Uk Driving license (credit card one) is nearly out of date

the culture of deference

My license is up on the 25th May, and I am wondering whether to finally change over to Irish. I got all the forms but it seems that for my bus, truck and motorcycle ones I have to have a med report done.

Also the UK license is fully valid until I am 70 even though the credit card license says 10 years from 2001. Is anyone else in the same boat. Should I bother changing it over to Irish?

Our man in Havana

I would get it renewed by a mates address in the UK.

Also by maintaining a UK licence you can avoid points from the government's amateur photography club.

CiniO

the culture of deference wrote: »

My license is up on the 25th May, and I am wondering whether to finally change over to Irish. I got all the forms but it seems that for my bus, truck and motorcycle ones I have to have a med report done.

Also the UK license is fully valid until I am 70 even though the credit card license says 10 years from 2001. Is anyone else in the same boat. Should I bother changing it over to Irish?

If your licence says it's valid for 10 years (until 25th May) then it means you are no longer allowed to drive legally no matter if it's in UK, Ireland or anywhere else.

You have to renew it, and if you are resident in Ireland, then Ireland is the only place where you can renew it legally.

You need medical rreport for trucks and bus categories. I've done my med report 3 years ago, cost was 40 euros and it took maybe 5 minutes. But you might renew only with motorbike and car categories, and then you don't need to do med report. If you will want to get trucks and buses categories in the future, you still can get them without passing another test within 10 years of expiry of your last licence, which will be to 25th May 2021.

slimjimmc

CiniO wrote: »

If your licence says it's valid for 10 years (until 25th May) then it means you are no longer allowed to drive legally no matter if it's in UK, Ireland or anywhere else.

You have to renew it, and if you are resident in Ireland, then Ireland is the only place where you can renew it legally.

You need medical rreport for trucks and bus categories. I've done my med report 3 years ago, cost was 40 euros and it took maybe 5 minutes. But you might renew only with motorbike and car categories, and then you don't need to do med report. If you will want to get trucks and buses categories in the future, you still can get them without passing another test within 10 years of expiry of your last licence, which will be to 25th May 2021.

I think the UK remains valid until he's 70, it's just the little piece of plastic with his photo id that expires (mainly because peoples face changes over time). He wouldn't be renewing the licence per sé, just his photographic proof of having a licence.

si_guru

Your car insurance will be cheaper with an Irish driving license. I changed mine soon as I got here. I don't want a £1000 fine if I get stopped in the UK!

Break all ties

I still haven't changed my licence over and I won't. When it expires I will fly home and renew it in Ireland. I can avoid any points and suspensions the cops give the locals.

Welease

I had to change mine about 6 months ago..

For the medical you just need to have a form signed by your GP.. He did a quick check on me, and charged me €25.

I managed to keep my car, motorbike, trailer, truck licenses and minibus up to 8 seater, but they would not allow me to keep minibus up to 16 people, double trailer etc. Their excuse was that I didn't take a specific test for it in the UK, so therefore I could'nt convert it...

Made no difference to the cost of my insurance.

CiniO

Welease wrote: »

I had to change mine about 6 months ago..

For the medical you just need to have a form signed by your GP.. He did a quick check on me, and charged me €25.

I managed to keep my car, motorbike, trailer, truck licenses and minibus up to 8 seater, but they would not allow me to keep minibus up to 16 people, double trailer etc. Their excuse was that I didn't take a specific test for it in the UK, so therefore I could'nt convert it...

Made no difference to the cost of my insurance.

Generally speaking they gave you only category A, B and C while not giving you category BE and D1.
Is that correct?
I'm just not sure what you mean by "double trailer"

Welease

CiniO wrote: »

Generally speaking they gave you only category A, B and C while not giving you category BE and D1.
Is that correct?
I'm just not sure what you mean by "double trailer"

Just grabbed it to check..

(I have no idea what i meant by double trailer I meant C1 + E truck with trailer.. which on checking they did allow.. my bad)

I was allowed to bring over A, A1, B, C1, E+B, E+C1, M & W..

They would'nt convert the D1, E+D1, & C which were on my UK licence.

si_guru

Welease wrote: »

I had to change mine about 6 months ago..

For the medical you just need to have a form signed by your GP.. He did a quick check on me, and charged me €25.

