License refused CDT 0.3% Please help

[Nemik]

I have registered my last drink with GP June 2022, can I reapply next June or I have to wait a year from the date of this letter ? And do I need to pay for medical again when reapplying ? And how do they refund fee sent with application, I haven’t received anything apart from this letter. My GP wrote to them that I don’t drink at all anymore and that I’m fit to drive and still got refused.

 

[BigTom]

I have registered my last drink with GP June 2022, can I reapply next June or I have to wait a year from the date of this letter ? And do I need to pay for medical again when reapplying ? And how do they refund fee sent with application, I haven’t received anything apart from this letter. My GP wrote to them that I don’t drink at all anymore and that I’m fit to drive and still got refused.View attachment 539

You have to wait for a full 12 months proven abstinence from the date of the refusal letter. DVLA will send you a cheque as a refund but is probably stuck in the post with Christmas/Strikes etc.

Your GP may have said you don't drink anymore and that in their opinion you are OK to drive, however there must be something else in your medical records suggesting some previous dependence issues. In cases where people are classed as recently dependent, DVLA expect you to completely give up drinking forever (or at least until your full 10 year licence is reissued anyway!) - read the part in the letter that states "...you should remain abstinent".

Because you drank within the last 6 months and are classed as dependent, they have refused you. In reality, you should have waited until next June to apply when your GP records would have shown 12 months abstinence. Now you are going to have to wait until at least next December.

In the meantime, keep your GP on board. Get them to carry out LFT's every 3 or 4 months to help with your case. And to answer your question in one of the other threads, I don't think taking DVLA to court is going to get you anywhere, apart from in debt with solicitor fees! You are classed as dependent and have drank within the last 12 months so they are within their rights to decline your licence, the courts will agree this unfortunately.

 

[Nemik]

Thank you for your reply BigTom. Yes, my biggest mistake was telling my GP that I drink beer every day after work back in 2018 and asking for help. It's funny how DVLA label people for their past mistakes and still issuing license to some lucky ones, I've seen Dovi88 posted on the other thread that he was admitted to hospital due to excessive alcohol binge and DVLA issued a full license..
Also, court and DVLA never told me before this letter that I can't have a single drink ever in my life again, they've waited 2 years until my ban expired to tell me so.. I wish I knew this from beginning and also about this forum.
(Sorry for my bad english)

 

[Jools]

Thank you for your reply BigTom. Yes, my biggest mistake was telling my GP that I drink beer every day after work back in 2018 and asking for help. It's funny how DVLA label people for their past mistakes and still issuing license to some lucky ones, I've seen Dovi88 posted on the other thread that he was admitted to hospital due to excessive alcohol binge and DVLA issued a full license..
Also, court and DVLA never told me before this letter that I can't have a single drink ever in my life again, they've waited 2 years until my ban expired to tell me so.. I wish I knew this from beginning and also about this forum.
(Sorry for my bad english)

Sorry you are going through this. The system needs a real change. I know people who are struggling with mental health and anxiety are encouraged to get GP help as people are for alcohol issues but even when fully recovered it seems problems from the past can harm you according to this forum even when fully recovered and it seems unfair as it is a snapshot of things in the past and often has no bearing on the person in the present. I can’t offer any advice but I wish you luck in sorting it out.

 

[Nemik]

Sorry you are going through this. The system needs a real change. I know people who are struggling with mental health and anxiety are encouraged to get GP help as people are for alcohol issues but even when fully recovered it seems problems from the past can harm you according to this forum even when fully recovered and it seems unfair as it is a snapshot of things in the past and often has no bearing on the person in the present. I can’t offer any advice but I wish you luck in sorting it out.

Thanks for your support Jools, do you know if I will have to pay again to get medical done next year ?

 

[Jools]

Thanks for your support Jools, do you know if I will have to pay again to get medical done next year ?

I don’t know but others on here may be able to help. I think DVLA pay but not sure ?

 

[Dovi88]

Thank you for your reply BigTom. Yes, my biggest mistake was telling my GP that I drink beer every day after work back in 2018 and asking for help. It's funny how DVLA label people for their past mistakes and still issuing license to some lucky ones, I've seen Dovi88 posted on the other thread that he was admitted to hospital due to excessive alcohol binge and DVLA issued a full license..
Also, court and DVLA never told me before this letter that I can't have a single drink ever in my life again, they've waited 2 years until my ban expired to tell me so.. I wish I knew this from beginning and also about this forum.
(Sorry for my bad english)

I don’t think I’m lucky I think it was a case a GP (I had never met) had written something completely untrue and had no substance or facts behind it, hence why they ended up retracting the statement they made directly with the DVLA.

If your recording your last drink date with your GP then you must of had some previous issues with alcohol logged and if it wasn’t then it certainly is now.

Either way, happy to help you through the process if you need any guidance however a solicitor like others have said will get you nowhere.. without the professional that has labelled you with the tag retracting that there is nothing you can do apart from follow the DVLA’s guidelines and reapply once you meet the criteria.

 

[Pane123]

I don't think there's anything you can do - the DVLA is a nightmare to deal with.

0.3% is low so I have no idea why you'd be rejected.

 

[Nemik]

I

I don't think there's anything you can do.

The GP doesn't watch over you 24 hours a day, and 3.0% on the CDT test is high.

Unless you can prove there was a problem with their testing equipment, it looks like you drank to a problematic level and there is no way someone who had remained abstinent would score 3.0% (I hope).

Not being able to drive is a real nightmare but it does look like the blame lies with you in this case.

Sorry to be blunt about it but your CDT score is what it is for a reason.

I haven’t drank a single drink since June, my CDT score is 0.3% not 3.0%

 

[Pane123]

I

I haven’t drank a single drink since June, my CDT score is 0.3% not 3.0%

Yes, I'm really sorry.

