Provisional Licence Expired!

UK Provisional Licence Does Not Expire!

Ok not quite true. The provisional licence issued in the UK does not expire until the 70th birthday of the licencee. What does expire is the provisional licence photocard photo which needs to be renewed every 10 years. You can check the date your provisional photocard licence expires, as it is the date marked 4b on your photocard licence as shown below.



You can continue to use your provisional licence to learn to drive until the age of 70, when you will need to renew the licence with the DVLA. I hope that none of you will still be learning to drive at the age of 70! Once you've passed the driving test, your full driving licence will be issued to you free of any additional costs, and the only time you will be charged for changes to your licence is if you need to have penalty points removed from either a provisional or full driving licence.

When it is time to renew your provisional photocard licence, all you need to do is complete the required form with the new passport photographs and send it off to the DVLA. Please note that you must use a colour passport photo even though all current UK provisional licences carry black and white photographs.

Don't wait till your provisional licence expires to learn to drive.

Keep points off your provisional licence

As a learner driver you need to do everything within your power to keep your provisional driving licence clean and avoid penalty points getting onto this important driving document.

In the UK any provisional licence holder who passes the driving test is on probation for the first 2 years, and if you get 6 penalty points or more during your this period your full UK driving licence will be revoked under the new drivers act, and you will revert back to a learner driver status and will have to retake the DSA 'L' test again.

Penalty points on the Provisional Licence

As a learner driver you are bound to make mistakes especially if you are out doing private practice and are not being supervised by a professional driving instructor, you might be caught for accidentally speeding (SP30 or SP50), which is why you can have up to 6 points on your provisional licence and still be able to take the DSA driving test. If you however have more than 6 points on your licence, then you are entering a grey area!
9 Points on your provisional licence will not stop you from taking the test, as the DSA examiner has no powers to deny you a test, however even if you pass the test, it is up to the DVLA to decide whether to issue you with a full driving licence or not so if you need to know if your particular situation will mean a full driving licence with more than 6 points on your provisional, you you contact the DVLA directly giving them your licence number.

12 points on a driving licence

If you get 12 points on a licence provisional or full, you will get a driving ban, 6 months for your first offence, full details are on the DVLA Website.

Typical driving offences that can cause you to get points on your provisional are driving without car insurance, not stopping at red traffic lights, breaking the speed limit either caught by speeding camera or a traffic police officer.

Points on a licence will mean higher insurance costs as a provisional learner if you have your own car, or large premiums once you've passed the DSA test and the DVLA issue you a full driving licence.

It is better for you to use an instructor for driving lessons, spend a few hundred pounds, remain legal, than to risk being caught as a learner driver with no insurance or a proper person supervising you, you might get away with it today, but sooner than later you will get rumbuled.

Driving License Ban

If you are facing a probable ban due to already having 9 points on your driving licence, then you might want to consult one of the many solicitor companies that specilise in helping drivers to avoid driving bans before responding to any correspondence for a new traffice offence. While these solicitors can help some people avoid their licence being revoked, you will have to consult them first to see if they can help with your individual circumstances. I have no idea what these traffic offence lawyers charge, but we all know that lawyers are not cheap, so it is best if you can avoid commiting the offence in the first place and avoid the penalty points.

Recommended Product
Focus Media's Driving Test simulator for the PC, a virtual driving test simulator for provisional licence holders based on the real DSA driving test.

Driving Lessons

Learning to Drive

As a provisional licence holder you obviously need someone to teach you how to drive a car and prepare you for the driving test, the two main avenues that learner drivers use is either by using an approved driving instructor (ADI) or by learning with friends and family.

In these days of a slumping economy and the credit crunch biting very hard, it is not surprising that a lot of people will try and use the least costly route, which will usually be family or friends and some will choose cheap driving lessons.

Cheapest driving lessons

There is nothing wrong with trying to find the driving school that offers the best value for your money when learnong to drive, but you should not go for an instructors tuition just because they offer the cheapest driving lessons in your area. You must make sure that whoever you are learning to drive with and paying money to is a current qualified DSA approved instructor still authorised to give driving lessons in exchange for money, that the car is fully insured and roadworthy for the purpose that you intend.