I managed to keep my car, motorbike, trailer, truck licenses and minibus up to 8 seater, but they would not allow me to keep minibus up to 16 people, double trailer etc. Their excuse was that I didn't take a specific test for it in the UK, so therefore I could'nt convert it...

Made no difference to the cost of my insurance.

AFAIK the issue is that Ireland does not have a minibus "not for hire or reward" category like the UK... I lost that too. That said - where would you even hire a minibus here?

CiniO

si_guru wrote: »

AFAIK the issue is that Ireland does not have a minibus "not for hire or reward" category like the UK... I lost that too. That said - where would you even hire a minibus here?

Of course there is such category.
It's called D1.
It allows you to drive a minibus adopted for carrying up to 16 passengers.
If you want to drive a minibus adopted to carry up to 8 passengers, then normal car licence (B category) is enough.

slinky2000

I eventually just changed mine over after 8 years down here. Thought it was about time lol.

Welease

This got me thinking..

I have access to a UK address.. I assume if I wanted my UK licence back, I could just hand in my Irish licence to the DVLA.

Would I also get my UK driving categories back (16 seater minibum, 7.5K Trucks)? or would I have my Irish categories converted across?

Our man in Havana

No. I tried that years ago. All the DVLA will do is translate across the Irish classes you have.

CiniO

CiniO wrote: »

If your licence says it's valid for 10 years (until 25th May) then it means you are no longer allowed to drive legally no matter if it's in UK, Ireland or anywhere else.

Back of my license says its valid until 2055, its just the photocard that needs to be renewed every 10 years.

si_guru wrote: »

Your car insurance will be cheaper with an Irish driving license. I changed mine soon as I got here. I don't want a £1000 fine if I get stopped in the UK!

Makes no difference to my insurance having a UK license over an irish one.

What would you get a 1000 euro fine for?

Id be inclined to renew it at a UK address if it were only to keep the photocard license which is very convenient, there may be some other advantages too

hi5

I had planned on getting a new Irish cc sized one when they came out,but almost 10 years later after the proposal and still no sign of them I decided to used a friends address in the UK instead.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/idauidqlmh/

This countrys a joke.
God save the Queen.


Got to keep my minibus with trailer catagory too:)

pow wow

si_guru wrote: »

Your car insurance will be cheaper with an Irish driving license. I changed mine soon as I got here. I don't want a £1000 fine if I get stopped in the UK!

Only with the couple of insurers who load you for having a foreign licence, most really don't care.

Do you carry the counterpart licence around with wee card OP?

Marcusm

hi5 wrote: »

I had planned on getting a new Irish cc sized one when they came out,but almost 10 years later after the proposal and still no sign of them I decided to used a friends address in the UK instead.
http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/idauidqlmh/

This countrys a joke.
God save the Queen.


Got to keep my minibus with trailer catagory too:)

Were you not living in the UK when you did the test there? Why the friend's address?

the culture of deference

Caleb Brave Windpipe wrote: »

Back of my license says its valid until 2055, its just the photocard that needs to be renewed every 10 years.

Makes no difference to my insurance having a UK license over an irish one.

Yeah my license is valid until 2040, my insurance company do not differenciate between Uk or IRL license.

pow wow wrote: »

Do you carry the counterpart licence around with wee card OP?

No, its filed away in a box at home. I bring it when I rent a car abroad but I have never had to use it so far.

TBH I don't think I will bother renewing it and I will wait until the credit card license comes out here.

keithclancy

Just renew it in Ireland.

Thats where your resident.

The points go onto a shadow licence anyway.

keithclancy

keithclancy wrote: »

The points go onto a shadow licence anyway.

I have yet to see any proof of this.

Our man in Havana

The points go onto a shadow licence anyway.

Not in Ireland. The points go into a sort of limbo, they are recorded but they never expire. If you were ever silly enough to get an Irish licence they would all become active at once. So say points from 5 or 6 years ago would suddenly become live and you could lose your licence before you even get it.

blastman

Is it true that you're not obliged to exchange an EU licence when you move to Ireland, but when it expires, you should then renew to an Irish licence? I've been asked a couple of times why I hadn't exchanged my UK licence, but as far as I knew they can't force you to change it?

