DVLA Lost License Categories

I watched Watchdog last night and I noticed that the DVLA rumpus is still grumbling on. I also see that the link on the Watchdog site isn’t working, which is a shame. It is now

The gist of this story is that people who needed to update their license due to change of address for example, have had it returned with crucial categories missing. This seems to have hit motorcyclists particularly badly. One gentleman interviewed lost his HGV licence, which meant that he had to retake his test – at a huge cost – and could not work in the meantime.

When challenged, the DVLA response is that they are “working with customers” to resolve the issue. Okay, so what do people have to do to reinstate their categories? According to the spokesman from the DVLA, a previous license will do.

When you apply for a replacement license, you have to send the old one to the DVLA – they update their database and send out a new one. The old one is destroyed – after two months, I believe. So, if two months have passed, it is too late. The DVLA have the requisite documents, have destroyed them and expect the “customer” to prove entitlement. If that isn’t bad enough, the lorry driver was able to produce a copy that a previous employer had maintained on their records. The DVLA response? It was a forgery – take your test again. So there you have it, if you do manage to demonstrate that you have a backup, it will be ignored anyway and back into the vicious circle you go again. The arrogance is so staggering that I find it difficult to find words that adequately express my utter contempt for this odious, self-important, lamentable, spiteful and infernal bureaucracy.

Now, just think for a minute. If the government gets its ID card scheme with the pernicious National Identity Register, who will be maintaining it? The same people who currently maintain government agency databases – such as the DVLA and the Passport Agency. Why would their “customer” service be any different? Up to a third of the DVLA vehicle records contain errors. Transfer this to a database with 60 million people and it doesn’t take much imagination to realise what problems will occur. If your driving license records are wrong, you cannot drive a category of vehicle that you could before. This will vary from mild inconvenience and cost to loss of employment and major expense. Now, if your NIR record is in error, you may well find that you cannot get employment, claim benefit, see your GP or you get arrested because you now have a criminal record – oh, yes, did I mention that the criminal record database is riddled with errors, too?

And who is responsible for proving that the database is wrong? The “customer” of course. And when the “customer” tries to do so, they will come up against the same Kafkaesque wall of intractability that the poor trucker and bike riders have with the DVLA. Whatever your views on ID cards, the incompetence combined with conceited intransigence of those who will run the system should worry anyone who stops to give it a second’s thought.

One final word on driving licenses. If I have to renew mine – and I will resist for as long as I can – I will not only copy the license, but get my solicitor to confirm that it is a true copy. Retaking my test is not an option – that means the bastards win.