How to make a complaint about the DVLA medical assessment process

section 88 high risk offender

Convicted Driver Insurance
If your drink drive conviction was before 1 June 2013 then you can drive under section 88, however if your conviction was on or after 1 June 2013 then you cannot drive as you do not meet all of the criteria, driving while your licence has expired will carry the nessacery points if caught and your insurance will be invalid......
 
Bitter pill to swallow. 5 years without a drink, 18 month ban 3 x 1 year licences and now an indefinite ban..is there no way of getting info out of dvla to find out what is going on. I may have just lost my job.
 
Sorry for you mate, but no one seen this one coming ..........hopefully if lockdown eases in the coming week things can start to move again, I phoned my GPs today for a routine liver function test and was refused by the nurse, have to speak with the GP tomorrow.....
 
Honestman said:
Sorry for you mate, but no one seen this one coming ..........hopefully if lockdown eases in the coming week things can start to move again, I phoned my GPs today for a routine liver function test and was refused by the nurse, have to speak with the GP tomorrow.....
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Yep I have cirrhosis and all my appointments and scans cancelled, I was a regular on hear years ago and never thought I would have to come back for advice, can’t escape your past no matter how hard you try.
 
Right, I’m still working and I’m a maintenance manage at a building which is helping the national effort to fight corona virus. So I rang DVLA medical current number for key workers and they answered straight away. Told the full situation and asked if I could drive. The Guy on phone said yes I can drive under section 88, I said it does not cover me when I read it because I’m an HRO. He said I’m pretty sure you can drive but I will double check with a colleague. He came back and said yes as long as your doctor as given you permission to carry on driving you can still drive. So it appears section 88 does cover you at this current time.
 
splodger said:
Right, I’m still working and I’m a maintenance manage at a building which is helping the national effort to fight corona virus. So I rang DVLA medical current number for key workers and they answered straight away. Told the full situation and asked if I could drive. The Guy on phone said yes I can drive under section 88, I said it does not cover me when I read it because I’m an HRO. He said I’m pretty sure you can drive but I will double check with a colleague. He came back and said yes as long as your doctor as given you permission to carry on driving you can still drive. So it appears section 88 does cover you at this current time.
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Great news mate, well done for persisting, yeh I think if you've been running on a temp licence and this has not been revoked or banned I think you are right, this topic has always `been a dodgy area about who can drive and who can't, but the simple fact is DVLA do not authorise you to drive on a section 88 it's your own GP, and as long as he thinks you meet the fitness to drive then you get the green light....
 
Honestman said:
Great news mate, well done for persisting, yeh I think if you've been running on a temp licence and this has not been revoked or banned I think you are right, this topic has always `been a dodgy area about who can drive and who can't, but the simple fact is DVLA do not authorise you to drive on a section 88 it's your own GP, and as long as he thinks you meet the fitness to drive then you get the green light....
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The problem with DVLA is the guidance is so vague, I remember when I could first drive again 3 years ago my licence hadn’t arrived. I rang them and they said I could even without the licence and even with the Dvla site saying I was still disqualified. Even in normal time they’re slow so god knows when I will receive my licence.
 
Hi all .I would be very careful with this one . Get a reference name of call handler time of call etc. So it seems DVLA are more than happy to offer private plates an even new reg plate for auction all done through DVLA so nice to see their priorities in action !!!! My revoke date was end of February. Not HRO or DD just failed the cdt test and ive been in limbo ever since.
So the bin lorry driver who killed 6people in Glasgow five and a half years ago is now entiteled to reapply for Class 1 AND 2 .No doubt he would have been sent a reminder to reapply Sake!
This section 88 is unjust and has no benefits for me. They could easily issue me with a temp 1year as I've met all the criteria
 
Aron10 said:
Hi all .I would be very careful with this one . Get a reference name of call handler time of call etc. So it seems DVLA are more than happy to offer private plates an even new reg plate for auction all done through DVLA so nice to see their priorities in action !!!! My revoke date was end of February. Not HRO or DD just failed the cdt test and ive been in limbo ever since.
So the bin lorry driver who killed 6people in Glasgow five and a half years ago is now entiteled to reapply for Class 1 AND 2 .No doubt he would have been sent a reminder to reapply Sake!
This section 88 is unjust and has no benefits for me. They could easily issue me with a temp 1year as I've met all the criteria
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I did say as this call been logged for reference and he said yes the details have been put on my case. He did say that they had received my GP’s letter which would have confirmed my fitness to drive.
 
