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Driving Licence Renewal

5 replies

OldJohn · 16/02/2026 16:43

I am wondering if I can legally drive.
I am 79 and will be 79 next month. My driving licence expired on 21st January. I posted my old licence, a renewal application form and a medical examination report to DVLA on 8th January.
I keep checking and all the DVLA web site shows is that my licence has expired. I emailed them and got a reply that said
"This is a system generated acknowledgement - Do not reply to this email.
We can appreciate you contacting us to check the progress of your application.
Paper applications are likely to take up to 3 weeks to process.
There is no need to phone to chase up your application during this time as we are dealing with all paper applications as quickly as possible and in the order in which they are received.
As you have already sent your Drivers Licence application into us, you can check if it has been issued by using our view driving licence service at www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence. The ‘licence valid from date’ will be the date your last licence was issued. Once your licence has been issued please allow 2 weeks from the 'licence valid from date' to be received."
I think I am legally able to drive while the DVLA are taking their time to renew my licence but I am not 100% sure.

Can anyone offer and information or advice?

OP posts:
itsthetea · 16/02/2026 16:52

That is certainly the case for medical renewals

CraftyNavySeal · 16/02/2026 16:53

Have you tried googling and finding out what the DVLA website says instead of asking Mumsnet?

www.gov.uk/government/publications/inf1886-can-i-drive-while-my-application-is-with-dvla

Topseyt123 · 16/02/2026 16:59

I believe you can continue to drive as long as you have confirmation and evidence of the paperwork you have submitted.

The DVLA seem to be taking forever to respond to anything at the moment, to be honest. My DH has a diagnosis of a serious degenerative neurological condition which we were obliged to inform them of and we did so last October. So far all we have had back is a generic acknowledgement of the form we sent in. No decision or advice yet. Nothing. I suspect DH is about to make the decision to stop driving himself very soon, but they really do need to get their arses into gear.

OldJohn · 16/02/2026 17:21

CraftyNavySeal · 16/02/2026 16:53

Have you tried googling and finding out what the DVLA website says instead of asking Mumsnet?

www.gov.uk/government/publications/inf1886-can-i-drive-while-my-application-is-with-dvla

Thanks
I thought that I had searched the DVLA website site but I missed that.

OP posts:
CraftyNavySeal · 16/02/2026 20:01

OldJohn · 16/02/2026 17:21

Thanks
I thought that I had searched the DVLA website site but I missed that.

To be fair the search functions on most websites are rubbish (MN included!). Using Google is much better!

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