OT Driving Licence Renewal

[Bob Eager]

I was addressing the question of being uninsured.

[HVS]

On 24 Apr 2024, Chris Green wrote

That's definitely the case, and in my view - having had it removed when I was moved to a medical licence -- rightly so.

I hired a 7.5T just the once, to move house in Colchester in the

1980s (in my early-to-mid 30s). Everything was above-board and seemingly unremarkable: the hire company gave me some pointers on what controls were where, I loaded it up with a mate, drove it across town, unloaded it, and returned it to the hire company. Job done.

Fine and dandy, although this thing was longer than anything I'd driven before (and higher, but I don't recall being given the height, so luckily there weren't any low-slung bridges to go under). It had air brakes, a powered tailgate, and undoubtedly various other bells and whistles that I hadn't encountered before (or since).

I. Should. Not. Have. Been. Allowed. Anywwhere. Near. That. Thing. Without. Some. Training.

I've also been wary ever since of 7.5T rentals on the road, since they may well be being driven by someone as clueless as I was. (The biggest thing I've hired since then was a Transit van, which I think is the maximum I'm allowed to drive under my currrent licence.)

[SteveW]

You would not be uninsured, as the DVLA consider that you are still licenced (and they are the ones that tell everyone else whether your licence is valid or not), so your insurance would remain valid.

[Colin Bignell]

It is not only low bridges you need to worry about. I had to be very careful about parking near a lamp post on a road with a heavy camber when driving a Luton body Transit.

[Jeff Layman]

I should have made it clear that I was referring to a licence past its expiry date and for which no renewal had been applied. Can you point to a *specific* company's policy which will insure a driver who "has held, and is not disqualified from holding, the relevant licence." /but no longer has a valid licence/?

[Peter Able]

This sub-thread is a bit naive. You are trusting that the other party is moral and efficient. It ain't necessarily so !

I sent another agency some documentation. They denied that they received it.

I pointed out two things they subsequently did, which couldn't have been done without sight of that documentation.

To which they just persisted with denial. "Lost in the Post" etc.

I pointed out that they had eventually returned the documentation - and that I still had their envelope and their covering letter saying that they were returning the documentation.

I'm still over £2k out of pocket.

Naive's the word !

“Power without responsibility: the prerogative of the harlot throughout the ages.”

[Colin Bignell]

The passport office will accept digital images but, IIRC, they have to be taken in an approved photo booth that gives you a code to send to them, rather than an image file.

[SteveW]

No, in recent years I have renewed my passport and that of my three sons. Photos taken at home, against a neutral background and with good lighting are perfectly acceptable to the passport office.

Their online application has an option to submit a jpeg image.

[Davey]

That was my experience in 2017.

[Sam Plusnet]

Because the organisation is paying for that redesign, and expects to see some cost savings coming from it. Minimising the ability of customers to trouble you is one of the few ways you can (almost) guarantee a smoothing of the bureaucratic process, and hence make savings.

[Colin Bignell]

I don't see me achieving a passport quality photo with a selfie stick.

I just recall having to search for a working photo booth that gave me the code a couple of years ago. I don't actually recall what prompted me to do that.

[SteveW]

That is certainly one of the ways of doing it.

[Davey]

When did this requirement come in? It certainly wasn't in effect in

2017.

[Colin Bignell]

That was how I renewed mine in 2021, but, from other posts, I could be wrong about it being a requirement.

[Ian Jackson]

In message <v0g1c2$3lcpk$ [e-mail], Davey [e-mail] writes

I recall a time when an image taken with your digital camera was not acceptable. I ignored this, used a digital camera, and printed off a perfectly good passport-style photo. No problems.