AIBU to threaten to call police on my sister?

[Needsomeadvicehere]

NC because I feel bad about this. My DS's driving licence is years out of date. She can't have renewed it since she passed her test in the 1990s, because it's the old sort without a photo on it! And she has changed address several times since then. She says she never got round to updating it, and doesn't dare to do it now because she would have to declare her previous addresses.

I've told her the licence is not valid any more, so that must invalidate her insurance. It's really serious. If she has an accident and injures someone she won't be insured. She is now refusing to speak about it. I don't want to threaten to report her, but what else can I do?

I thought you were threatening to call the police because your sister is banned from driving or something really serious.

@Barton10

My friend didn’t update her licence and was charged with driving without a valid licence and fined £1000 by the Magistrates Court. You can also be banned for up to six months for not updating your address

That was probably a photo card licence which DOES need to be renewed every 10 years. NOT a paper licence which, although no longer issued, are valid until your 70th birthday (although I wouldn’t be surprised if they make it mandatory to convert to photo card licences at some soon because it is a money maker).

Daft thing is, I updated my photo licence online and it gave me the option to use my 'photo from my passport which was 6 mths away from expiring so by the time my driving licence photocard expires, the picture will be 20 yrs old!

Fucking hell Miss Marple, I thought you were going to say she was driving with an ailment that excludes her from driving!

My BIL only updated his address 7 years after he moved. He didn't get fined or investigated but he did have to change to a photo licence. It was quite handy though as he had no passport and was always struggling to provide ID for various things.

@Sisterwives Yeah but imagine how fab you'll look!

@hellywelly3

Driving licenses need renewing every 10 years. How do people not know this!

No, your photo needs updating every 10 years.

She's an adult for goodness sake! You have relayed your concerns to her, just leave it at that. She is responsible for her own actions, and any consequences, and you threatening to report her is ridiculous!

Can't she ignore the other places she's lived and just update to the ones she's at now? They won't fine if you actively apply.

Doesn't invalidate your insurance just coz you Have the wrong address.

But you can get a fine in principle for failing to updates your address but my experience is they aren't strict.

My DH forgot to update his address. We moved north and he had a speeding letter sent to our old address. Of course we didn't get it so he didn't pay and there were several more letters culminating in a mags court summons. The new owners did send that one on to us.

So DH had to go to court say he was very sorry pay extra costs (though they were lenient and knocked of some of the accrued costs and didn't give him points).

Update your addresses people!

It’s not that big a deal. We don’t live in America. Why are you worried about insurance? If she has an accident, anyone hurt gets treated by the NHS. No cost. Anyone who has their car totalled by her would just take her to court. Unless they are driving a Ferrari it’s not that big a deal. Why are you worried about this? Nobody is suing her for a million quid are they? Plus she’s still valid to drive. The only risk is that she risks getting fined £1000. Mine had the wrong address on for 10 years. Meh. No biggie. I just changed it when I got round to it. This is England not some big brother state.

Driving without insurance is illegal for good reason, it's selfish and antisocial. Yes, if people have accidents the NHS is there for them, as it is for everybody. But insurance can pay for many other things, including extras the NHS cannot afford to provide, eg courses of physiotherapy as soon as you need it.

Yes driving without insurance is illegal. But your sister's insurance isn't invalid.

I've got a paper licence, issued on change of name and address in 1990. As my name has remained the same since divorce and I haven't moved it's still valid. However if I wanted to change my name or move then I'd have to have a photo id licence. They are only valid for 10 years because we age and the photo needs updating.

Why are you worried about insurance? If she has an accident, anyone hurt gets treated by the NHS. No cost.

Initial treatment, yes. But they might be left permanently disabled/require treatment not available on the NHS etc etc.

If you think the NHS will provide everything a disabled person requires to get back on their feet/find a new job/stay symptomless in the future, then you are quite frankly living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.

Also, the other party may well have incurred costs that cannot be dealt with in a hospital- the smashing up of their car being an obvious one.

Not that any of this is in the slightest way relevant to the OPs sister whose licence is not invalid.

As she's an adult and aware of any consequences I'd leave her to it

Until you or someone else you love gets injured and there's no insurance.

I would give her fair warning that you WILL report her if she doesn't sort it out in say, a month. And don't accept a lift for you and yours in the meantime.

Jaxhog I assume you are aware that the sister has insurance?

I love how people here aren't reading properly.

The OP knows the issue isn't that it's a paper licence. The issue is that the address is wrong. Having an incorrect address on your licence can lead to a fine up-to £1,000.

She just needs to update her address, very simple. She won't need to declare her old addresses

Lots and lots of people don't update their address with DVLC. That's no excuse for not doing so, but it is pretty rare that the police do much other than tell someone to get it updated - especially these days when all that information is actually already on line - things like your MOT and insurance are online, linked and specify your address.

But to be honest you sound like a really shit sister. Why on earth would you want to report your own sister and try to get her into trouble. I'd think you were my sister - but my licence has my current address on it so you can't be.

@Jaxhog

As she's an adult and aware of any consequences I'd leave her to it

Until you or someone else you love gets injured and there's no insurance.

I would give her fair warning that you WILL report her if she doesn't sort it out in say, a month. And don't accept a lift for you and yours in the meantime.

Having an out of date address on a driving licence doesn't invalidate your insurance. Please stop being stupid.

Insurance might be invalid with an out of date license. I believe it depends on the wording on the insurance policy.

Thanks, all posters who are concerned about this. Luckily the licence is still valid, even with the old address. I misunderstood what I'd read about photo licences being mandatory now. Probably the insurance is valid too -- though I wouldn't rely on that, because I'm still finding sites that say insurance companies may try to get out of paying it there's a discrepancy with your licence.

But I have learned not to rely on google. This is what I found when I googled photo licences mandatory,
Is it a legal requirement to have a photocard driving Licence? - This is a legal obligation, brought in when the photocard replaced the old paper licence in 1998.

That's not true. I don't know where it came from originally, but it was on the first page of google results. The old paper licences are still valid, though you are supposed to keep your address up to date whatever form of licence you've got, and if you send in a paper licence now you'll get a photo licence.

So don't rely on google. You get a lot more useful information from mumsnet.

Insurance might be invalid with an out of date license. I believe it depends on the wording on the insurance policy.

It's not out of date.

Even if the licence was invalid (which it isn't) it's none of your business.

Similarly if the plumber over the road is doing a bit of cash in hand work or the family down the road haven't got a TV licence then it is also none of your business.

There is nothing worse than a snitch who wants to report someone for some petty 'crime'.

I have an old style driving licence. I think mine's valid until I am 70!!!

So do I. It's perfectly valid and there's no compulsion for me to get a photo licence. Having said that, the address on it is correct ....