Page 2 | To not return my expired driving license photocard to the DVLA?

tribyootband · 2023-04-26T12:54:33+00:00

I've just renewed my driving license photocard as it was coming up for its 10 year expiry. The instructions say I should now cut up the old one and send it to the DVLA, but they don't include a postage-paid envelope. People questioning this on Twitter have been told the DVLA do accept unstamped envelopes, but they advise you to use a stamp to avoid it going astray. Aibu to just put it in the bin instead?

PinkiOcelot · 26/04/2023 20:18

I never sent my old one back. Nothing happened.

NumberTheory · 26/04/2023 20:20

OhmygodDont · 26/04/2023 14:02

What is the purpose of returning them though? Genuinely. Like I’ve paid for it, I should get to keep it if I want to. Just like I don’t get having to return old passports.

I've always assume I'd was to guard against forgery and other forms of deception as much as possible.

Cutting them up should do that, but they don't know if people have cut them up or if they've secretly passed them on to someone else or just forgotten about it and later it goes missing without them realising, etc. Can't be a huge risk if they aren't insisting on them being tracked, though.

OhmygodDont · 26/04/2023 20:29

NumberTheory · 26/04/2023 20:20

I've always assume I'd was to guard against forgery and other forms of deception as much as possible.

Cutting them up should do that, but they don't know if people have cut them up or if they've secretly passed them on to someone else or just forgotten about it and later it goes missing without them realising, etc. Can't be a huge risk if they aren't insisting on them being tracked, though.

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But theft does the same issues. If someone stole your purse they would have your license or if your passport got stolen or lost. It’s not like a digital thing that gets cancelled and new numbers issued.

WeWereInParis · 26/04/2023 20:35

I didn't know you were meant to return them. I think I might still have mine somewhere. It definitely didn't cause an issue, I wasn't chased for it.

NetballHoop · 26/04/2023 20:44

Do you have to enclose a letter/form too? If not, I refuse to believe that the DVLA have a team of jigsaw fanatics who reassemble cut up driving licences to check who has returned theirs.

Talkingtomyhouseplants · 26/04/2023 20:52

Fiancé has perpetually not got around to sending back his old driving license since moving in September 2021. It’s almost been so long now that we don’t want to draw attention to the fact we still have it 🙈

Original poster

tribyootband · 26/04/2023 21:21

NumberTheory · 26/04/2023 20:20

I've always assume I'd was to guard against forgery and other forms of deception as much as possible.

Cutting them up should do that, but they don't know if people have cut them up or if they've secretly passed them on to someone else or just forgotten about it and later it goes missing without them realising, etc. Can't be a huge risk if they aren't insisting on them being tracked, though.

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For anyone in a black market for expired licenses it's probably much easier to steal fistfulls of untracked licenses from the postal system than to happen across them in people's rubbish bins or rifling through their nick-nack drawers.

OP posts:

FirstnameSuesecondnamePerb · 26/04/2023 21:58

I never have. If you think about it for 30 seconds, I assume that they just chuck it in an incinerator or similar. They hopefully don't employ someone to match them up! Dd1 kept hers to use as photo ID

LynetteScavo · 26/04/2023 22:32

I'd cut it into 1000 pieces, wait 2 years and then send it back. It would give them the same level of care and attention they give to people applying for a licence.

PriamFarrl · 26/04/2023 22:41

You’ve just reminded me that I didn’t send mine back. No one has asked for it.

Identifyingasadolphin · 26/04/2023 22:53

Europeans have identification cards as standard.
I hold on to my expired driving licence and EHIC/GHIC cards and carry them with me as standard everywhere in my holiday travel rucksack - as backup ID in case of emergency…

NumberTheory · 27/04/2023 02:04

tribyootband · 26/04/2023 21:21

For anyone in a black market for expired licenses it's probably much easier to steal fistfulls of untracked licenses from the postal system than to happen across them in people's rubbish bins or rifling through their nick-nack drawers.

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I wasn’t thinking organized crime so much as teen kids wanting to pass for 18, or having a spare license to flash should you get disqualified. I suspect much more of an issue a few years ago than now, though.

tensmum63 · 16/12/2024 13:17

NOT CORRECT. DVLA send envelope for card with letter to sign & date to be received within 21 days (now 17 left) or DVLA cancel! SO, that , presumably same if lost. It is 16/12/24 today....Xmas post. Will cost new application + £20!