Can't get a provisional driving license because apparently I already have one... But I don't, or at least if I do I don't remember getting it...!?

[Liftwantedaroundtheworld]

As title really.

I'm 40 and have recently started earning enough money that I can afford driving lessons at long last. But my forms for a provisional have been returned with a note saying I already have one

It's not impossible that I applied for one as a student 20 ish years ago but I don't actually remember doing so and have no record of the license itself.

I've rung the DVLA numerous times to try and sort this out and they say that without either the license number or address used when it was applied for, they can't help me.

I don't have the license number because I don't have the license! I've searched all my old paperwork and nothing has turned up. I have absolutely no idea what address was used - if I did apply previously it would have been during my student years when I moved about 15 times in 3 years between 1998 and 2001, I don't even remember all my student and holiday addresses now and have no way to find them all out. I don't remember applying for a provisional at all, but it's possible I did on a whim (ridiculous as I would never have been able to afford lessons!).

WtF? Is there really no way out of this?

This seems ridiculous. I think you need to escalate a formal complaint.

I'd stop saying that you 'may' have applied for one. Tell them clearly that you've never had one, so it must be a case of fraud. They must have a department that deals with this.

They'll have recorded all OPs previous calls, so they'll know what she's previously said.

I had this, I must have applied at 17, forgot and couldn't remember the address. I tried every address I could remember, sent my birth certificate and passport and complained to the ICO. The ICO said I needed to provide details that the DVLA had on file. In the end, they got someone from their specialist support team to call me and we went through every address I could think of. I remembered one right at the end of the call, they had that one on file and reissued from there. It was complete and utter pain.

Oh god @AnchorDownDeepBreath I'm screwed then. I have given them every single address I can think of (about a dozen) and there is literally nothing I can do to get hold of any more possible past addresses.

@ineedaholidaynow I don't know tbh, they just connected me with it from the forms I sent in applying for a provisional earlier this year

I'm just wary of claiming fraud when it's entirely possible it was me who applied, my life was really chaotic for some years (drink/drugs/homelessness) so there's no way of knowing tbh. I don't know why I would have done when I had no means of paying for lessons - I've spent years waiting til I could afford lessons!

I know this is an old thread but was interested to find out if you manage to get a provisional licence in the end?

Nope. I let it rest for a few months because I was so fed up of the situation, then lockdown happened and the DVLA went to complete shit, and then I moved back to a city where I don't need to drive! Though funnily enough I did think just the other day that I should have another go at it...