Our man in Havana

You can't be forced to exchange it whilst it is valid.

keithclancy

blastman wrote: »

Is it true that you're not obliged to exchange an EU licence when you move to Ireland, but when it expires, you should then renew to an Irish licence? I've been asked a couple of times why I hadn't exchanged my UK licence, but as far as I knew they can't force you to change it?

Yes, when it expires you renew it in your country of residence.
http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/vehicles/driving/validity/resident_en.htm

Also, not all licenses issued in the EU are valid for renewel across the EU.

E.G.
If you exchange your Curacao driving license for a Dutch one you can drive anywhere in the EU for as long as its valid, but you cannot renew in another country where straight exchange of a license from Curacao is not allowed.

Also If you get a 'Lifetime' license, it is only valid for a maximum period of validity of the country you are in.

i.e. a German,Norwegian or UK license thats valid until your are 65 is only valid for 10 years from the date of issue in Ireland or any other country that has a maximum license validity of 10 years.

Jürgen is 35 and got his German driving licence when he was 20. He has recently moved to Spain. In Germany, licences have an unlimited validity period but in Spain, licences for people under 45 are valid for 10 years only. So Jürgen's 15 year-old licence will not be valid in Spain.

Our man in Havana

Simple solution is to fly back home and renew it there, then return to Ireland.

the culture of deference

keithclancy wrote: »

i.e. a German,Norwegian or UK license thats valid until your are 65 is only valid for 10 years from the date of issue in Ireland or any other country that has a maximum license validity of 10 years.

Uk licenses are valid until holder is 70 years old.

Ireland will accept out of date UK licenses until the holder is 70 years old.

Our man in Havana

So no need to do anything then.

keithclancy

the culture of deference wrote: »

Uk licenses are valid until holder is 70 years old.

Ireland will accept out of date UK licenses until the holder is 70 years old.

Well .. until your past the age where you can most likely operate properly, couldn't remember the exact age, is it 85 in Norway ?

Still stands though afaik under EU Rules if you become resident in another country and your license is over 10 years old its not valid anymore.

Although I have yet to meet a person that this has been enforced upon, the Germans are adament they'll never have to swap their License for a Dutch one :pac::pac::pac:

sherdydan

hi5 wrote: »

This countrys a joke.
God save the Queen.

Get out of the country then.

Our man in Havana

sherdydan wrote: »

Get out of the country then.

When did this thread get moved to AH?

keithclancy

Our man in Havana wrote: »

When did this thread get moved to AH?

In fairness saying 'country is a joke' is almost as bad as saying gtfo

sherdydan

Our man in Havana wrote: »

When did this thread get moved to AH?

My thaughts exactly when I read "God save the queen"

Marcusm

keithclancy wrote: »

Well .. until your past the age where you can most likely operate properly, couldn't remember the exact age, is it 85 in Norway ?

Still stands though afaik under EU Rules if you become resident in another country and your license is over 10 years old its not valid anymore.

Although I have yet to meet a person that this has been enforced upon, the Germans are adament they'll never have to swap their License for a Dutch one :pac::pac::pac:

Are these EEA rules? Norway is not a member of the EU. While some things apply equally to EEA countries, not all do.

Marcusm

the culture of deference wrote: »

Yeah my license is valid until 2040, my insurance company do not differenciate between Uk or IRL license.



No, its filed away in a box at home. I bring it when I rent a car abroad but I have never had to use it so far.

TBH I don't think I will bother renewing it and I will wait until the credit card license comes out here.

If you regularly rent cars, it might be worthwhile renewing the photo card - how easy would it be to explain the distinction in a foreign language.

the culture of deference

Marcusm wrote: »

If you regularly rent cars, it might be worthwhile renewing the photo card - how easy would it be to explain the distinction in a foreign language.

Its been 4 years since I needed to rent abroad and the chances of my going anywhere in the next 3 or 4 years are slim.

Anyone any idea when the credit cards will be out here?

Discodog

So if you change a UK license to an Irish one do the licensing people contact the DVLA or do they just accept your UK license as being correct ?.

Our man in Havana

Discodog wrote: »

So if you change a UK license to an Irish one do the licensing people contact the DVLA or do they just accept your UK license as being correct ?.

They just accept it at face value and they then send it back to the DVLA.