lansbury

Please don't get upset we are not trying to make things difficult but trying to ensure your daughter doesn't encounter some serious problems. I'm sorry just because the insurance company issued a certificate doesn't mean she is insured, they issue the certificate assuming she is complying with all the conditions.

The problem may never surface but if she is involved in an accident which police report or is stopped by police for a traffic offence and they ask for her licence the situation will get complicated. Relying on information from the DVLA is only marginally better that that from a DMV.

Scouse Express

Google;

"DVLA, New Residents"

and the first link will be to a PDF file showing the rules.


Jim.

AmerLisa

I'm absolutely not upset. I appreciate the information and as I said we have discussed this.

BritishGuy36

Right...and the rules say....

"You can drive vehicles weighing up to 3.5 tonnes and with up to eight passenger seats as long as your full licence or driving permit stays valid for up to 12 months from the date you came to GB."

"To continue to drive after this you must pass your driving test before the 12-month period ends."

....which is what we have been saying all along....

Lisa's sister would be foolish to rely on anything contrary to that said by anyone, especially the insurance company.

AmerLisa

She is not my sister, she's my daughter. And hopefully she will get her UK license, when she gets back. Foolish or not, she won't be the first, nor last person to do it.

End of story.....

Bob

Definitely not, but now she knows.

Anyway, amusingly, until a few years ago, they did allow you to just transfer the license, but that was a reciprocal thing, so they don't let the US drivers do that any more. I know a couple of people from Japan who didn't want to give up their license because of the hassle, but failed their UK test, so just swapped them around anyway

AmerLisa

I got my UK license, over 10 years ago when I moved over. I didn't wait any length of time because we had bought a car that included free insurance for the first three years (or 1, can't remember) and it wouldn't insure my US license. I had to take the theory and practical, they didn't swap my license for the other. Wonder when they did that swap thing?

Bob

I've no idea when they stopped it with the US, but they did use to do it.

Only a handful of countries that can transfer it now anyway, Japan, Canada, SA and a few others.

fromthemanorborn

Unless I've missed something here, if she was living in the UK when she became of driving age why did she not take a test in the UK?
She took a test in the US, a country in which she was not currently residing.
I'm a little confused.

Bomber Harris

Because the USA test is not as stringent as the UK test?

That's why the UK won't recognise the majority of USA licences for a straight swop.

fromthemanorborn

That was my first line of thinking, but would she have also been eligible for a US license at 16 as opposed to 17 in the UK, so maybe took the first available?
Still seems odd to me though that you don't have the license for the country of your primary residence.

Bomber Harris

Whilst you can get a USA licence at 16 it wouldn't of allowed her to drive in the UK as the agreement that allows use of foreign licences abroad does stipulate that you must be of the minimum age for driving in the country you are visiting, i.e. 17 in the UK for cars.