DVLA questioning the ban reduction!!??

Convicted Driver Insurance

ste1611

New Member
Hello, I got pulled 28Feb2014 and was OTL reading 71
Did the day in court on 12MAR2014 got 17 month ban
Told to do a VMCL course to be completed by 03FEB2015
I completed first week in DEC2014. Course cost £147 which I considered worth it to get licence back early.
"182" days early according to the letter from the court. So by calculations that's a back on the road date
of 11FEB2015 if the 17 month ban ended 12AUG2015 (i'm right on this calculation)
Now I called Swindon Magistrates court this morning to enquire why DVLA hadn't been in touch about returning my licence.
The DVLA were arguing about the length of reduction.
Surely it's set in stone the reduction and I've kept to my end of the bargain. So I'm a bit pissed off to say the least.
I've told work that I'll be back on the driving strength just after 11FEB2015
Where do I stand legally on this as 11FEB2015 is just over a month away and it takes about 6 weeks to get licence back after sending D1
And I CANNOT get through to speak to anybody at Swansea its just machines.What a Joke/
Please help? has anybody else had this??:confused::confused:
 
The Court appear to have given an improper level of reduction for completing the course, unfortunately this is something that I have come across previously.

The Court can only reduce your disqualification by a maximum of 25%, therefore if you were given a 17 month ban, the disqualification could not be reduced to less than 12 months. At best it could be lowered to between 12 and 13 months. I would advise contacting the Court to request clarification, however based on the letter you have received I suspect the Court have mistyped 182 instead of 128 days, as this would be much closer to the correct reduction.
 
Forgive me. But this is bull****. The court ****ed up and I did the course based on getting licence back on the date I worked it out to be. Surely it's the courts fault. Why should I be messed about because of their incompetence. I will be going back to them with a formal complaint. They can't be allowed to screw people around this way.
****s
 
I would check with the Court before deciding to make a formal complaint so that you know exactly what has happened. If the Court have made the correct judgement and it is simply a typographical error in the letter sent to you then there is a significant difference to an error in the actual sentence being passed.
 
Thankyou for the reply, apologies for the abruptness. I was very angry (Still am)

This is the extract from the letter..

"Dear Sir,
The dvla have raised a query with the court regarding the reduction in the disqualification period of 182 days on completion of the drink drive rehabilitation course as it was over the 25% reduction.

The matter was referred back to the magistrates on 7 january 2015 who have amended the period of discount to 119 days on completion of the course by 14 february 2015"


Surely if the court knows the rules and discount periods then they should have put that correctly in the original offer of reduction.
If the people at the court have messed up then surely i am entitled to request a formal apology and explanation as to why they messed up. As this "cockup" by them has implications for me regarding my job and arrangements i have.
Surely they should just take it on board that they screwed up. leave the original discount in place and let that be the end of it.
 
Unfortunately the Court will be of the view that just because a mistake was made by themselves, this does not mean that they can act outside the law. Legally speaking the Magistrates cannot give more than a 25% reduction in disqualification, therefore if they allow the current reduction to stand they are acting illegally.

You can of course request a formal apology and explain the issues that this has caused with your employment.
 
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