Expired licence

[BatFastard1]

Hi please can anyone offer any advice .
earlier in the week I was involved in a non fault accident . I am a named driver on my husbands insurance .
We have only recently bought the car which is on hire purchase .
Whilst gathering our documents to send to the insurance company I have noticed that my licence has expired 2 1/2 years ago .
i am so angry at myself for overlooking this .
i understand that I will be not insured and will deal with the fallout , but are the insurance company likely to void my partners insurance altogether because of my stupidity .

@LIZS its in bold . If we do not provide the relevant info they are starting the cancellation process on the 27th . I doubt my licence will be back before then .
I am more concerned that the info they want regarding driving history which is viewed by them via a code I provide ,shows my licence is invalid .

Well the expiry date is printed on the photocard and you receive a letter telling you to renew it about 6 weeks before.

But that won't necessarily invalidate the claim but may affect the future policy. If you don't get it back in time just tell them it is with DVLA, it may flag that it had not been renewed but that does not automatically invalidate your ability to drive. Did you ever have a paper licence part?

@LIZS yes I did/do have the paper license part . I am in the middle of tearing the house apart looking for it .

Kateycuckoo I'd be surprised if most people could tell you when their licence expires. It needs to be renewed once every 10 years - it won't be on most people's radar and unfortunately post goes missing.

Don't feel bad OP, this stuff happens all the time. You won't be the first, or the last.

No, OP is not obliged to continue with the claim, but the insurance company may still be entitled to cancel the policy if OP and her husband don't provide the requested information.

Not expected to remember no but it's there for you to check. If it's law to have it up to date then it should be something people check even semi regularly. Again, post going missing is no excuse, they send more than one reminder.

If your paper license was issued before 31st March 2000 and all the information on it is correct, it may still be valid even if your photocard has expired. If you have moved house, changed your name or reached the age of 70, your paper license will not be valid.

Starting the cancellation process may not mean cancelling your insurance on that date.

Wait until your licence comes back before sharing information... if it hasn't by 25th October or so.. contact them to explain.

The paper counterpart is no longer valid as all you need now is the photocard

To clarify;

• if you have the original paper licence and have never had a photocard then that is still valid until age 70 unless you need to change any details at which point you would get a photocard

• if you had a photocard with a paper counterpart then that counterpart is no longer valid and you don't need it any more (since about 2015 I think)

Thanks for all your replies .
I am going to contact the insurance company tomorrow and explain everything .
leave it all upto them , and what will be will be . I am just happy that I’ve not injured anyone whilst I’ve been driving without a valid licence or insurance .
Hopefully it won’t cost me too much to recover the car and get it repaired .

Thanks yes now I understand, based on what the op has posted since it sounds like they have become suspicious about something separately from the fact that there's a claim.
I thought the op had a case of overly aggressive messaging from the insurance company.

Hopefully it won’t cost me too much to recover the car and get it repaired .

But It won’t cost you anything to get repaired if it wasn’t your fault!

My partner is going to provide all the requested info before 27th . I need to get a letter from my employer which may be the end of the week as she is away until Wednesday I believe .
I have been advised I could still claim from the 3rd parties insurance if ours cancel the policy .

Quick update not sure if this relevant or not . After logging into my on line driving history , it says I have not lost my entitlement to drive.
My photograph is expired but I can still click on the categories which say I’m entitled do drive until 2044 .

This is what multiple posters have been saying!

Everyone knows your licence is still valid, op.

Hi there.
Ive found myself in a similar situation. I have been in an incident today and realised my photo license is 1 month out of date. What was the outcome of this with your insurance paying out? I renewed my license today as soon as I realised. Insurance company not aware yet that it was expired at time of incident.

Hi my insurance paid out , hopefully your insurance won’t ask to see your licence . Ours only asked as my partner has forgotten to put an accident he was involved in on the policy although he had put it on the the quote .