just reissue the licence. If you’ve had visual problems they may make you take a vision test. If you need adaptations they might make you do a driving assessment (apparently not as hard as a driving test!). If neither of those applies, then it’s no big deal. One major caveat to that though - the 3 year licence only covers you for driving a car. If you want or need to drive anything else, you will need to do a proper driving test for it. I know some people have a bit of a nightmare with this process (in theory they have to take a complete new test every 3 years, which sucks!). If you google “neurological condition and DVLA” it should take you somewhere near the form you need to fill in and send. Hth. Karen x PS You need to send your driving licence off with the form. You can keep driving though.

Hi again, this is the form you need to fill in. I faxed it off for sake of ease… Didn’t send licence in until I had final letter with decisn on it, asking me to send it back with another form! Jo x Report your medical condition (form CN1) - GOV.UK

I had to tell DVLA about my diagnosis too, completed forms and they wrote to my neuro. I got a letter back today saying that my neuro has said okay for short term licence. My present licence has to be returned and it will expire in a couple of weeks and DVLA will send me a new short term licence for 3yrs. I will loose a couple of the categories I have so will have to check that all over when I get the new licence back :roll: :frowning:

Like others have said lnform the DVLA - they will contact your GP. They might just issue a 3yr license for now - which is what happened to me - but now l have a license until l am 70. With car insurance - They ask if you have a disability - and have the DVLA been informed. You then just say yes. And this should not make any difference to your insurance costs. l have just renewed the insurance on two cars. l always do the ‘go compare’ site. l have MS - my husband diabetes. The DVLA have been informed. So l just have to click the box that asks this question. lts no problem. My Volvo Estate and Mercedes A Class cost £154 & £179. l can only drive an automatic because of foot-drop. So my license states that. Hope this helps.

Because my neuro has never seen me in a relapse my diagnosis after 12 years is still probable MS I don’t no if I need to inform them or not when I asked my gp he said no. Any thoughts on what I should do

No penalty when you inform your insurance company, that would be classed as discrimination !

Just download the forms, send to DVLA, Inform insurance company, wait for the reply from DVLA.

They do suspend your current licence but you can still drive whilst waiting for the final outcome.

You will (hopefully) be put on a medical licence, which could be 1,3 or 5 year, most often its a 3 year licence, after the 3 years you just do the same again, but this time the DVLA contact you at time of renewal to ask if theres a change in your condition.

Dont put if off because you are legally obliged to inform them of your MS.

It could be argued that if you dont inform them you are actually driving illegally.

Doesnt it ask when applying for insurance if you have an illness, undergoing tests or taking medication that might interfere with your driving ?

You have nothing to fear in telling both the DVLA and your insurance company.

Put it like this.

If you had a crash and seriously injured someone or even worse killed someone, you can bet your last penny that the third parties insurance company would seek your medical records.

Then if they found that your had been under a consultant for possible MS and then passed this info onto your insurance company, they (your insurance) would drop you like a hot stone for not declaring it.

So you could end up getting done for driving without a valid licence, due to not declaring your illness to the DVLA, no insurance as it would be void, again not declaring the illness to your insurance company and arrested for all the above !!

Hi

Im a wee bit confused, who advised you to stop driving? A diagnosis of ms does not stop anyone from driving. Also, as other people have said, it is a legal requirement to tell Dvla about your condition. The insurance company always asks about any conditions and yes you need to be honest about that. I have been diagnosed for nearly six years now and initially I was a bit worried about telling Dvla about my condition. I was asked to return my licence and was given a licence with some restrictions and for only 3 years. I have been for a couple of eye tests which included testing my field vision. I also suffer from Uveitus which affects my eyesight and yes I was worried about the test but the optician was very understanding and put me at ease. I have since received a letter from Dvla saying I am allowed to drive for the next five years. I hope this helps to put your mind at ease and I wish you all the best.

Izzy x

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