Myself and Mrs RR got the forms to renew our photocard driving licences this week, it being ten years sine we had to get them after a house move. Twenty flaming quid apiece! Hell's teeth, there's a bunch of a profit there for scanning a picture onto a bit of plastic.
And the requirements, your mouth should be closed, you should not be grinning, frowning or raising your eybrows and you shouldn't wear glasses. I was sorely tempted to wear a cowboy hat, mirrored shades and have a cigar sticking out of my mouth while giving a three quarter look at the camera just to get my money's worth, but the fear of maybe being stung for another score stopped me.
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ive just had to do my licence, i used a recent photo i had spare for my forklift license i was wearing glasses , my endorsements were removed too
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I wonder how much profit they make from it?
Probably just another tax!?
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>> it being ten years sine we had to get them after a house move. Twenty flaming quid apiece! <<
That's the princely sum of £2 per year and you think it's a rip off?
Pat
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>>Twenty flaming quid apiece! Hell's teeth, there's a bunch of a profit there for scanning a picture onto a bit of plastic.
I couldn't agree more.
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>>
>> That's the princely sum of £2 per year and you think it's a rip off?
>>
>> Pat
>>
Yes.
The charge isn't a tax for allowing you to drive, it is supposed to cover the cost of a replacement which I would suspect is a fraction of twenty quid.
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...it is supposed to cover the cost of a replacement which I would suspect is a fraction of twenty quid...
The cost of the replacement probably is a fraction of twenty quid.
But this is a government IT, so they'll be paying several times what the job is worth.
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Not wanting to hi-jack your conversation about it being a rip-off for the £20 - 10 year renewal of the photo license (however, I do think it is a rip-off/stealth tax), but my question is...
I still have my pink license sheet for classes A, D & E. I have not moved for over 25 years or lost the license so have never had cause to replace/renew it. It says it's good until 2025, am I OK with the older format license? (Sorry if this has been covered before on here.)
Regards,
John R
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>>am I OK with the older format license?
Yes.
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Thought I was... but thanks for confirming it.
Regards,
John R
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John,
Your pink licence is fine, but the DVLA won't miss an opportunity to force you to change.
Points addition/removal and change of address are a couple of examples.
Other organisations are increasingly asking for the new style licence, I heard of someone who had trouble hiring a car using an old licence.
OK, so the clerk at the hire company was wrong to refuse (in one sense), but it's possible aggravation that can be avoided by having, sorry, buying, a new licence.
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Hi Iffy,
I'm not keen on renewing/replacing my pink license for any reason, 'cos last time I had it renewed (when I moved to my current abode 26 or 27 years ago) the DVLA had missed my D (Any Motorcycle with or without side-car) class off, it was a real pain to get them to reinstate it...
My sister lost her D at renewal and at least 2 other people I know at work have lost their Ds. (Is it a conspiracy? Why do the As never get missed off?)
Regards
John R
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There... See, I've hijacked Robin Regal's thread.
Sorry,
John R
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>> There... See, I've hijacked Robin Regal's thread.
>>
>> Sorry,
>> John R
>>
>>
No worries John, you've merely broadened the discussion.
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...'cos last time I had it renewed (when I moved to my current abode 26 or 27 years ago) the DVLA had missed my...
John,
With you there.
The online tax disc renewal seems to work well, but posting anything to the DVLA is a leap of faith.
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Surprised UK hasn't brought in the compulsory medicals at 10-year intervals as required in some EU countries. Nice little earner for the medical profession and licencing authority.
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I would happily pay 20 quid if they sent me a proper driving license. NOT a card and stupid sized sheet of bleedin paper.
For gawds sake the cards got a bar code, they have computers, why do they need the paper as well!
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 7 Aug 11 at 10:18
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The two-part driving licence is not the most elegant implementation of information technology.
There was an explanation given at the time, can't recall what it was, but I do recall it made no sense.
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>> The two-part driving licence is not the most elegant implementation of information technology.
>>
>> There was an explanation given at the time, can't recall what it was, but I
>> do recall it made no sense.
It has a lot in common with the never-ending saga of IT systems in the NHS. No two people have the same driver number, any more than they have the same National Insurance number, so in theory replacing everyone's licence should be a simple affair. Unfortunately, established interests preclude this.
