habanero
Member
Timescale - got my license application pack in mid January as per others wasn't requested for a medical initially but was in the HRO. Sent it off and they cashed the cheque promptly, my ban ended 7th March. Two days before the ban expired I call them having heard nothing and I'm told that I need to pay an additional fee as I'd been told to pay the wrong one and that I'd need to have a medical. So I pay the fee over the phone and ask about the medical - to which I'm told to wait for the letter in the post and only when I have that could I arrange it. Sheesh. So weeks go by, letter finally arrives after two more calls to them to chase it. Medical arranged for a fortnight later 2nd April (earliest they had) and I'd point out that the place I had to go to was a nightmare to get too, took me 2hrs on multiple buses each way.
In this time I hadn't gone back on the road even though I could, I felt it would jinx me for some reason lol. However in late May with 6 weeks having passed since the medical I called the dvla to chase it and all the guy would tell me was that they were still dealing with cases from February in some instances. So fed up of waiting I put the car back on the road and out of the blue my license appeared in the post a couple of days later (odd!).
This is not the end of it however, I've got my license back for 1yr pending another medical after that.
I had a serious problem with drinking at the time of my ban. I got my act together but did fall off the wagon a couple of times, enough to warrant me to go to my GP for support. I was honest on the medical and hadn't drank in ages, with only 1 visit to the GP in a year (the one time in 12mths that I drank, was teetotal the rest of the time) and DVLA had contacted him. So it would seem it's not a case of whether or not you're a "moderate/heavy drinker" that they're focussing on, but whether you speak to your own GP about it.
In this time I hadn't gone back on the road even though I could, I felt it would jinx me for some reason lol. However in late May with 6 weeks having passed since the medical I called the dvla to chase it and all the guy would tell me was that they were still dealing with cases from February in some instances. So fed up of waiting I put the car back on the road and out of the blue my license appeared in the post a couple of days later (odd!).
This is not the end of it however, I've got my license back for 1yr pending another medical after that.
I had a serious problem with drinking at the time of my ban. I got my act together but did fall off the wagon a couple of times, enough to warrant me to go to my GP for support. I was honest on the medical and hadn't drank in ages, with only 1 visit to the GP in a year (the one time in 12mths that I drank, was teetotal the rest of the time) and DVLA had contacted him. So it would seem it's not a case of whether or not you're a "moderate/heavy drinker" that they're focussing on, but whether you speak to your own GP about it.