How to make a complaint about the DVLA medical assessment process

Applying for new licence

Convicted Driver Insurance

Dinlo

Well Known Member
I had my DL revoked in March this year as a result of an incident the previous November. I am currently being treated for PTSD and at the time of the incident I had been placed on new medication, the side effect of which was severe insomnia. Consequently I fell asleep at the wheel briefly one afternoon having managed only two hours sleep the previous night and this resulted in a minor collision with the central reservation barrier on the dual carriage I was driving. I'm assuming someone behind me called the police because a marked unit arrived at my house moments after I did. Breath and drug test negative and I explained the medication issue. The police officer then submitted a Medical Incident form to the DVLA which in turn resulted in enquiries with my GP.

I have a copy of the form the GP submitted to the DVLA, in it she has confirmed that I am fit to drive and there are no concerns. She confirmed that I have misused alcohol within the last three years (I told my GP how much I drink which was a bottle of wine a night). The DVLA wrote to me informing me that my licence was revoked and that I have to prove in six months time that my mental health has improved (!) and that I can evidence controlled drinking or abstinence. There's not much I can do about my mental health other than re-iterate that my GP doesn't feel that it impacts my driving. For the alcohol I paid for a Medichecks CDT test in August which came back as 0.7 and I have another test due Wednesday however I've since read on this site that the DVLA doesn't accept those tests. I also have a GP blood test originally booked in for tomorrow but has just been cancelled which was arranged by the GP after I contacted him regarding the six month test. He told me that he'd arrange for the test and take it from there so I've been sitting on the application form from the DVLA until I've done the test thinking that I would send off the blood results with the application. However, from reading some of the posts on here it would appear that the process involves me sending off the application and questionnaire, the DVLA then contact my GP after which I then undergo the medical. Is this a correct assumption?

Obviously I'm desperate to have my licence back but now I feel that I've wasted precious time by sitting on my application in the mistaken belief that I should be submitting it along with the results of my blood test. Also, is there any value in submitting the Medichecks results along with the GP blood test purely as supporting evidence?
 
So, after an incident last November, it took until March to revoke your licence? Were you able to drive under a section 88 in the interim period please? Have you ever had a previous driving ban for alcohol?
 
Shergar12 said:
So, after an incident last November, it took until March to revoke your licence? Were you able to drive under a section 88 in the interim period please? Have you ever had a previous driving ban for alcohol?
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I'm assuming it took so long to revoke my licence because of the DVLA incompetence. I received a notice from the DVLA in January that the police had submitted a M1 form and asked for the details of the incident but it wasn't until March that I received the letter informing me that my licence was revoked and I could no longer drive, up until that moment I was still driving.

I've never had a driving ban, never been arrested for drink driving, never had to perform a breath test until the day of the accident.

I don't even know what the DVLA medical consists of or how to go about arranging it, the information in the letter from the DVLA is so vague, they don't explain anything. I assumed my GP was on the ball and as I had discussed it with him that he was on board with sorting it out but reading the posts on here it would appear that the medical has to be instigated by the DVLA upon receipt of my re-application and questionnaire.
 
Dinlo said:
I'm assuming it took so long to revoke my licence because of the DVLA incompetence. I received a notice from the DVLA in January that the police had submitted a M1 form and asked for the details of the incident but it wasn't until March that I received the letter informing me that my licence was revoked and I could no longer drive, up until that moment I was still driving.

I've never had a driving ban, never been arrested for drink driving, never had to perform a breath test until the day of the accident.

I don't even know what the DVLA medical consists of or how to go about arranging it, the information in the letter from the DVLA is so vague, they don't explain anything. I assumed my GP was on the ball and as I had discussed it with him that he was on board with sorting it out but reading the posts on here it would appear that the medical has to be instigated by the DVLA upon receipt of my re-application and questionnaire.
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Its unfortunate the g.p reported alcohol misuse but a bottle of wine exceeds the govt guidelines of 14 units a week, which is read by them as controlled drinking, so this amount then falls under the persistent misuse category. I have loads more info for you, do you want to try and add me on f.b, name Helen Fisher, profile pic a pool at night? Could then use messenger to send screenshots, ive got a live dvla medical questionnaire here with me
 
