Im_and_Er

There are several different codes used but principally the only ones which are relevant to the majority are:

70GB:

70 = exchange licence, GB = original country of issue. Despite the apparently obvious connection the 70 is nothing to do with age.

74 = Category C vehicles up to 7,500kg (equivalent of UK category C1 for light trucks)

75 = Category D vehicles where the number of seats, including the driver, does not exceed 17 (equivalent of UK minibus category)

77 = Category E (D) 17 seaters and towing a trailer whose PTAC exceeds 750kg.

cjm

Extremely helpful, it makes me less nervous about perhaps being obliged to switch licences.

Daisy2

Hello everyone, hope someone can help on this - many thanks in advance if you can.

Have recently had UK photolicence stolen and as I no longer have a UK address I applied to the local Prefecture for a French permis.

Forms have just been returned with the suggestions that a) I apply to UK - DVLA will not post a replacement to non-UK addresses,
b) I sign the forms - they were.

Included in the paperwork were photocopies of licence (previously stored) all duly endorsed with "stolen", utility bills, Certificate of Entitlement (£5 from DVLA - they were happy to send/receive that), photos sae etc etc.

Any advice or is the the real Catch-22?

I do not want to get into the realms of using someone else's address having already suffered ID theft myself, is there a legal way round this?

cjm

Not sure what you could do, but others here will be able to advise I feel sure. Welcome to the Forum.
If your documents are sufficient for a French licence, then that is the route I guess. Earlier posts indicate you ought not to lose any of the UK driving permissions.

Bomber Harris

That Directive you've linked to was repealed in 2006 and replaced by Directive 2006/126.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/...018:01:EN:HTML

dennerlymum

[QUOTE=Daisy2;9007642]Hello everyone, hope someone can help on this - many thanks in advance if you can.

Have recently had UK photolicence stolen and as I no longer have a UK address I applied to the local Prefecture for a French permis.

if they need proof of your uk licence then the dvla will send out a form to show that you had a licence for around 10 euros; this should then get you a french licence easily if you go in with all your other pieces of paper; the only hiccup could be they required us to prove we had been in france for at least a year?

Im_and_Er

There is no reason whatsoever for your prefecture to refuse your DVLA letter of entitlement so go back and insist. The letter is only valid for 3 months but I'm assuming you are well within that limit.

I cannot think of any reason why the French would require proof of how long you have been in the country other than possibly a hangover from the mistaken notion that many gendarmes still harbour that a UK licence must be exchanged for a French one after 12 months.

Roger O

I forgot to say above that part of the reason for swapping to French was that I was coming up to 70 and no way I was going to go to the UK for an exam when I could swap for French with indefinite validity! As I hardly ever visit the UK there was no "pain" involved. As to driving London to Torquay, in my present state of health I wouldn't like to try any more anyway, so my young(er) sister can continue to enjoy visits to Carcassonne instead!!

Mitzyboy

Its an important point. If you are living abroad, if you have an ability to register your UK licence to a UK address, then do so rather than leaving it registered to an address where you used to live .... for instance a family home or something like that. In that way you can apply for a new one easily.

Im_and_Er

But why fiddle the system at all when you can just get a French licence and be done with it.

I never could understand what it is that attaches some people so firmly to a piece of paper or plastic which simply says that they can drive a car. Surely it cannot be to avoid losing points as I'm sure that the vast majority are careful law abiding drivers and you'd have to be a raving nutter behind the wheel to come anywhere close to losing all 12 points and getting a ban.

If you got a French licence but subsequently returned to the UK then you can simply reapply for a UK one.

Mitzyboy

It's not fiddling the system, and I'm quite happy with my UK licence thanks and see no reason to change it at the moment. Its registered to my place in the UK, and you are able to have it so

Im_and_Er

If you do indeed have a genuine UK address, not just one of convenience such as such as that of a relative, then by all means have a replacement licence sent there but anything else is fiddling the system.

I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with continuing to use your UK licence for as long as it is valid, it's your right to do so regardless of what address it bears, but in the case of a lost/stolen/destroyed one the hassle of conning the DVLA into issuing a replacement will almost certainly be greater than getting a Letter of Entitlement and a French one.

Not to mention of course that if you lose a UK licence you cannot legally drive in France until you obtain a replacement, lose a French one and you can get a temporary permit on the spot.

Ka Ora!

I disagree, I have had a DVLA member of staff ask if there is a relatives address I can use for a Replacement License. It is a issue that DVLA is aware of and plans to resolve. How is it a hassle conning them as you put it to Apply for a replacement?

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring...nce/DG_4022085

Mitzyboy

By that means, if you have a bank account in the UK you are fiddling the system, if you have SKY here, you are fiddling the system. If you have a UK licence are you fiddling the system by using a UK address on it that you moved from three years ago (this is approved by DVLA) or is it better to have a UK address that you can actually be contacted at?? Thats either your "other" home address, or maybe the address of your sister or brother, or wherever it is that you actually "live" in when you are back in the UK.

RichardP

I just ent to an office in Confolons, asked for a french Licence, supplied them with the photo's etc , returned a few weeks later and there was my liceince waiting for me -- no problems --- and i didn'r speak french very well