Australia and New Zealand have very similar photo-card licences to ours, but they don't have the paper part; apparently it's far too easy to forge. Since the police only need to check your driver number to ascertain your list of previous sins and omissions, and it can also be done by phone by car hire companies, prospective employers and the like, provided the licence holder gives permission and is present, the paper part is a useless and energy-wasting pointless (sorry about the pun!) exercise.
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The paper part is completely useless. When you get an appointment for a driving test they tell you that you must bring both parts of your driving licence. Turn up without the paper counterpart and they just ask you to sign a declaration that you have one and go ahead with the test anyway.
I can't think of any situation where it is needed.
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JAUPT insist that I check BOTH parts of a clients driving licence before any training commences and if they only have one part I'm not allowed to train them for a DCPC.
Pat
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another thing, if your photo licence has expired some institutions wont let you use it as ID
i had a right job getting at my own money in a money transfer shop
even the fact that i was registered there and they even had an iris scan of mine on record
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I paid £24.50 to renew my photocard this week. Why? Cos the lady in the post office took my photo for me - cheaper than the machine in the corner.
Quick service too. I took the form in and had the photo taken on Wednesday afternoon, the new licence was on the mat when I got in yesterday afternoon. All catagories present and correct, points removed. Its nice to have a clean licence again.
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>> I paid £24.50 to renew my photocard this week. Why? Cos the lady in the
>> post office took my photo for me - cheaper than the machine in the corner.
>>
When I got my first photo licence a decade ago I had the picture taken by a guy in a photography shop. It looked bleedin' awful, so I used a Tesco booth this time and with careful preening and many test pictures I managed to get one that made me look younger than the ten year old one.
Not that I'm vain, you understand, but hey...
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>> points removed
Shhhh! I'm waiting until next month when my 3 points will be old enough to vanish. Photo should have been renewed a couple of weeks ago.
);-)
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>> I still have my pink license sheet for classes A, D & E.
>> am I OK with the older format license?
As others have said - yes.
I also only have the pink licence. As I don't have a passport either, it's becoming a PITA when people require you to produce photo ID (which 99% of the time is either a photo driving licence or passport). As photo ID isn't yet compulsory in this country I find it annoying that more and more people are insisting on it to prove who you are. Only recently I was told that I would have to get a passport photo and have it verified by my doctor so as to obtain a 3 year pass to gain access to a customers site. In the end their security office relented and accepted a passport photo signed by a director of the company I work for.
Last edited by: VxFan on Sun 7 Aug 11 at 17:48
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As photo ID isn't yet compulsory
>> in this country I find it annoying that more and more people are insisting on
>> it to prove who you are.
I bet you're not half as annoyed as the people who have to go to considerable extra lengths to verify that you are who you say you are.
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Not really, if these people want to check your identity it is up to make it easy for themselves - it is their problem.
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Don't even ask how much a £100k/annum GP will charge to certify a true likeness on a photo! There is a rumour that MPs aren't eligible to sign them as so many things they sign are either inaccurate or untrue!
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What's with these pink licences?
Mine's green.
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pink licences are pre photo licence....you dont have to change them unless you move house or become titled etc etc and are valid up to your 70th birthday bar bans or ill health afaik
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>> pink licences are pre photo licence....you dont have to change them unless you move house or become titled etc etc and are valid up to your 70th birthday bar bans
>> or ill health afaik
>>
If memory serves me right, the earlier paper licences were all green... the pink was added after a few years.
I'm sure my 1st licence (1978) was all green.
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>> If memory serves me right, the earlier paper licences were all green... the pink was
>> added after a few years.
>> I'm sure my 1st licence (1978) was all green.
My first license (1970) was a little red book. I believe before then they were a brown book, anyone still got one of them?
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 8 Aug 11 at 08:25
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im colour blind according to the rorchach test i did , or was that the one at the trickcyclists?
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Mine's all green, renewed '77: tinyurl.com/3rmhsc8
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Pink, 1976.
The one before was a little red book.
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>> Mine's all green, renewed '77: tinyurl.com/3rmhsc8
>>
Thanks BT, so I was correct...
Yes Zero, I remember the red books, but my 1st licence was a paper one.
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What a Rip-off - zookeeper