I misread and edited my post.

If you're in England/Wales you can appeal through the DVLA but in Scotland it's the Sheriff Court.

Is this your first attempt at getting your licence back?

Were you caught drink driving or did you report the the DVLA as problem drinker?

My apologies again and well done on your abstinence - I feel awful about my first post and about your situation.

 

[BigTom]

I

I haven’t drank a single drink since June, my CDT score is 0.3% not 3.0%

It doesn't matter what your score was, this is only 1 of the parameters that they look at. You have been classed as dependent, so one of the other parameters means they will ignore your low CDT.

You have to have been abstinent for at least 12 months as a dependent, and you have already told them you last drank in June.

Unfortunately I don't think there is anything that you can do to change their minds, unless you can get your GP to say he was mistaken and you are not, and have never been dependent...

 

[C J 1980]

I have registered my last drink with GP June 2022, can I reapply next June or I have to wait a year from the date of this letter ? And do I need to pay for medical again when reapplying ? And how do they refund fee sent with application, I haven’t received anything apart from this letter. My GP wrote to them that I don’t drink at all anymore and that I’m fit to drive and still got refused.View attachment 539

Nemik

The DVLA medical process is very black & white. If they want proof of 12 months abstinence, they will not waver it just because you passed the CDT with flying colours. I wouldn't even bother going down an appeal route because you are on a hiding to nothing. I would simply adjust to not driving over the next six months and get some LFTs done with your GP in the meantime.

CJ

 

[Pane123]

I also missed the part where you said you had told your GP that you'd had a drink in June.

Your GP is legally obliged to disclose this and it means you do not meet the criterion of being abstinent for a year.

Assuming all other criteria have been met, you'll have to wait till June to reapply, and do not tell your GP even if you've had one can of beer!

Hopefully 6 months will fly by and the DVLA will be a bit quicker to respond my then.

 

[C J 1980]

.....and do not tell your GP even if you've had one can of beer!

I wouldn't even disclose eating Steak & Ale pie or Chicken Coq au Vin in red wine sauce knowing what the vast majority of GP's are like these days!!!! 😂🤣😂🤣

CJ

 

[Chaotic]

Thank you for your reply BigTom. Yes, my biggest mistake was telling my GP that I drink beer every day after work back in 2018 and asking for help. It's funny how DVLA label people for their past mistakes and still issuing license to some lucky ones, I've seen Dovi88 posted on the other thread that he was admitted to hospital due to excessive alcohol binge and DVLA issued a full license..
Also, court and DVLA never told me before this letter that I can't have a single drink ever in my life again, they've waited 2 years until my ban expired to tell me so.. I wish I knew this from beginning and also about this forum.
(Sorry for my bad english)

Your problem is that you failed the blood test. It states the result was 3% so from the date of the test you must abstain for 12 months.
The blood test proves you have been drinking heavily in the last 4 weeks.

 

[Pane123]

Your problem is that you failed the blood test. It states the result was 3% so from the date of the test you must abstain for 12 months.
The blood test proves you have been drinking heavily in the last 4 weeks.

It's 0.3%. I made the same mistake.

The problem is that they told their GP that they last drank in June.

 

[Chaotic]

It's 0.3%. I made the same mistake.

The problem is that they told their GP that they last drank in June.

Oops. My mistake. So sorry.
Yes, it must be the history from the GP.

 

[Sundog]

Thank you for your reply BigTom. Yes, my biggest mistake was telling my GP that I drink beer every day after work back in 2018 and asking for help. It's funny how DVLA label people for their past mistakes and still issuing license to some lucky ones, I've seen Dovi88 posted on the other thread that he was admitted to hospital due to excessive alcohol binge and DVLA issued a full license..
Also, court and DVLA never told me before this letter that I can't have a single drink ever in my life again, they've waited 2 years until my ban expired to tell me so.. I wish I knew this from beginning and also about this forum.
(Sorry for my bad english)

A heartbreaking post this. Not least because 0.3 is a low score.

But it is just one factor as rightly said above. And also a reminder that for every instance of a successful reapplicant who crows about sailing through the medical - having partied like Gazza, Angus Deayton or Kerry Katona all weekend beforehand - there is another story like this.

The medical can and will trip you up if you are not yet ready to drive.

Trust your instincts; what the doctor and the DVLA are telling you, and not some bloke on here who probably feels better someone else his drinking as much as he is when he shouldn’t be.

 

[Pane123]

A heartbreaking post this. Not least because 0.3 is a low score.

But it is just one factor as rightly said above. And also a reminder that for every instance of a successful reapplicant who crows about sailing through the medical - having partied like Gazza, Angus Deayton or Kerry Katona all weekend beforehand - there is another story like this.

The medical can and will trip you up if you are not yet ready to drive.

Trust your instincts; what the doctor and the DVLA are telling you, and not some bloke on here who probably feels better someone else his drinking as much as he is when he shouldn’t be.

The problem is that they told their doctor they drank in June.

Being abstinent since then is an amazing achievement but if the GP didn't know about it then the licence probably would have been granted.

I've been abstinent for 2+ years now but if I had a slip - would more likely be a tragic fall - I wouldn't mention it to my GP, unless I needed help getting back off alcohol.

 

[Sundog]

The problem is that they told their doctor they drank in June.

Being abstinent since then is an amazing achievement but if the GP didn't know about it then the licence probably would have been granted.

I've been abstinent for 2+ years now but if I had a slip - would more likely be a tragic fall - I wouldn't mention it to my GP, unless I needed help getting back off alcohol.

Yep I got that.

Which is why current CDT is just one factor.

It’s alway why when they say ‘you should show abstinence’, you should.