Absolutely fuming with renewing driving license.

[Gettingbysomehow]

AIBU?
Fucking government online licence renewing site won't accept my photo because I've lost 5 stone and my face is thinner than the rest of my IDs. I assume that's what it is they refuse to tell you and after three attempts you are out.
I have to do it online because I've had major surgery and can't drive yet.
I'll lose my job if I go back without a driving license - it's compulsory.
The nearest post office to me that does it is 10 miles away in a warren of streets with no parking and there is literally nobody to take me.
What the fuck am I supposed to do then?
Excuse the swearing I'm just so stressed.
I've just had equal shit applying for my blue badge and that's going to take 3 months to process.
I'm trying to get better so I can return to work and it's just stress and more stress.

Is your blue badge because you have had a hip replacement?

Do you have a passport? You can renew your licence online using your passport details. I think it’s highly unlikely because you lost weight that it’s declining your photo! It’s more likely the photo quality that’s causing the issue! When the system throws you out you can usually go back in the next day!

In rural areas where there is less competition taxis are more expensive. We don't get Ubers around here, for example.

This is technology for you. I have a friend who can’t log on using face recognition unless she has her make up on.

I travelled 23 miles to a post office that advertised they did this and got there and they didn’t as a bit of kit was broken ( and had been for weeks). I then had a mad dash to get photos fill out form, get out cash ( to buy a postal order) and return to post office before it shut.

All you need though is a passport photo, form and postal order. So you could get it at the weekend rather than expensive taxi.

Why can’t you just attach a new photo? I did this with my licence and BB which were both renewed online.

Do you have a local Facebook group , there’s often requests for help on ours , someone may offer to give you a lift if you ask . There’s also a volunteer group in case you have one in your area that helps with things like this too .

I think though @Pistachiocake they would have had to go out to a post office to pick up a form to fill in. They wouldn’t have been able to do the whole thing from home. Although there may have been more Post Offices then!

@Gettingbysomehow - I appreciate it’s so frustrating but usually the government sites are pretty good.
I think it’s most likely the quality of your photo. I have has this happen before to me. How are you taking the photo? Is there a filter on it? Is there a neighbour nearby who could help you?

If sounds like phoning them for a paper form and attaching a photo could be an answer.
Or getting a friend to take you to a Post Office on a Saturday morning?

Also worth checking - is there a grace period with your licence so you can renew it once you’re driving?

Often wish there was a go fund me for posts like this. I would gladly donate a few pounds & if everyone did, problem solved. I suppose people would end up exploiting though.

You should be cosy in bed inside and being cared for. I am sorry this is happening to you.

I think with these things you are better off just accepting the problem and going through it. Very sorry to say.

Absolutely not an issue with your weight loss. The recognition works on the angles between a number of fixed data points (eyes, nose, mouth, etc.

Heavily made-up faces can distort the apparent edges of eyes and mouth. As can lip fillers or surgery.

But you're most likely just taking poorly lit or posed photos, especially if you're relying on selfies. Get a friend to take a waist up shot against a plain white wall. The software will usually do the rest.

The "three attempts" block resets after a while. It was introduced because people would just retry endlessly

Because you had to queue you think the Post Office is outdated? 😳

I recently had to write a cheque to the DVLA to get a replacement log book 😳🤣.

Thankfully I found an old cheque book in a drawer … it’s been years!

I don't think it's that expensive. Approx 4 years ago, I had to get a taxi back from hospital 8 miles away, and that was £36. Ten miles would probably have been probably have been £45.

I have to renew my licence, and I don't have a current passport, so I hope I don't have all this aggravation.

https://www.gov.uk/contact-the-dvla/y

can you contact them and say you’ve no way of getting there?

We don’t need a go fund me for things like this!! OP can retake the photo and try again or call the DVLA to get the form posted out to fill in from home.

I read recently that DVLA is going to be a mobile phone app soon

It is currently in trial

In future there will be nobody carrying a little card license around

They can't drive currently

They would have gone to a more local post office and sorted it before online

The taxi cost would still have been an issue

Very rural Somerset. Taxis cost a fortune here. I'm going this afternoon.

Info here

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/digital-driving-licence-coming-this-year

How to renew

https://www.gov.uk/renew-driving-licence

I know this sounds odd but I couldn't do this for my passport on my phone but I could my husband's.

Maybe I am making a drama of it but It's just all so frustrating because I'm in a lot of pain and just need to rest. I was confined to bed for15 months prior to my op and have horrendous muscle wastage and I've just had to deal with it alone. No help from the nhs or GP whatsoever, crawling to bathroom etc.
I've had to work from home to keep my job during all this doing a job that isn't in my job description, I'm clinical NHS so thats all been very stressful and this has been the last straw.
I'm going to just pay for the taxi and be done with it.

I did mine last week, i clicked the no photo option and it scarily linked to my passport photo and it used that one for me!

If you haven’t actually called and asked them to post the form, or retried the online application, then yes you’re making a drama of it.

When you live in a very rural area it's just hard to get anything done and shops and conveniences are miles away. It's just so frustrating when you follow the instructions to the letter and computer sez no and won't give you a reason why.