DVLA Licencing Errors

With the summer months almost upon us the time has come to dust off your leathers and pull the bike out of the garage and you're ready to go, or are you?

Disturbing news has been unveiled by a leading motorbike publication to suggest that hundreds of bikers maybe innocently riding their bikes illegally. The new information relates to hundreds of bikers licences and suggests that your licence may not cover you to ride a motorcycle at all. Impossible I hear you say, well apparently not.

Whether you passed your test not long ago or have been riding bikes for thirty years you need to check that your licence actually entitles you to ride a motorbike. The problem has arisen from a mistake made by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) whilst re-issuing licences. If you have sent your licence off to be adjusted recently for what ever reason, be it the addition of penalty points or a change of address this could affect you.

It seems that during the process of updating licences the DVLA have actually mistakenly altered some licences by removing your entitlement to ride a motorcycle. I hear you say that this shouldn't be such a problem; surely you can just send your licence back to the DVLA to be corrected? Unfortunately this is not the case.

The DVLA are refusing to rectify the situation leaving the biker with the only alternative of re-taking their bike test with the full cost coming out of your own pocket. This has angered many people within the biking community but the DVLA is blaming the situation on both the riders and the Driving Standards Agency (DSA).

The DVLA claims that the bikers should have inspected their licences carefully upon return and notified the DVLA of the problem at an earlier date. Another they are reluctant to reinstate the motorbike category to licences they are blaming on the fact that the DSA destroy test certificates every two years and they have insufficient records to prove that the biker ever held a motorbike entitlement.

The most worrying factor is that this situation will have no doubt affected a lot more bikers that are unaware of the situation. The fact is that if you have been affected and are unaware of this 'little mistake' by the DVLA you will suffer the consequences and not them. If you are involved in an accident without the correct licence your bike insurance could be void and any bike insurance claim you make could be dismissed. A police spokesman also suggested that if you are stopped by the police they will have no option but to issue you with a summons for driving without a licence which could result in a huge fine and disqualification.

Reports of motorcycle riding instructors and even motorcycle police officers being affected by the situation and having to re-sit their tests have amazed the biking community.

In closing I can't reiterate how important it is that each and every one of you takes out your licence and check that all your details are correct. Failure to do so could void your bike insurance and even lead to a driving disqualification.