Hi Splodger,

I've just read this thread with interest, as I am a HRO, banned in 2014, and I have been driving on a 12 month temporary licence which is due to expire next week (15th May). Sober throughout the 12 month license, and voluntary blood test passed at end of January, my GP has sent the questionnaire back around 6 weeks ago. I have tried to get the answer about whether I can continue to drive from so many people, but your story has given me fresh hope. I tried a solicitor, a GP and even my MP, but nobody could give me an answer. I have emailed the DVLA and said I am a key worker, so I am expecting them to call me back within the next 48 hours. I shall use your example if they say I cannot drive. Although I am not a key worker, I am expected back to work in the next 2 weeks (civil engineer involved with new build housing), and I'd lose my job if I was taken off the road through no fault of my own. Thank you for sharing your battle with the DVLA, and I hope the information you were told was correct!
 
I think as long as they have the go ahead from you doctor on there system they will say you can drive. If they did not have that it may be a different story
 
Just wanted to update - I have just received a phone call from the DVLA, who have confirmed that I am able to drive past the 15th May, despite being a HRO. This is because, in effect, being issued a license means I am no longer in the HRO category for license renewal, but am in the medical 'pile' like anyone else. The lady admitted the wording wasn't very clear, but said as long as you are confident that your GP has no issues with you driving, you can continue.
I will put this on a seperate thread as well, as I'm sure as this drags on, more and more people that were HROs will be coming to the end of their respective temporary licenses. Just goes to show that not all the advise you get on here is accurate, even from those who think they know it all!
 
‘Know it al’ comment is aimed at me, I know what the law says, and I know the advice that DVLA have issued in the past.
You say even they say the situation is not clear, and I am wondering if their stance on S88 applying after an initial temporary licence has been issued is in the light of the virus situation and their limited capacity to process applications with doctors being unavailable.
it will be interesting to check if they revert to the original stance once full capacity has been restored and doctors are available. I will check when normal Ines of communication are open.
 
Not just aimed at you! I just think it's dangerous issuing such opinions and advice in such a forthright and forceful manner. You may be right that the DVLA have changed their stance owing to the backlog. There is a statement on their website, referred to by Splodger in this thread, that is worded more clearly than section88. I do not think the stance has changed because of Covid-19. The lady was very clear about the process.
 
Thechief5 said:
Just wanted to update - I have just received a phone call from the DVLA, who have confirmed that I am able to drive past the 15th May, despite being a HRO. This is because, in effect, being issued a license means I am no longer in the HRO category for license renewal, but am in the medical 'pile' like anyone else. The lady admitted the wording wasn't very clear, but said as long as you are confident that your GP has no issues with you driving, you can continue.
I will put this on a seperate thread as well, as I'm sure as this drags on, more and more people that were HROs will be coming to the end of their respective temporary licenses. Just goes to show that not all the advise you get on here is accurate, even from those who think they know it all!
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OK I've had it with this I fully appreciate the situation, But my point is about the inept DVLA process and snail pace B4 THIS! SOME OF US HAVE NEVER BEEN CONVICTED OF ANY MOTORING OFFENCE SAKE!!! I wonder if my revoked licence is due a nice letter reminding me to reapply. Lambs to the slaughter. I noted a member tried to launch a campaign on forum. It seems iam very much in the minority on this except Honestman. Everyone, I don't need sympathy I need action , guys I get you've done the time but for fsake clean license 46yrs. If only after this horrible situation we can band together, my only mistake was reapply for my class 2 and I got hung from a long rope Called CDT test, anyway chief 5 how heck did you get through to Swansea... Aron10 pls follow my inputs
 
