Hi all,
My wife was diagnosed with MS over 10 years ago.
She has been on medication for the condition for quite a few years, since being on the injections she has not relapsed and shows no symptoms at all.
We did inform the DVLA when she was first diagnosed by sending them a letter. However, that’s the last thing we did and didn’t hear anything back from them.
Last week we were sorting out some clutter and came across my wife’s paper licence and discovered it still has her maiden name displayed. So we decided to collect and fill out a form for a new photo licence to change to her married name.
One of the items on the form asks is you have any medical condition that may affect your driving, one of them is MS.
So I started reading up and discovered if you have MS your licence must be renewed every 3 years after filling out a medical form. If this is the case it seems that the DVLA did not receive the initial letter informing them of the condition as wife still has old paper licence.
My wife’s condition does not affect her driving ability in the slightest. However, we are now worried if we inform them we will be fined up to a £1000.
My question is has anyone that you know of been fined for not informing them immediately when the condition was diagnosed?
Thanks in advance
I’ve always known a driving licence for people with MS, when limited, has always been a 3-yr licence.
When I first informed the DVLA of my MS, at the time of my DX, they didn’t limit my licence. However, 3 years ago, they did, to a 3-yr licence.
This year, I got the reminder, filled in several pages of questions, which were pretty much the same as 3 years ago, and was told I had to have a medical with my GP. This initially terrified me, as I couldn’t think why on earth they’d need one, as my replies to their questions hadn’t changed since 3 years ago, and I don't have problems that could affect my “fitness to drive.”
Having had the medical, they then sent me my new licence, which is now for 5 years! Whoopee, I thought, but couldn’t figure out why it should have increased from 3 to 5 years.
A couple of days later, I got a letter from the DVLA, explaining:
“DVLA has recently been advised that in instances where a driver has had multiple sclerosis for at least three years and has been able to demonstrate that their condition has remained stable, it may be appropriate to issue longer duration medical licences.”
I don’t know how recently “recently” is, but I thought this might be of interest to other MSers who might not know about this new duration for MSers.
I also don’t know what constitutes “stable” in this respect, but maybe the cause of my having to have a medical was for the GP to confirm that not much has changed in my SPMS over the past 3 years, in relation to the DVLA’s questions on the form?
Re the medical with my GP, I needn’t have worried. It just seemed to consist of asking me the same questions as were on the form, and doing a vision test for what I guess was checking my peripheral vision: closing one eye whilst pointing out which of her hands my GP was wriggling her fingers with.
By the way, the whole process, from the initial reminder form to receiving my licence, took a whopping 3 months!
Is that correct that if u have MS u MUST inform DVLA and your insurance companys...............if u do not do this IF involved in even a minor RTA u can be fined 10000 and classed as having no insurance and possible loss of licence altogethe???
Edited by Scully to include 'tags' to previous discussion on this topic
Hi guys,
I don't hold a full driving licence, just a provisional. After my diagnosis way back in feb I dug it out and sent it off to declare my dx, also to change my address and surname (better late than never!) as I suddenly realised how much i need to be able to drive as it will give me so much more independence.
I filled it all out and got a letter back to say they needed my dr's details etc, sent off in march. Got a letter today (yes today 10m on!) saying they still had not made contact with my neuro, could I chase him up and get back to them? I have changed neuro's in this time and according to my nurse, current neuro is off until January (nice life for sum huh?!). So what do I do now? Just wait or try the old neuro again? Would he still count as my doctor? Why do we always end up having to organise things?!
All advice welcome, thanks
Lx
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