Scot Free, I am no medical expert nor am I a lawyer or policeman however having been issued with a temporary licence by DVLA, I am 99% certain that there's nothing wrong with you or your medical report otherwise the DVLA would have stopped at the point of issuing. Please remember the DVLA is under no obligation to get drivers back behind the wheel asap. They couldnt give a monkey's how long your application takes but they're also aware that withholding a persons ability to drive is an infrigement of their personal liberties. Dont forget that if you are no longer disqualified by your driving ban i.e. your disqualification period has finished, you are, under normal circs, allowed to drive providing the DVLA has received a valid driving licence application from you. Even if you need a medical before driving again..

This is what I found trawling the DVLA site. What information may I request? You may request any information held by or on behalf of DVLA and recorded in any form. This includes paper records (including hand written notes), information held on computers, other electronically held information (audio and video recordings), plans, maps, and photographs. You are entitled to the information contained in documents, not to the documents themselves. However, where appropriate and convenient we may choose to provide a copy of the document rather than extracting the information from it. Your Rights as a Data Subject. As a data subject, you have various rights under the Act, including a right of access to any personal data being held about you by DVLA as data controller. DVLA will supply you with details of personal data we are holding about you if you submit subject access request. Our Release of Information section provides details of whom to contact." That then led me to the DVLA FOI page which ends with whatisfoi.aspx - sorry cant paste the link as I'm not permitted. However to condense the content I eventually arrived at this "Making a Data Subject Request Data Protection The Data Protection Act gives you the right to obtain information held about you. 1. Release of information about yourself - Vehicle Register Information held on the DVLA vehicle record is obtained and used for the purpose of registering and licensing vehicles, related law enforcement, road safety and assistance to the police in the prevention of crime. The DVLA is registered to this effect under the Data Protection Act. You can make a personal enquiry for a fee of £5 by writing to Vehicle Record Enquiries, Vehicle Customer Services, (Data Protection Queries), DVLA, Swansea SA99 1AJ quoting your full name, address and the registration number of your vehicle. DVLA can only access vehicle records by a registration number. This information must be provided in order to process your request. 2. Release of information about yourself - Driver Register Enquiries of the Driver Licence Record should be addressed to DCS (Data Subject Enquiries), D4, DVLA, Swansea SA6 7JL. You should give details of your address, driver number or full name and date of birth and reason for request. A fee of £5 is payable. So that answers the question of how much it costs to SAR the DVLA as the answer is £5:roll: Now although the previous extracted paragraph from the DVLA's own site states the address to send a SAR is DCS at D4, DVLA etc, I then found a DVLA generated request form which originates from another DVLA page ending in /FOIApplication.aspx When you open the page and click on "Request Form" in the third paragraph, a word document is opened with an entirely separate address and department i.e. Freedom of Information D16, Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Longview Road, Morriston, Swansea SA6 7JL. So my advice is to send copies of your SAR to both those departments just so they cant say it was sent to the wrong one. Hang on this is the DVLA and they can say anything they like - and often do:madgrin:

In addition to which do you know if the £10 fee applies ?

Sorry Rebel was looking at the football I'm trying to find what address they had for me in 2003 when they claim they sent me information telling me that my licence would be revoked if I didnt tell them who was driving etc etc. Maybe they sent that information but it clearly didnt arrive otherwise I would have acted accordingly, having nothing to hide, no points on my licence etc However when I contacted DVLA after discovering my licence had been revoked, I was told that I would have to apply for a new licence as well as asking for a "change of address". Which therefore suggests that they maybe had the wrong address in the first place ? I realise that in itself is not a defence but I havent changed my address for the last 8 years so I'd just like to know what information they had in 2003. SD

Hi can anyone point me towards a Subject Access Request template letter for the DVLA ? I've seen various other templates on this site (mainly financial based) but not one specifically aimed at asking the DVLA to provide details of all records, addresses, convictions etc ? Also does anyone know if a S A R to the DVLA requires a £10 fee ? If so to whom should one make it payable ? Many thanks SD:-)

