How to make a complaint about the DVLA medical assessment process

Licence refused, how to prove no alcohol for a year?

Convicted Driver Insurance
Honestman said:
Hi again what you need to do as well is to ask for freedom of information on your case, this info will explain in detail why they have refused you they will send it free of charge and will include all your DVLA medicals including CDT results the M2 & DD2 medical forms and all decisions based on your case, I just received a 125 page report and it makes for interesting reading write to: DVLA SAR Enquiries, DVRE, DVLA, Swansea, SA6 7JL or Subjectaccess.requests@dvla.gov.uk include your name,dob,address and medical ref no on all correspondence......it will help you better understand their decision....
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Thank you I will ask. I have seen the DD2 my gp filled out last March and everything was in my favour. Because I took it to court I saw everything and they stated it’s because I haven’t displayed 12 months abstinence even tho my bloods, gp report and medical were all fine but because I had a drink 4 months prior to applying they refused it. The situation I’m in now is they want evidence but they won’t tell me what evidence they require and my gp won’t contact dvla unless they send her the DD2 form, the dvla won’t send anything to my gp without this evidence as they say it’s a waste of their time and my gp says it a waste of her time contacting dvla she is busy with patients. I need to provide some sort of evidence in order to show I’m medically fit before they send me for their medical and ask my gp to fill out the DD2. I was told this morning to get my gp to write a letter to say I’m medically fit and this should act as enough evidence to allow dvla to carry on processing my application and if my gp sends this letter they shouldn’t require her to fill out the DD2. I’ve asked my gp if she can do me a letter to send on just waiting to find out now if she will at my request instead of dvla’s
 
I am really glad that I found this site. I too have been told that my Driving Licence has been revoked because I have been honest about my very controlled alcohol consumption. I had absolutely NO idea that I had to remain abstinent from alcohol (for the rest of my life now?) in order for my licence to be renewed. I would like to know where and how this was made clear to me when I started driving again over a year ago. It would seem there is little point taking an appeal to a Magistrates Court having read this timeline. I stated on my form that my last drink was on 10th October 2019 - do they then take this as the date? My surgery have offered me a blood test free of charge and I guess my doctor can confirm my controlled drinking but am I naive enough to believe that this will sway the DVLA in any way. As people have said - this is so absolutely destructive to people's way of life : jobs, family, general mental wellbeing. I can name many people who are alcohol dependent and who are never challenged. I feel that I have paid for being honest on the form. Surely our legal system and human rights state that we are 'innocent until proven guilty'. Where is there any evidence whatsoever that I have ever gotten into my car under the influence of alcohol in the last 18 months.
 
Nicoola said:
I am really glad that I found this site. I too have been told that my Driving Licence has been revoked because I have been honest about my very controlled alcohol consumption. I had absolutely NO idea that I had to remain abstinent from alcohol (for the rest of my life now?) in order for my licence to be renewed. I would like to know where and how this was made clear to me when I started driving again over a year ago. It would seem there is little point taking an appeal to a Magistrates Court having read this timeline. I stated on my form that my last drink was on 10th October 2019 - do they then take this as the date? My surgery have offered me a blood test free of charge and I guess my doctor can confirm my controlled drinking but am I naive enough to believe that this will sway the DVLA in any way. As people have said - this is so absolutely destructive to people's way of life : jobs, family, general mental wellbeing. I can name many people who are alcohol dependent and who are never challenged. I feel that I have paid for being honest on the form. Surely our legal system and human rights state that we are 'innocent until proven guilty'. Where is there any evidence whatsoever that I have ever gotten into my car under the influence of alcohol in the last 18 months.
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What the dvla are doing are absolutely wrong, when I re applied for my licence my doctor confirmed I am not dependant and I had been drinking in a controlled manner for over 2 years and my dependency was over 5 years ago and she feels I am not a danger on the roads, I went to their medical and passed their blood test but they revoked it because I was honest and said I had a drink on 31st December 2018. But as they say dependancy is for life I lost my case and have to remain abstinent for the rest of my life and have yearly licence reviews. As I am approaching that 12 month mark now they are mucking next around again and I kicked off with the dvla as they refused to send anything to my doctor to request information saying my GP needs to contact them and my gp said they would not contact them as it’s against their protocol and dvla suggested I find a new gp surgery or my application would be refused to which I kicked off and said I have done everything you have asked and you are now saying unless I change my surgery just so they can’t write you a letter my licence will be refused and the guy actually hung up on me as I refused to take this as an answer. Later that day someone else from dvla called me and said because I kicked off it has been escalated and they have sent all the paperwork to my gp surgery for them to fill out and have sent me all the information to go for a medical so I’m slowly moving forwards! Unfortunately I won’t be driving in time for when my licence should of been returned (31st dec) if they are saying you have to remain abstinent then unfortunately you may have no choice as dvla won’t deviate from their script! I would suggest keeping in contact with your gp to help prove this abstinence. Fingers crossed for you. I’ll let you know how I get on as I’ve had to put everything on hold during the festive season so will resume with everything next week.
 
