Wife to be

I have read a few threads on the Uk - Ontario licence swap, but still have questions. I am a Canadian married to a UK driver who does not want to swap his licence. He returns to the UK often and has a mailing address there and wants to keep his license solely for use there. Thus, he has taken and passed the G1 test. (I know that it is illegal to possess two licences, but he says he will never show his UK one here and thus will not get caught, so I'm not asking for a response on the morality of this)
Two Questions:

Is there any way to speed up the process of taking the G2 test ?( beyond taking an $850 driving course that shaves off 4 months)

If he drives my car with just a G1 and gets into an accident (he is not insured on it yet as he does not have a full Cnd licence) will my insurance be invalidated (as I let him use the car knowing he didn't have the licence required) and would I be liable for all damages?

Lees147

Your insurance would be invalidated unless you reported the car as missing to the police

wizzard

I think the only way to speed up a regular G class graduated process is taking the young drivers type course as you mention, other than that you have to wait. The whole point is that it means drivers are forced to have at least a couple of years experience before they get their full licence. Obviously it makes little sense in your situation but then that is why you can swap the licence and get a full G one right away.

I don't think it's illegal to have a Canadian and UK licence due to the fact that when I moved to Ontario a few years ago before you were allowed to swap licences and I had to take the tests etc. to get my G licence they let me keep my UK licence and I still have it in a drawer somewhere. Perhaps it has something to do with whether you take the test or not as if you take the test you aren't swapping so mych as getting an extra one.

The law says you need to get an Ontario licence if you are resident in Ontario, and a G1 is an Ontario licence so I guess that counts. As long as there was no deception in the process, such as failing to declare an existing licence if it's required when applying. Otherwise the G1 licence wouldn't be valid.

You know you don't actually lose your UK licence when you surrender it, all you lose is a piece of plastic. You are still entitled to a UK licence until you are like 70 or whatever so you can just apply for a new licence if you ever moved back to the UK and needed one. You can drive in the UK on a full G licence as a visitor. I don't take my UK licence back to the UK with me when I visit, just my Ontario one. It doesn't make any difference.

I don't see why you would want a G1 licence instead of a G if you are living in Ontario priomarily as it means you can only drive with a qualified driver with 4 years experience etc. and you can't drive on 400 series highways and have to have zero alcohol etc. So if you are saying that he is driving your car on his own with a G1 and you aren't in it with him then it's not just being un-insured you'd have to worry about but driving withouth a legal licence so even being pulle dover for say speeding or anything ordinary would cause a huge problem if he hands over a G1 licence and is driving alone. Why risk losing the right to drive in Ontario just over which piece of plastic you have in your wallet when visiting the UK?

iaink

Are you sure about that?

As I understand it, if you have kids in the house with G1/2 licenses, then your primary vehicle MUST be insured for them, even if you dont want to insure them. I dont see how a husband with a G1/2 is any different.


Personally I think hes crazy not to do the swap. The cost of insuring on a G1/2 is higher, so its costing you big time, and without the swap he will never get any credit for his UK driving history. He can drive in the UK on a canadian license when hes there anyway, and is still going to show up on the computer license record in the UK. Is hes doing this just to have a UK ID with his UK address?

Atlantic Xpat

Simple solution assuming his mailing address in the UK is the same as his UK License address (or he has mail forwarding to another address.) Ring up the DVLA and tell them he has mislaid his licence. Pay fee of 19 quid I think by credit card. DVLA send out new licence. Take existing licence and swap for ON one. Job done no worries!

AnyaT

I don't believe there is any way to speed up the whole graduated licensing process. If he is adamant on keeping his UK license then he will have to suffer the Ontario consequences. I can empathize with you somewhat as my HB was the same way initially - he didn't want to hand over his license because a) he had an old-style one (no picture) and was somehow sentimentally attached to it, and b) apparently since Canadian licenses don't specify whether the driver knows manual or automatic, UK car rental outlets will only rent automatic cars to Canadian license-holders. He looked at various ways to get around exchanging it, and I know he considered AX's suggestion, but there was some reason against it. I think that, because the UK license you exchange in Ontario gets sent back to the UK, if you are stopped for any reason in the UK with one of their licenses and they check on it, they can see the UK license is no longer valid.

In our case, a month of trying to get around Edmonton on the bus, combined with the fact we now have a baby coming in January, was enough to convince him to change. As of last week he is now the proud owner of an AB driver's license, and no complaints. That may be a rather extreme way of trying to change your HB's mind, though

Biiiiink

If it was discovered that he 2 licenses, would they not both be void instantly? That's probably more of an insurance problem than breaking the G1 rules.

Wife to be

Thanks so much for all your input. The attachment to the license is sentimental and it is hard to argue against sentiment, but your ideas will help me in the battle. Thanks AnyaT for letting me know I'm not the first to deal with this.

Someone told me that you didn't have to insure family members with G1 licenses since the primary driver is in the car with them, so thanks to iank for your response.

Now that I know there is no way to speed up the process, I think I will have to lay down the law and tell him it is the swap or the bus. Not a conversation I look forward to having.