Spelling mistake on my driving licence!: Motoring Motoring Discussion forum

Motoring Discussion > Spelling mistake on my driving licence!	Legal Questions
Thread Author: Can'tThinkOfGoodUsername	Replies: 30

Wed 26 Aug 15 05:48

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Can'tThinkOfGoodUsername

Hi.
I think I might have a problem.
I applied for my first provisional driving licence back in 2003 and I went on to pass my category B driving test (cars) in 2007.
I have recently noticed that my middle name is spelled incorrectly.
I was just wondering, if I was to notify the DVLA, would they take my licence away and make me start all over again from provisional or is this an easy problem to rectify?
I've read some shocking stuff about the DVLA online. I don't really trust them.

Last edited by: Can'tThinkOfGoodUsername on Wed 26 Aug 15 at 05:51

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Wed 26 Aug 15 08:30

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Bromptonaut

What sort of spelling mistake? A common name with alternative spellings like Stephen/Steven, Jane/Jayne or the various iterations of Mohammed? A simple typo?

How did it happen? Error by DVLA or did someone else complete your application on your behalf? What do other ID documents like your passport say? Why has it taken 12 yrs to notice?

If it's simple and easily checkable I don't think you will have a problem.

Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Wed 26 Aug 15 at 08:31

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Wed 26 Aug 15 08:30

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Zero

leave it and forget it. My passport has my middle name spelt slightly wrongly, never done anything about it and wont till renewal.

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Wed 26 Aug 15 09:03

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Cliff Pope

My licence has had a mistake for 48 years, and hasn't mattered until a few weeks ago when I wanted to hire a campervan. I had to ring DVLA, explain the situation, and was given a one-off authorisation code which the hirer used to approve my licence.

In my case my 3rd first name had been assumed to be part of a non-hyphenated double barrel surname, rather than a true first name. Now I'm in the process of waiting for a replacement licence to be sent. I'm assured that the process is in hand, and it won't cost anything or lose any categories.
The reason dates back before records began, probably to the time when the original card booklet was changed to the current bit of scruffy folded pink paper.

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Wed 26 Aug 15 09:12

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Harleyman

Worth pointing out that the slightest inconsistency in details these days on official documents can end up with consequences.

I had issues a few years ago with getting a credit check done; after a lot of faff, phone calls and time wasted it turned out that due to a spacing error on the council tax details, Experian regarded me as a non-person with a bad credit history. Of course it wasn't the council's fault.

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Wed 26 Aug 15 09:38

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - smokie

@ Cliff - the code thing is just the new process for vehicle hire isn't it, from June?

www.gov.uk/government/news/hiring-a-vehicle

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Wed 26 Aug 15 10:36

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Cliff Pope

>> @ Cliff - the code thing is just the new process for vehicle hire isn't
>> it, from June?

Presumably - anyway, it was trying to hire a vehicle that highlighted the discrepancy.
It was interesting that I was able to sort this out over the phone, without any proof of ID.
There is a special section of DVLA staffed by humans who can carry out ordinary conversations and sort out problems like this.

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Wed 26 Aug 15 10:32

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Shiny

>> leave it and forget it. My passport has my middle name spelt slightly wrongly, never
>> done anything about it and wont till renewal.
>>

Be careful, I had this and a ticket in my correct name. American Airlines wouldn't let me check-in but a kind man took pity on me and had to edit my ticket and my manifest on Gallileo or whatever it's called - it must have taken him 15 minutes of typing! He said nowhere wlaw would care apart from America.

Last edited by: Shiny Tailpipes on Wed 26 Aug 15 at 10:32

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Wed 26 Aug 15 10:40

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - CGNorwich

A quiet word to immigration control and you will never be let back in the country again.

Tempting.

;-)

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Wed 26 Aug 15 10:35

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - No FM2R

I'd fix it because it would annoy me, and why not fix it?

You'll only have a problem, including retaking a test, if they don't believe that you are the rightful licence holder. That sounds most unlikely for a spelling mistake on your middle name.

By the way, I find the DVLA, especially their online service, to be excellent.

Last edited by: No FM2R on Wed 26 Aug 15 at 10:35

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Wed 26 Aug 15 11:09

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Slidingpillar

Over the years, I've had two V5s corrected. The first one had a joke of body style and I think I sent it back 3 times before getting it acceptably altered.

The second one was an incorrect reading of the chassis number on the Morgan 3 wheeler, when such things were hand written by local registration authorities and carried forward to DVLA. Took me 3 months of waiting, but they did accept my explanation when the letter was finally looked at by a human, not a call centre drone.

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Wed 26 Aug 15 12:22

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Harleyman

Took me 3 months of waiting, but they did accept my explanation when the
>> letter was finally looked at by a human, not a call centre drone.
>>

The problems tend to arise more when documents are checked by a computer, as is becoming more and more common. As mentioned above, one spacing error can easily throw the whole lot out of kilter.

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Wed 26 Aug 15 17:47

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Alastairw

Two out of my three forenames are spelt wrong on my birthday certificate. Has never given a moments trouble.

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Wed 26 Aug 15 18:00

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - WillDeBeest

There are only wrong ways to spell Alastair. Lucky your family name isn't Shepherd.
}:---)

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Wed 26 Aug 15 18:16

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - CGNorwich

Legally I would say your names are as spelt on your birth certificate. It's just that you have been spelling them incorrectly all your life! I guess you could make a good argument though that you have effectively changed you name by usage if other documents like your passport and driving licence show your preferred spelling.