Shergar12 said:
Its unfortunate the g.p reported alcohol misuse but a bottle of wine exceeds the govt guidelines of 14 units a week, which is read by them as controlled drinking, so this amount then falls under the persistent misuse category. I have loads more info for you, do you want to try and add me on f.b, name Helen Fisher, profile pic a pool at night? Could then use messenger to send screenshots, ive got a live dvla medical questionnaire here with me
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How far into the 6 month revokation are you? I understood you can reapply 6 weeks before expiration but also that you there are still delays for paper applications with the DVLA,
 
Thanks Helen however I don't use Facebook. It is unfortunate that I've been labelled a misuser of alcohol but a bottle of wine a night is a bit excessive. What is more unfortunate is that the GP who filled in the DVLA form also ticked the box confirming that I have misused drugs, prescription or otherwise, in the last three years and referenced a report from my psychiatrist. However, if she'd read the report properly she will have noted that I told my psychiatrist that I had used drugs in my late teens/early twenties and is almost thirty years ago, this is written in his report. I now have to try and convince the DVLA that the GP misled them in her report.

I'm now at the 6 month point of the revocation. Naively I decided to wait until the 6 months had expired before submitting my application and hoped that I'd be back on the road by late October! Sadly it appears that won't be the case.
 
I think you will need a DR1 form, google it and have a read. Sorry you are going through this x The DVLA will contact your g.p amd also arrange a medical, they dont accept g.p issued tests I am pretty sure. Id get it all sent in the first instance
 
Thank you. I have the DR1 form that I've sat on for a few weeks because I thought I'd have to wait until the six months had expired and I'd had a GP requested blood test. I'm now even more angry with my GP for not knowing what the process is. Is the DVLA medical usually undertaken by your own GP surgery?
 
Sorry, just re read and now think you already completed a DR1, this is basically the same as presented at a DVLA medical, so make sure all answers are the same
 
Shergar12 said:
Sorry, just re read and now think you already completed a DR1, this is basically the same as presented at a DVLA medical, so make sure all answers are the same
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For A DVLA medical, you are sent to a specialist DVLA appointed doctor, min was 15 miles away and I was also charged over £100
 
I have the DR1 to fill out. The previous form was nowhere near as detailed, it was more around detailing the incident I was involved in. The DR1 specifically asks how much I drink, when was the last time I drank, how many times in the last year did I drink over 6 units. My honest answers would, to the average person, suggest that I'm not a problem drinker but the impression I'm forming is that honesty is not the best policy in this case. My last drink was a week ago, two pints and before then, a week prior and two glasses of wine. I couldn't genuinely provide an answer as to how many times I drank more than 6 units within the last year. I also feel that answering no to the question about drug use would be viewed as false due to the inaccurate report from the GP.
 
"...The DR1 I have got, wants history for the last 6 years, not three unsure why this differs?..."

Yes, it does state 6 years, it was the GP form that referred to 3 years.
 
you should easily be able to point the g,p error in reporting, by referencing the original report or going back and asking the g.p to rectify her error herself by a further submission?
 
Be aware that if anywhere on your questionnaire you put yourself down as drinking more than 14 units weekly, or over about 6 units in one sitting, you are at risk of a further revocation for persistent misuse
 
When I discussed this with my other GP (I don't have a particular one, I just get seen by one of ten!) he told me that I should tell the DVLA that it was a mistake. He was very flippant about it until I told him not to be, I got the impression he didn't really know what the procedure entails.
 
"...Be aware that if anywhere on your questionnaire you put yourself down as drinking more than 14 units weekly, or over about 6 units in one sitting, you are at risk of a further revocation for persistent misuse..."

Thanks for the advice. My other concern would be that I have a confirmed case of mild liver fibrosis and that this might provide the DVLA with justification in disbelieving any assertion that I haven't consumed more that 6 units in one sitting.
 
You can also include further info with a DR1, this could be a copy of the psychaitrists report , giving reference to the error, I am including a covering letter, supporting documents and explantions with my DR1. Better to submit it with the DR1 rather than wait even longer
 
Dont tick the box for alcohol related illness regarding liver fibrosis unless you have been directly told alcohol was the causitive factor. The questionnaire is scored and you would be opening a real can off worms.
 
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