News – Driver Licencing

News Items – Please click on each link to go to the article

* DVLA form helps manage foreign driver risk
* Photocard Licences expire after 10 years

DVLA form helps manage foreign driver risk

Managers are being encouraged to ensure any drivers holding foreign EU licences have completed a DVLA D9 form, which allows motoring offences issued to that licence to be stored on a central database.

This D9 database allows high-risk drivers to be identified. “Accessing driver records enables managers to look at the training a driver requires and take the appropriate action, therefore minimising the associated risk,” said Diarmuid Fahy, head of risk management at ING Car Lease.

The D9 form can be completed by anyone resident here who has a driving licence issued in any European Community/European Economic Area (EC/EEA) country.

Managers who have such licence holders driving their vehicles should already have ensured that these drivers have registered their details with DVLA – they must do this under UK law within one year of becoming resident. However, they are also being urged to get them to complete the additional D9 form, which is not mandatory but allows EC/EEA licence holders to apply for a licence counterpart.

This counterpart allows the British authorities to apply fixed penalties and points. It also allows DVLA to interrogate the issuing country’s database to discover if the licence holder has received endorsements there. This information is keyed onto a standalone DVLA database – the Foreign Licence Holder Record – before the counterpart document is issued.

A recent poll undertaken by ING confirmed less than half of businesses had clear policies in place when it came to tracking their foreign fleet drivers.

Only one in ten had heard of the D9 form.

“Present GB legislation does not provide for the processing of fixed penalties for holders of licenses issued outside Great Britain and so companies could be at risk of employing drivers who have previous motoring offences,” said Mr Fahy.

“It’s a big concern that as the trend for employing foreign drivers is increasing, there isn’t more awareness about the D9 form and its huge benefit.”

Article by Daniel Attwood. Fleet News Tuesday 14 October 2008

Photocard Licences expire after 10 years

July 1998 saw the introduction of the Photocard Driving Licence. But did you know that the photo is only valid for 10 years? Well for some that time is now up and for a growing number of 27+ year olds it’s time to check that little piece of pink plastic that has gone unnoticed for years. Besides not many people look the same as when they were a teenager.

After all this time it needs to be renewed at a cost of £17 a nice little earner for the government but a real problem if your drivers don’t get theirs renewed as it really could invalidate the insurance.

There is also a rise of fake driving licence sites and it’s getting more and more difficult to know who is entitled to drive your company vehicles. Perhaps the only sure way to know is to conduct a DVLA licence check.

Click here for our Licence Checking Service

Click here for more info on the photocard driving licence