What is the exact process of getting one's licence back after ban?

Convicted Driver Insurance

JammyGit

New Member
EDIT: I know there's guides out there, but I have timing issues, see below:

Ok so I was banned in January for 17 months for Failing to provide. I was meant to do my rehabilitation course in August which meant with the discount I would have got my licence back in Feb 2017. The course was cancelled due to lack of bookings and rebooked for 19th November - 3rd December.

The DVLA website says you can apply 3 months before the ban is up so that you can do the medical etc, which I would have been able to do had my course not been cancelled by the provider in August. As I won't finish the course until 3rd December now, how will that affect my timescale for applying, doing the medical, course telling the court I've complete it, court telling DVLA, DVLA checking medical etc, all between 3rd December and Mid-February?

Do I do the medical before I've sent the application to the DVLA and after the course? Or is the very first thing I do is the course, then the licence application, then the medical? And how do I know what GP it DVLA approved? This is so stressful and I need to streamline the process as much as possible.

Thanks for reading all that.
 
The first thing you do is the course. Then you are sent a certificate in the post to confirm you have completed it. 7 days after that you send your application form to DVLA. Then you wait for them to tell you which doctor you have to go and see for a medical. If DVLA do not tell you within 8-10 days, chase them up for the details.
'You have 6 weeks from the DVLA letter date to arrange the medical, but you will clearly want one as soon as possible. (Start thinking about your drinking now!) after the medical you wait for DVLA to decide the result, but again, after 4 or 5 days, chase them for the result.
is it do-able in the time frame you have? Probably.... unless DVLA decide to write to your doctor to ask for any details that they have on problems with alcohol. That can result in quite a delay.
 
The first thing you do is the course. Then you are sent a certificate in the post to confirm you have completed it. 7 days after that you send your application form to DVLA. Then you wait for them to tell you which doctor you have to go and see for a medical. If DVLA do not tell you within 8-10 days, chase them up for the details.
'You have 6 weeks from the DVLA letter date to arrange the medical, but you will clearly want one as soon as possible. (Start thinking about your drinking now!) after the medical you wait for DVLA to decide the result, but again, after 4 or 5 days, chase them for the result.
is it do-able in the time frame you have? Probably.... unless DVLA decide to write to your doctor to ask for any details that they have on problems with alcohol. That can result in quite a delay.

Cheers! I cut down to a few beers a week in June and then I stopped totally in August so I should be ok. The doctor probably won't believe that I quit 100%, but there ya go. I did mention it to my own GP a couple of months ago when I went for a liver function test (levels slightly raised). I have to go back for another test so I will hint at doing the alcohol enzymes in there as well so if the DVLA do decide to call, they will have those as a baseline.
 
Cheers! I cut down to a few beers a week in June and then I stopped totally in August so I should be ok. The doctor probably won't believe that I quit 100%, but there ya go. I did mention it to my own GP a couple of months ago when I went for a liver function test (levels slightly raised). I have to go back for another test so I will hint at doing the alcohol enzymes in there as well so if the DVLA do decide to call, they will have those as a baseline.

It seems from many reports, that GPs don't ever do CDT tests, in fact some posters have reported that their GPs don't even know what it is or what it's for so it's not likely that your GP will request a CDT test. LFTs are used to test for many other things/underlying conditions which is why, as I understand it, DVLA switched to CDT. There is a company that will do a test by post for you. They advertise on this forum, Medichecks. Finger prick test, mail it off and they say a 5 day turnaround. I've not used them but other posters have and reported reliable results.
However, if you stopped drinking in August you should be perfectly fine. All the reports I've read on here have stated that around three/four weeks abstinence is seeing people pass. Some have even passed with less time but I wouldn't risk that personally.
DVLA will only contact your own GP if (a) your CDT test comes back in the amber region, which it shouldn't with this length of time on the wagon, or (b) if one or more of your answers to the questionnaire and the AUDIT raise concerns.e.g. if you say you have asked your doctor for help with alcohol issues or that you've been referred to rehab. Then they will contact your GP for details of your disclosure and some have said that their doctor was asked if they had any concerns about the patient's ability/fitness to drive. DVLA go by their lab's/King's College's lab result, not your GP's.
As long as you stay off the booze and there aren't any major medical issues/history, you'll be fine.

As for whether the doc believes that you're 100% on the wagon, well the vast majority of people who attend the DVLA medical have given up completely. It's not for them to believe or disbelieve you (unless you stagger in, stinking of booze at 8am and swear blind that you've not had a drop for two months!!). There is a question on the questionnaire that the examining GP completes, asking whether the patient appears to be intoxicated/smelling of alcohol...that's about the subjective extent of it. The rest are q+a's are pretty objective..
I know it's easier said than done but there really isn't anything to worry about regarding the medical..timing is your concern and there's not much you can do about that, DVLA are a law unto themselves!!
Good luck.
 
I got my licence back in time!

I made an appointment with the Dr that the DVLA told me to go to and they said I could be waiting up to a month for the appointment! Luciky I decided to wait until the next day, and they had a cancellation. So I went, paid £98.50 to the receptionist, filled out some forms on my alcohol and drug use in the last year, and any car alcohol related car accidents in the last 5 years. Got called in, Dr asked a few more questions, weighed me and prodded my abdomen. Shook hands and off I went. 3 weeks later, got licence in the post.

I can drive in 2 weeks and 5 days, but whos counting! This has been the worst year of my life.
 
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