Driving Licence Problem

stargazer 68

Hope I have this in the right section!

My friends husband passed his test before me (2 years ago) - got all the paperwork, photos etc however has just discovered that it was never posted off and has now expired!! So he has been driving around with no licence and didnt know!! Yes I know he is supposed to carry his licence etc but that's neither here or there!

Now the question is - he is going to have to resit the driving test however will he have to start at the beginning with the new rules etc? I told her to call the licence place today and find out but anyone know?

Paulw

Dovies wrote: »

Now the question is - he is going to have to resit the driving test however will he have to start at the beginning with the new rules etc? I told her to call the licence place today and find out but anyone know?

Yes, he will have to resit the test and do the number of hours drivers education under the new law.

delly

Paulw wrote: »

Yes, he will have to resit the test and do the number of hours drivers education under the new law.

I have no knowledge of the test part, but the new rules requiring drivers ed apply only if your first learners permit is issued after the 4th of this month. So in this case there won't be a need to partake in them.

MrDerp

Dovies wrote: »

Hope I have this in the right section!

My friends husband passed his test before me (2 years ago) - got all the paperwork, photos etc however has just discovered that it was never posted off and has now expired!! So he has been driving around with no licence and didnt know!! Yes I know he is supposed to carry his licence etc but that's neither here or there!

Now the question is - he is going to have to resit the driving test however will he have to start at the beginning with the new rules etc? I told her to call the licence place today and find out but anyone know?

He'll have to do the whole hog again, I'm afraid, in whatever guise it currently has.

He technically never had a license. He had a provisional license and a certificate of driving competency (what you get when you pass your test). That certificate has expired and he needs a new one. The only way to get this is to sit a driving test. His provisional is long out of date at this point, his insurance is probably invalidated too.

That's gonna be one expensive lesson learned

phill106

So....He never looked in his wallet and went "Oh...Where is my license?!"



Funny story!

coylemj

MrDerp wrote: »

....his insurance is probably invalidated too.

Although driving on an expired licence does not invalidate your motor insurance, this guy's insurance could be suspect if he fax'ed off the certificate of competency to the insurance company to get his next renewal reduced because the insurance company would have sold him cover since then on the basis that he was now driving on a full licence.

Given that he does not now and never had a full licence, this discrepancy would be well within the limits for declaring the policy void.

If they still think he's on a provisional/learner permit then the insurance is not affected though if this is the case then you'd wonder why he didn't alert them that he had passed the test.

Nonoperational

Pretty unbelievable you wouldn't think of whether or not you had a driving license for 2 years.

keithclancy

gpf101 wrote: »

Pretty unbelievable you wouldn't think of whether or not you had a driving license for 2 years.

Thats pretty shocking actually.

Alanstrainor

A certificate of competency is not a full license. You are still required to display L plates and drive with a licensed driver until you have received your pink license.

Learner Permits/Provisional Licenses can be renewed if they have not expired for more than 5 years. If they have expired after more than 5 years, you would have to start from scratch with a 1st learner permit.

VolvoMan

Alanstrainor wrote: »

A certificate of competency is not a full license. You are still required to display L plates and drive with a licensed driver until you have received your pink license.

Are you sure about that?

_Conrad_

VolvoMan wrote: »

Are you sure about that?

well the cert part is definitely right, as no full licence has been issued to you before you hand that over, there's no licence number, no record of it, no crappy pink bit of paper with your picture on it. That little cert thing means you're entitled to be issued with a full licence as you've passed your test but until it's handed over you and you recieve your pink bit of paper you're still on provisional/learner permit

slimjimmc

_Conrad_ wrote: »

well the cert part is definitely right, as no full licence has been issued to you before you hand that over, there's no licence number, no record of it, no crappy pink bit of paper with your picture on it. That little cert thing means you're entitled to be issued with a full licence as you've passed your test but until it's handed over you and you recieve your pink bit of paper you're still on provisional/learner permit

Precisely. Though a certificate of competency can be a defence for some motoring offences which require a full licence, e.g. no L-plates.

Alanstrainor

slimjimmc wrote: »

Precisely. Though a certificate of competency can be a defence for some motoring offences which require a full licence, e.g. no L-plates.

If you were to be pulled over with only a certificate of competency, with no L plates and the gard decided to follow the letter of the law, you'd have to face a fine of up to 1000. It's unlikely of course, but that's the law.

VolvoMan

I can't see the point in a car wearing L plates when one has already shown their competency by passing the driving test. I highly doubt a Garda would enforce the law in this case when one is technically a fully licensed driver.

-Chris-

Are you asking what's law or asking what's likely to happen?

VolvoMan

-Chris- wrote: »

Are you asking what's law or asking what's likely to happen?

No, I am debating as to whether it is officially law.

Why do you feel the need to intervene anyway? Back off, like.

-Chris-

VolvoMan wrote: »

No, I am debating as to whether it is officially law.

Why do you feel the need to intervene anyway? Back off, like.

Huh? Do I need your permission before I post in a thread?

Alanstrainor

The RSA was contacted regarding this, and this is what they said. It was covered over in the Learning to Drive forum a couple of years ago.

VolvoMan

-Chris- wrote: »

Huh? Do I need your permission before I post in a thread?

It was more moderating, not posting.