Due to the ecomonic downturn, there are a lot of illegal driving instructors operation in the UK who are charging money for driving lessons, are not qualified or don't have insurance.

As a provisional licence holder learning to drive, you want to make sure that your money is being spent on the best tuition you can afford, and not lining the pockets of someone who might disappear before your DSA test or keep strectching your driving lessons just to get money off you.

Don't just go for cheap driving lessons, look for quaility as well.


Recommended Product
Focus Media's Driving Test simulator for the PC, a virtual driving test simulator based on the DSA driving test.

Provisional Licence for 15 16 year olds

Driving Permit before 17

In the UK there is no provisional driving licence available for under 17 year olds to learn to drive. If you are 16 and get the higher diability allowance, then you can apply for a provisional licence, other wise the only way to get any driving experience if you are a 15 yr old is to go on one of those special off road special road adventure courses run on private properties.

This special driving lessons are designed to give young teenagers who don't qualify to apply for provisional licences a safe environment where they can learn the basic driver skills that they can later use to prepare for the DSA driving test and apply for a full UK DVLA approved licence.

Don't think that you can just drive a car as a 15 or 16 year old in a supermarket car park because it is private property, first of all you might need the owners permission to drive, and secondly if you do get involved in an accident, you won't have any insurance to cover you, and any accicent photos taken will just be more evidence against you, and you could end up getting points on a provisional licence that has not even been issued to you as a 15 or 16 yr old.

The under 17 Driving Schools have all the permissions and insurance required to offer you driving lessons, so don't break the law if you want a clean provisional licence.

Free Driving Lessons

Lessons for provisional licence holders

New learner drivers can take advantage of the many special offers including free driving lessons that many instructors or schools offer as a means of getting new customers to join them. It is important before taking these offers especially free driving lessons that you read the small print or terms and conditions of the driver training organisation.

Driving lesson offers are designed to introduce pupils to the instructor, allow the learner to have an idea of how the ADI teaches, what the car feels like and if you can have a comfortable relationship as learner and teacher. You should not feel that because you've been given a free driving lesson, that you should stick with the school especially if you feel uncomfortable with the instructor.

Recommended Product
Focus Media's Driving Test simulator for the PC, a virtual driving test simulator based on the DSA driving test.


Enjoy your free driving lessons.

Provisional Licence Photocards Expire July 2008

Is your provisional driving licence still valid?

Do you know that photographs on provisional driving licence photocards have to be renewed every ten years? The first photocard licences were issued in July 1998, which means that some photocard provisional licences will expire starting from july 2008.

You must update your photograph on your provisional photocard licence before it expires, failing to do so may result in a fine up to £1,000.

There are 2 dates on your provisional driving photcard, one is your 70th birthday, and the other is the date you must change the passport photograph, which is 10 years from the first issue, or ten years since the last renewal for your licence to still remain valid

You must be also aware that you might not be able to take the driving test with an expired photocard provisional licence, and driving with a document that has a an expired photcard is an offence under the road traffic act of the UK.

Apart from the photocard expiring, your provisional driving licence does not expire till your 70th birthday, so you never need to re-apply for a provisional licence in the UK, as the DVLA has your full details and can update any details as required to your driving license.

Provisional Driving licence age is 17

The current age for a provisional licence is 17, and not changing to 18 or 21, you can still apply for a provisional driving licence at any post office or online at the DSA website. There is no truth in rumours that the provisional driving age will be changing to 18 in April 2008, neither is it true that after April 2008 you will not be allowed to take the UK driving test until you are aged 18 or 21.

While there has been a lot of discussion in the press about the driving age for obtaining a provisional driving licence being raised, the government has not even had a consultation in parliarment, and it is definately not law yet, neither is there any law being passed in parliament to change the provisional licence or driving test age to 18 or 21!

