Expired photo driving license

[Aspley]

Help please. Car has been stolen off my drive. Insurance company need a number of documents, including my driving license which I now find expired in March. I can’t track ever having any reminder from the DVLA but I understand it’s also my responsibility. How is this likely to affect my insurance claim. I get conflicting views on whether or not it’s the photograph itself that has expired and that I’m still using a valid license but others say the license expires because the photo has expired. I am 45
Any thoughts, please guys.

[HandyAndy]

Your "entitlement to drive" does not expire until you are 70 (unless you have a short term licence for medical reasons). .So you are still licenced to drive (presuming you are not over 70) even though your photocard may have expired. Depending on how obnoxious your insurers want to be, they may make an issue of this. However, they will come up short because the fact that your photocard has expired does not alter their level of risk at all.

I have in mind there was a protracted thread about this on here some time ago and I provided links to the legislation and comments on it. I'll see if I can find it.


Edit: I've found it:

Invalid licence - LegalBeagles Forum

It involves a similar situation to yours (somebody making an insurance claim and discovering their photocard had expired).

It's a lengthy thread but my answers at #19, #30 and #43 explain what I believe to be your situation.

[PallasAthena]

Which insurance company is it?

[Aspley]

Hi Pall….. it’s with Esure

[des8]

Why not just renew licence on line? (https://www.gov.uk/renew-driving-licence)
The new one should be with you within the week, the expired one returned to DVLA.

Not that it should make any difference to your claim as it does not involve use on the public roads

[Aspley]

A new licence has been applied for and as you say it should be received within a week. In the meantime, I’ve decided not to send my old license to the insurance company but to wait for the new one to arrive, send it to them, and hope that it doesn’t become an issue.

[HandyAndy]

It should not become an issue. But if it does you have a perfect counter to it as the earlier thread explains.

Not that it should make any difference to your claim as it does not involve use on the public roads

I doubt that's the angle the insurers will use if they try to repudiate liability. They probably have a policy condition that the policyholder must hold a current valid driving licence. If they turn the claim down on the basis that he does not, the OP has two avenues of argument:

1. The insurer's risk is not altered by him having an expired photocard. Previous Financial Ombudsman rulings (including the one I cited in the earlier thread) have made it clear that for a policy condition to be enforceable the insurers must show that the breach of the condition had an influence on their risk. His car was no more or less likely to be stolen because he has an expired photocard.

2. Regardless of that, he has a "valid driving licence". His expired photocard will show he has an entitlement to drive until he is 70. He secured that entitlement (i.e. his "licence to drive") when he passed his test and that does not end when his photocard expires.

[Aspley]

Once again Andy thank you for your input which all makes good sense. Lets see what happens