Further update to the previous post I wrote regarding what not to do when attending a medical. 1. If your disqualification has ended and you're waiting for the DVLA or a medical or whatever, you are entitled to drive whatever vehicle you drove before your ban i.e. lorry, car, milkfloat etc. If you send off your new driving licence application to Swansea make sure you send it via recorded delivery then track the consignment on the Post Office web site. That way you can prove your application has arrived (although technically your application has to be opened and processed before you can drive) so its up to you if you drive or wait for the "Medical appointment" letter. 2. Dont lie at your medical as blood and urine can find you out for up to three weeks in arrears. 3. IF YOU CAN try to get a blood test, prior to the DVLA medical, organised with your local GP or testing laboratory. Either lie to your GP and say you feel you have liver problems or ask them nicely if you know them well. If you can manage to get tested, make sure you tick the boxes for AST, ALT and GGT test levels. My GP did it as a matter of course through a "Wellman" checkup and the results showed 45 U/L GGT GGT (gamma glutamyl transpeptidase) is often elevated in those who use alcohol or other liver-toxic substances to excess. The normal range of GGT is 0-45 U/L. 32 U/L ALT ALT (alanine aminotransferase), which was previously called SGPT, is more specific for liver damage. The normal range of ALT is 0 to 45 U/L 28 U/L AST AST (aspartate aminotransferase), which was previously called SGOT, can also be elevated in heart and muscle diseases and is not liver specific. The normal range of AST is 0 to 45 U/L These are supposedly the key enzymes that can show up anomalies within the liver. Even though higher ratings for all these tests could equally be down to other issues such as fatty liver "Three patients are reported with a prior history of alcohol misuse accompanied by abnormal liver toxicity tests and other indices of alcohol misuse. A decreased but persistently raised serum ?-glutamyl transferase activity during subsequent abstinence or controlled drinking was interpreted incorrectly as due to continued alcohol misuse whereas obesity-related fatty liver was the probable cause. The value of serum carbohydrate deficient transferrin assays in the differential diagnosis of abnormal liver toxicity tests is emphasized" If you cant get your friendly GP to do the test then MAYBE it might be worth paying for a test privately. Please bear in mind that if you ask your GP about these issues and request a Liver function test they may be required to report such events to the DVLA if requested. After you receive your Medical letter from the DVLa you will have 90 days to organise and attend your medical. So that's enough time to organise the Liver function test, obtain the results then decide whether you need to change the results with sustained abstinence/diet/exercise etc. Dr Sandra Cabot's Liver Doctor - Love your Liver and Live Longer If the levels you test for are higher than the norm maybe you could try various detox options for both the liver Detoxify Your Liver: Baseline's Alternative Health Newsletter and the colon Baseline of Health Foundation - Detox Program: Colon Cleanse. (Please be aware that I cannot verify the effectiveness of these detox programs but if your enzyme levels are higher than the norm you clearly have to do something to reduce those levels). If you value your licence (and if you have any doubt whether you'd pass the DVLA standards) then the least you can do is get checked with some sort of reputable testing system. If nothing else it'll make you realise that the liver needs to be looked after and a couple of months of alcohol abstinence is no big deal in the overall scheme of things. Good luck

Thanks Pat very interesting but that link rerfers to New Drivers from 1995 onwards who are subject to different rules allegedly ? Does this revocation process also apply to older drivers i.e. those who passed their test before 1995 ?

Thanks Patrick I think we'll threaten them with that this morning just to see if they can finally pull their finger out. It appears that not all insurance "courtesy car" options are the same !!! Worth checking the small print I suppose ?

Sheilaswheels have confirmed to my GF that she is entitled to a loan car while her car is repaired. (Spot of vandalism involving replacing of drivers door). Car is with the insurers authorised repairer who have been told to give my GF a courtesy car. Garage say they dont have any available so Insurer has told them to hire a car for her. Now they're stalling and its already four days since the car was taken away. I suggested a quick call from her solicitors but she hasnt got a regular "attorney" so any ideas please ???

"Whilst revocation is supposedly an automatic process by the DVLA, it does not take effect until you receive a notice of revocation from them. If you never received this, then your licence was not revoked" Are you 100% sure of this PatDavies or is it just one of those apocryphal tales, urban myths or friend of a friend story ?

It also goes to show what an arrogant bunch of barstewards the DVLA are:mad: This "if it isnt down on our records/computer etc then it must be wrong" attitude really annoys the hell out of me and presumably a few others.

People can I just say, having read a whole lot of messages from distraught individuals, three important things. 1. If you write anything on your medical questionnaire that can be checked by someone later then you're in the brown stuff. So no saying you've never had a problem with booze if your GP knows otherwise. Nine times out of ten your GP will be contacted. 2. Alcohol can leave the bloodstream within 24 hours (depending on the quantity consumed of course) however it can still tell tales on you if they ask for a urine sample. "With some urine alcohol tests, alcohol can be detected up to around 48 hours after a person has ingested alcohol. With the EtG Urine Alcohol Test, however the presence of EtG in the urine demonstrates that ethanol alcohol was ingested within the past 3 or 4 days, or roughly 80 hours after the ethanol alcohol has been metabolized by the body. Think this through for a moment. No, the EtG Urine Alcohol Test cannot tell how much alcohol a person ingested, but it can, however, detect alcohol consumption after the alcohol has been metabolized by the person's body. The significance of this is that if the person, for instance, has stated that he or she has stopped drinking for any period of time, this test will show that they are not telling the truth" So dont tell someone or write on a questionaire that you stopped drinking a week ago when you haven't. 3. Between the time when your disqualification ends and the DVLA get their finger out and get you to a Medical and finally arrive at a decision, you are entitled to drive a car (assuming you had a car driving licence before disqualification) or any vehicle you were previously entitled to drive for as long as it takes the DVLA to confirm or deny your licence. PROVIDING THEY HAVE RECEIVED YOUR DRIVING LICENCE APPLICATION FORM AND FEE. You can check this by sending your application via Recorded Delivery and track the delivery via the Post Office. I know this to be true as I have driven for over four years while waiting for the DVLA to get their act together and believe me that's not the longest period recorded. "Driving before your licence is returned = Once DVLA has received your valid application you can drive before you receive your licence as long as you: have held a GB or Northern Ireland licence issued since 1 January 1976 or another exchangeable licence aren’t disqualified from driving (there are different rules for medium or large vehicles, minibus or bus drivers - the traffic commissioner for your area will decide whether to grant your entitlement to drive these vehicles) haven’t been refused a licence for medical reasons or for failing to comply with medical enquiries wouldn’t be refused a licence for medical reasons (if in doubt, check with your doctor) keep to any special conditions which apply to the licence"