If you are 17 and thinking of getting a provisional driving licence, then why not go to the nearest post office and get you application form and start filling it in. If you have a new digital passport, you are able to apply for the provisional licence from the comfort of your home.

Obtaining your licence at the driving age of 17 means you can start early in obtaining a life skill that will be very helpful in your later years even if you don't need to drive now. Your provisional licence could be the start of new doors opening up in your life, and remember that the cost of living is going up not down, so the cost of learning to drive will not come down but up. My BSM driving lessons cost me £15 per hour in London in the year 1991, that price has almost doubled in 2008!

Get your provisional licence today!

Revoking Provisional Licence

As a provisional licence holder you should know that if you get more than 12 points on your licence within a 3 year period, then your provisional licence will be revoked, and you will not be able to learn to drive for 6 months.

If you are disqualified a second time within 3 years of your first provisional licence ban then your licence is revoked for 12 months.

If you get a third provisional licence ban, then you will be prevented from driving for 2 years.

While you might say I won't go that far, I wonder why a provisional driving licence holder should get points on their licence in the first place. You shouldn't be driving unsupervised, therefore you shouldn't get caught speeding, as your accompanying driver should warn you when you are breaking the speed limit.

You shouldn't be running red lights, as again your supervising driver should be keeping a close eye on you, neither will a provisional driver be driving a car without insurance!

Abide by the law, and keep that provisional licence clean

Under 17 Provisional Licence not needed on private land

Under 17 driving courses or experiences

You don't need a provisional driving licence to drive a car on private land. Many under 17's want to start early on their road to passing the UK driving test, so these driving experience days or courses offer the perfect chance to learn to drive while under the official driving age.

All these under 17 driving courses and usually run on private farm land or estates with permission from the land owner, and some are very successful to the extent that proper roads with the official highway code signs and markings are built to provide a real driving experience for these teenagers. If you know of someone under 17 years age to obtain a provisional licence, but are interested in getting a head start learning to drive a car in the UK, then this could be something that you should consider buying for them.

While booking these under 17 driving experiences that don't require a provisional driving licence, it is important to check what type of insurance is provided for the participants, as while accidents are rare with the highly trained driving instructors used for these courses, they still do happen, and you need to be prepared.

I hope your under 17 year old does enjoy the driving experience and will go on to obtain a provisional licence at 17 and pass the driving test.

Under 17 driving on supermarket car parks

Are you under 17 years and would like to gain some driving experience before you can obtain a provisional licence, then the idea of learning to drive in a private supermarket car park might have crossed your mind, after all you'll be driving as an under 17 year old on private property. You need to know that a driving licence and insurance is required to drive legally in a supermarket car park.

Provisional Licence and Passengers

There are no restrictions on the number of passengers a provisional licence holder can carry in a car within the normal limits that would be expected for that category of car.

What you do need to ensure as a provisional licence holder is that the car is insured, thus covering the passengers, and that you are being supervised by a full british licence holder. If you do carry passengers make sure there are no conditions on your insurance restricting you carrying passengers, that the car is fully road worthy and has a current MOT certificate.

Any responsible provisional licence holder will always abide by the terms of the licence, not drink and drive, drive without insurance, or drive unsupervised or without displaying 'L' plates. Speeding is also something a provisional licence holder should avoid, as these could cause you to end up with penalty points on your provisional licence.

Terms of Provisional Licence

As a provisional licence holder you must fully understand the terms and conditions governing the use of your provisional driving license while learning to drive and preparing for the UK driving test.

Conditions of Provisional Licence in the UK

1. A provisional licence holder, can not drive a car unsupervised. It is a condition of your licence that you must be supervised by a full British licence holder who is over 21 and has held their licence for at least 3 years or more. Many provisional licence holders are caught every day in the UK driving unsupervised, resulting in fines, points on licence. and prosecution. An exception to this rule is a foreign licence holder (international driving permit) within the first 12 months of their arriving in the UK.