-Chris-

VolvoMan wrote: »

It was more moderating, not posting.

I mod in bold.

sentient_6

I'm curious how he wouldv'e gotten insurance at all in the first place? Now i'm no expert in the in's & out's of insurance & only coming to the end of my second years worth but i do recall having to provide a copy of the licence both times(2 seperate companies).

however has just discovered that it was never posted off and has now expired!! So he has been driving around with no licence and didnt know!!

Biggest load of sh*te i ever heard. Someone else does his posting for him i take it?

coylemj

sentient_6 wrote: »

I'm curious how he wouldv'e gotten insurance at all in the first place? Now i'm no expert in the in's & out's of insurance & only coming to the end of my second years worth but i do recall having to provide a copy of the licence both times(2 seperate companies).

however has just discovered that it was never posted off and has now expired!! So he has been driving around with no licence and didnt know!!

Biggest load of sh*te i ever heard. Someone else does his posting for him i take it?

Yes it's another one of those embarrassing 'friend' situations.

He would have gotten his original insurance as a learner driver, I don't think insurance companies bother looking at provisional licences/learner permits, they only want to see your licence when you claim to have a full one.

sentient_6

coylemj wrote: »

Yes it's another one of those embarrassing 'friend' situations.

He would have gotten his original insurance as a learner driver, I don't think insurance companies bother looking at provisional licences/learner permits, they only want to see your licence when you claim to have a full one.

Exactly which to me means he probably just kept renewing the orginal insurance & never said anything about his non existing full, knowing he's have to produce it, thus the OP's story of him 'not knowing' is full of holes.

If he did indeed submit the COC form & all that, would one not be following up if no full licence had arrived say after a month? Or maybe he's of these stubborn pr*cks of thinks 'well i've done my bit...'

mrbright

In ten years of driving I have never once had my license checked! When is the anyone was asked to show their license?

coylemj

Alanstrainor wrote: »

The RSA was contacted regarding this, and this is what they said. It was covered over in the Learning to Drive forum a couple of years ago.

That's a change from the old system because it definitely used to be the case that a provisional licence and a certificate of competency together functioned as a full licence and would be accepted as such by the Gardai.

Esel

MrDerp wrote: »

He'll have to do the whole hog again, I'm afraid, in whatever guise it currently has.

Not if you are talking about the new rules, he won't!

If his last provisional licence is not more than five years out of date, he can get another one, and should not have to jump through all the new hoops. He will have to do the driving test again, of course.

stargazer 68

Wow! This escalated!!

If you knew this couple believe me you would not be in the least bit surprised that this happened - I wasn't!! Shes a complete ditz and he is as useful as a chocolate teapot!!

ofcork

Ive been driving 13 years and have had to show my licence at least 5 times at this stage,always carry it with me anyhow.

slimjimmc

Alanstrainor wrote: »

If you were to be pulled over with only a certificate of competency, with no L plates and the gard decided to follow the letter of the law, you'd have to face a fine of up to 1000. It's unlikely of course, but that's the law.

True, the letter of the law still requires L-plates. Interestingly it seems you can legally drive unaccompanied so long as you have L-plates up and don't tow a trailer.
(SI 352/1999 Sect 20)

Esel

slimjimmc wrote: »

True, the letter of the law still requires L-plates. Interestingly it seems you can legally drive unaccompanied so long as you have L-plates up and don't tow a trailer.
(SI 352/1999 Sect 20)

A SI from 1999 might have been superceded by now . . .

zilog_jones

coylemj wrote: »

He would have gotten his original insurance as a learner driver, I don't think insurance companies bother looking at provisional licences/learner permits, they only want to see your licence when you claim to have a full one.

When I got my full licence (a couple of years before all this learner permit crap), I just rang my insurers (Quinn) to say I now had a full licence, they didn't ask for any details at all and sent me my refund in the post.

slimjimmc

Esel wrote: »

A SI from 1999 might have been superceded by now . . .

You are correct, the 1999 Sect 20 regulation have been replaced by the 2006 Sect 17 regulation, but the rule remains unchanged. No need for an accompanying driver if you've a certificate of competency.

jkp

Alanstrainor wrote: »

If you were to be pulled over with only a certificate of competency, with no L plates and the gard decided to follow the letter of the law, you'd have to face a fine of up to 1000. It's unlikely of course, but that's the law.

that's crazy, i just passed my test a couple of weeks ago, and was told by the tester to remove my L plates when i went outside.
i don't know if the rules have changed or if, more likely, the law, the RSA, and the gardai are variously contradicting each other.

Our man in Havana

his insurance is probably invalidated too.

Why do people post this crap everytime?

An expired licence does not void insurance.

Alanstrainor

jkp wrote: »

....
i don't know if the rules have changed or if, more likely, the law, the RSA, and the gardai are variously contradicting each other.

This seems to be the case.

Many people on the Learning to Drive forum were told different things by driving testers after passing their test. Hence clarification was needed.

The rules have not changed regarding this, and i'm quite certain this has been the way for years.

Guy:Incognito

Our man in Havana wrote: »

Why do people post this crap everytime?

An expired licence does not void insurance.

Saying you have a full licence when you only have a provisional is not the same as having an expired full licence. He never had a full licence to be expired.