Thechief5 said:
Not just aimed at you! I just think it's dangerous issuing such opinions and advice in such a forthright and forceful manner. You may be right that the DVLA have changed their stance owing to the backlog. There is a statement on their website, referred to by Splodger in this thread, that is worded more clearly than section88. I do not think the stance has changed because of Covid-19. The lady was very clear about the process.
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The advice on the DVLA website is not clearer than Section 88. The difference between the advice and Section 88 is clear.... DVLA have given an interpretation in the current circumstances as advice, Section 88 is the law and it has not changed. but as DVLA decide when to issue a licence so I suppose they can alter their interpretation of the law, but what S88 says is still what the law says, and states, if you have been a HRO since 1st June 2013 you cannot use S88. It doesn’t say “If you have had a short term licence since the end of your HRO ban this will not apply....... but the law also says you must have an MOT every 12 months, but they have managed to interpret that as ‘but we will renew it for 18 months anyway as it is awkward, but the driver has to make sure themselves that the vehicle is safe”.

having said that, well done Thechief5 for getting a straight answer from DVLA as to how they are viewing licence renewals for temporary licence holders for now.
 
price1367 said:
‘Know it al’ comment is aimed at me, I know what the law says, and I know the advice that DVLA have issued in the past.
You say even they say the situation is not clear, and I am wondering if their stance on S88 applying after an initial temporary licence has been issued is in the light of the virus situation and their limited capacity to process applications with doctors being unavailable.
it will be interesting to check if they revert to the original stance once full capacity has been restored and doctors are available. I will check when normal Ines of communication are open.
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I don’t know whether you remember me , but you advised me a lot many years ago...just to say thanks for all your help back then. Back to this situation. Section 88 seems to me to be very clear as we said earlier in the thread. Then they offered the latest advice. I can read that advice that section 88 may no longer apply in current situations. So it seems no matter how you really need to speak to them on the phone because you may be allowed to drive even when you think you can’t.
 
price1367 said:
The issue is that you are NOT a driver with “a medical condition” you are (or have been since June 2013) a High Risk Offender so that advice is not valid for you.
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Coming back to that point about HRO and medical condition.

When I renew the licence each year there is no mention of HRO on the forms I fill out. All the Dvla forms state that I have a medical condition. So looking back on this like has been mentioned the wording on section 88 and HRO is the problem and needs to be clearer on defining when you are classed as HRO and when you are classed as having a medical condition. It would make it a lot clearer for people like myself and remove and doubt as to where we stand.
 
I have a contact at DVLA but he is not available to discuss this with during the current situation. When it is over I will try to get some clarification as to if this is a temporary interpretation or if it will be carrying on.
You are right that if someone is in the position, the best thing is to contact them and have it placed on your file that they have cleared you to drive.
Considering how difficult it can be normally to get a definitive answer from DVLA on anything, It is amazing that in the current situation people have been able to contact them and be given telephone advice in a clear way.
 
price1367 said:
I have a contact at DVLA but he is not available to discuss this with during the current situation. When it is over I will try to get some clarification as to if this is a temporary interpretation or if it will be carrying on.
You are right that if someone is in the position, the best thing is to contact them and have it placed on your file that they have cleared you to drive.
Considering how difficult it can be normally to get a definitive answer from DVLA on anything, It is amazing that in the current situation people have been able to contact them and be given telephone advice in a clear way.
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What a crock of crap, I'm done with this iam gonna get something done if not now.... 99%of you guys bleat about your criminal Convictions. Mercy, you even get a reminder to reapply sake plus in Scotland you aren't afforded drive aware courses thanks to Jimmy Crankie aka Sturgeon, thank God we don't have idependance tho we'd have been Bankrupt 6 yrs sgo yes I do have an axe to grind Aron10
 
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