2. You must display 'L' plates when driving a car in the UK if you are a provisional licence holder. Another condition of being a learner driver (provisional licence holder) is you MUST display regulation sized 'L' plates when driving a car, the 'L' plates must be clearly visible from both the front and rear of the car you are driving, and not obstruct your view.



3. You need insurance to drive the car you are learning in. If you are learning to drive with an Approved Driving Instructor (ADI) or (PDI), they will usually have the necessary insurance to cover provisional licence holders, but make sure that your instructor's registration badge has not expired, and if in doubt you should ask for proof that you are covered. It is YOUR responsibility as a driver to know that the car is insured, as in the case of an accident, the 3rd party will pursue you in the first instance as the one in charge of the car, though your supervisor or instructor could be seen as an accomplice.

4. As a provisional licence holder, your car must be road worthy while driving it on pubic roads, this does not just mean having a current MOT, but includes all tyres being legal, the lights being in good working order, and the exhaust system performing properly, you can expect the police to stop any car they suspect is not roadworthy.

Make sure you are fully aware of rules, as Ignorance is no excuse in the sight of the law, so check the conditions of your provisional licence and abide by them.

Applying for Provisional Licence

To learn to drive a car in the UK, you need to possess a provisional licence. You can apply for a licence 2 months before your 17th birthday or 16th if you are getting the UK higher rate of disability benefit. You must not drive on the public roads until you receive your provisional licence and you reach your respective birthday.

Your driving instructor or supervising driver should check both parts of your provisional licence (photocard and counterpart) before your first driving lesson, so make sure you take good care of these documents. You also will need to produce your complete provisional licence in order to take your theory and practical driving tests.

To apply for a provisional licence use a D1 application form which is available from most post offices in the UK , the current fee (May 2008) is £50. The following documents are needed to complete your driving licence application form.

1. Current full UK passport
2. identity card issued by a member state of the European Community/European Economic Area (EC/EEC)*with the exception of Sweden.
3. Travel documents issued by the Home Office
4. UK certificate of naturalisation
5. You can also use your birth certificate, but will need one of the following in addition:

NI card or letter from Department for Work and Pensions containing your NI number

photocopy of front page of a benefits book or an original benefits claim letter

P45, P60 or pay slip

marriage certificate or divorce papers (decree nisi or absolute)

College or University union card or school record

6. Certified passport sized photograph.



Online Provisional Licence Application
If you have one of the newer digital UK passports, you an apply for your provisional licence online.

Once your licence arrives, you are now ready to start learning to drive either with an approved driving instructor or family/friend. It is important as a provisional licence holder that you abide by the law, and don't get points on your licence as points will drive up insurance premiums for you, and if you have more that 6 points on your licence, you will have to take the driving test twice, as after the first pass, your licence will be revoked under the new driver's act.

More Reading
Provisional Licence, Penalty Points and the driving test.

The Provisional Licence

UK driving school will be providing you with provisional driving licence information and all you need to know about driving in the UK and graduating from being a provisional licence holder into a full license holder.

As a learner driver, it is your responsibility to abide by the terms of your provisional driving licence not only to make sure you don't break the law, but you could also be invalidating your driving insurance.

In the UK, as a provisional licence holder, you can only drive a car if you are accompanied by a full UK driving licence holder who is over the age of 21, and has held a licence for a least 3 years. While driving, the car must also be displaying 'L' plates, and you are not allowed to drive on the motorway. You must be insured to drive the car, this can either be by having insurance in your name, or by being a named driver on the insurance policy of the owner of the car. Don't try and use a fake provisional driving licence to learn to drive a car in the UK, as not only will you be putting yourself into trouble, but also your friend or family member supervising you.

The minimum age you can apply for a provisional licence is 16.

The Driving licence consists of two parts, the provisional photocard, and the paper counterpart where endorsements and penalty points are recorded. You must produce both parts of your provisional when requested by a law enforcement officer, or anyone else who might have resonable cause for it such as a third party at an accident scene and needing to confirm identity and insurance cover.

Recommended resources for passing the theory test.