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Wed 26 Aug 15 20:13

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Slidingpillar

Yup. Until you change your name by deed poll, the birth certificate is the authority and you cannot even spell your name correctly in your native language.

:o)

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Wed 26 Aug 15 20:30

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Manatee

Birth certificate can be augmented by adoption certificate or marriage certificate, probably a few other things as well. But things have got more difficult as regards changing name by usage, since the Money Laundering regs and the security around things like passport issuance with all the anti-terrorism stuff.

My daughter changed her name by deed poll when she married, so as to make our family surname into an additional forename. Not strictly necessary, as a marriage cert is technically adequate evidence for that, or the simple adoption of the spouse's surname, or double-barrelling; but that is no guarantee that it will always be accepted. Banks can be awkward, especially.

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Thu 27 Aug 15 17:54

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Tigger

My wife had a spelling mistake on her licence for over 30 years.

When we moved house recently she corrected the name too. No hassles from DVLA, and it came back correct.

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Thu 27 Aug 15 18:11

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Armel Coussine

Herself used to have a Canadian passport (her father was Canadian) although she's as English as whatever the really English thing is.

Coming back from France once the immigration went into a huddle and pointed out to her that she didn't have in any formal sense an automatic right of entry to the UK. At the sight of her horrified face they chuckled kindly and said they wouldn't exclude her this time, but she should update her British passport. She hastened to do so and since then so far so good.

Poor darling... her highly expressive grimaces of alarm have caused mirth at many a frontier. The Italians were especially amused and curious.

I know I've posted this before. Sorry to be a bore. It's my nature.

Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Thu 27 Aug 15 at 18:13

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Thu 27 Aug 15 19:45

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Armel Coussine

Some further posts have vanished.

It may not matter, but is there a reason?

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Thu 27 Aug 15 21:25

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - VxFan

>> It may not matter, but is there a reason?

Yes, there is obviously something wrong with your computer. As far as I can tell nothing has vanished from this thread.

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Fri 28 Aug 15 14:04

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Armel Coussine

>> As far as I can tell nothing has vanished from this thread.

I don't think I'm hallucinating. I did a post about the plainclothes Carabinieri wondering in Italian why Herself was looking so scared. It seemed to appear in the thread briefly.

Perhaps the Italian, which was very likely faulty, was considered a poncy step too far. I'm not upset or offended, whatever happened or didn't happen.

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Fri 28 Aug 15 14:27

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Slidingpillar

Mon dieu, un autre langue et le message disparaÃ®t

:o)

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Fri 28 Aug 15 14:44

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Armel Coussine

>> Mon dieu, un autre langue et le message disparaÃƒÂ®t

Le Dieu unique prend le majuscule, ainsi: Mon Dieu! (Ã la diffÃ©rence des dieux multiples et mineurs des religions primitifs, qui prennent le d minuscule).

Le mot 'langue' est du genre fÃ©minin en FranÃ§ais. Donc c'est 'une langue'.

M****, ces Anglais barbares, pardon mais ptui!

Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Fri 28 Aug 15 at 14:46

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Fri 28 Aug 15 14:54

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Alanovich

Pedant. Mill-inqas hu jippruvaw.

;-)

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Fri 28 Aug 15 15:14

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Armel Coussine

>> Mill-inqas hu jippruvaw.

Heh heh... those are tasty words too. I thoroughly jippruvaw...

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Fri 28 Aug 15 22:58

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - WillDeBeest

...des religions primitifs...

Ã‡a devrait Ãªtre 'rÃ©ligions primitives', n'est-ce pas?
};---)

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Sat 29 Aug 15 01:52

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Armel Coussine

Damn, you're right about the gender.

But wrong about the accent (there shouldn't be one).

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Sat 29 Aug 15 07:18

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - WillDeBeest

Ah, so there shouldn't. So I've been pronouncing it wrong all these years - not that I need to say it very often.

Lennon had the right idea, but even he got the words wrong:
Nothing to kill or die for,
And no religion either.

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Sun 30 Aug 15 15:44

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Cliff Pope

>>she's as English
>> as whatever the really English thing is.
>>
>>

Colman's mustard?

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Sun 30 Aug 15 16:12

Spelling mistake on my driving licence! - Armel Coussine

Sort of, but she isn't that keen on strong peppery things.

She made a very nice Arabbiata tomato sauce for last night's pasta though. I put some extra oil on mine but forgot to add cheese... it was still great though. She asked my advice on when and how much crushed chilli, and I went light on it in deference to her. A splash of extra virgin on top, very nice and harmless too. Sometimes left to myself I overdo the peppery stuff which can upset delicate palates and stomachs.

I still remember with pleasure the great simplicity and obvious extreme cheapness of the Neapolitan spaghetti served as a starter in many small Italian restaurants.

I hinted that I might like steak and kidney pudding and steamed suet pudding with custard and syrup for my official birthday dinner tonight. She replied heartlessly that I have to do those myself some other time. No doubt there will be something decent though. There was a huge sliced smoked brisket of beef for lunch, very tender. But horseradish sauce didn't really go with it, annoyingly. I'm not an intelligent gourmet, just a bit of a gannet when in the mood.

My nephew, who supplied the brisket and is a constant source of interesting and often expensive food, is a very large fellow and has taken to wearing a long black raincoat like a Russian spy in a movie. Actually he's very PC and butter wouldn't melt in his mouth, but you can't tell that from his neutral half-smile and shaven head.

Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Sun 30 Aug 15 at 16:16

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