Nicoola said:
I am really glad that I found this site. I too have been told that my Driving Licence has been revoked because I have been honest about my very controlled alcohol consumption. I had absolutely NO idea that I had to remain abstinent from alcohol (for the rest of my life now?) in order for my licence to be renewed. I would like to know where and how this was made clear to me when I started driving again over a year ago. It would seem there is little point taking an appeal to a Magistrates Court having read this timeline. I stated on my form that my last drink was on 10th October 2019 - do they then take this as the date? My surgery have offered me a blood test free of charge and I guess my doctor can confirm my controlled drinking but am I naive enough to believe that this will sway the DVLA in any way. As people have said - this is so absolutely destructive to people's way of life : jobs, family, general mental wellbeing. I can name many people who are alcohol dependent and who are never challenged. I feel that I have paid for being honest on the form. Surely our legal system and human rights state that we are 'innocent until proven guilty'. Where is there any evidence whatsoever that I have ever gotten into my car under the influence of alcohol in the last 18 months.
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Hi, I'm assuming that at some point they issued you a temporary licence and on your medical renewal you honestly admitted to having a drink in October, this date then is when your new temp licence will start from 9/10/20 providing you can please them yet again with medical evidence, it seems more and more of us are being caught out even with controlled drinking as in a earlier post I mentioned that DVLA do like to see abstination even with controlled drinking, when they issue a new temp licence there is no information to suggest that you have to stay alcohol free as they did with me, however when you was first revoked maybe 2 years ago now it would of stated on the revocation letter that they expect you to be alcohol free for life, it is a very poor system that they run and maybe you thought one year abstination was enough, but when your issued a temp licence NEVER EVER ADMIT TO A DRINK AGAIN, lesson learned but I do agree with you there is no information going forward, another DVLA trap to catch us out and unfortunately when you admitted to that drink another year of abstination is required....
 
Honestman said:
Hi, I'm assuming that at some point they issued you a temporary licence and on your medical renewal you honestly admitted to having a drink in October, this date then is when your new temp licence will start from 9/10/20 providing you can please them yet again with medical evidence, it seems more and more of us are being caught out even with controlled drinking as in a earlier post I mentioned that DVLA do like to see abstination even with controlled drinking, when they issue a new temp licence there is no information to suggest that you have to stay alcohol free as they did with me, however when you was first revoked maybe 2 years ago now it would of stated on the revocation letter that they expect you to be alcohol free for life, it is a very poor system that they run and maybe you thought one year abstination was enough, but when your issued a temp licence NEVER EVER ADMIT TO A DRINK AGAIN, lesson learned but I do agree with you there is no information going forward, another DVLA trap to catch us out and unfortunately when you admitted to that drink another year of abstination is required....
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Yes, I do feel I am being penalised for being honest. That is unfair. I assume I will receive the documentation several weeks before the 9th October. In the meantime I will just keep having blood tests done and sending the results to them - all I can do. It seems that 'saving up' these results and sending at the last minute is not a good idea. However - there has to be a legal challenge to this 'Law'. In fact is there a 'Law' preventing people who are HRO ever drinking again? Think that is what I will challenge whilst accepting that I have no alternative other than to wait it out for almost another 9 months. Shocking.
 
There are no given rights to holding a licence, all that's required is prove your fitness to drive, if there are substances ie alcohol/drugs/eyes/ missing limbs etc the dvla will intervene!

The confusion appears to be prior Feb 2019 the dvla allowed dependant drinkers to show a clear period of abstinence then we're allowed to continue controlled drinking! However a batch of data came back showing X amount of dependant drinkers never returned to normal drinking behaviour so the dvla took a wide stance and without informing anybody IE ANYONE or GP's decided if you drink within last 6 years of having been already proven dependant your licence will be withheld or at best case scenario yearly
It will be much tougher to get out there system in the future do things by the book good luck
 
Nicoola said:
Yes, I do feel I am being penalised for being honest. That is unfair. I assume I will receive the documentation several weeks before the 9th October. In the meantime I will just keep having blood tests done and sending the results to them - all I can do. It seems that 'saving up' these results and sending at the last minute is not a good idea. However - there has to be a legal challenge to this 'Law'. In fact is there a 'Law' preventing people who are HRO ever drinking again? Think that is what I will challenge whilst accepting that I have no alternative other than to wait it out for almost another 9 months. Shocking.
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Apply for your licence 3 months before it'll take them that time just to scan you a on to the system...
 
Honestman said:
I think for all dependant people you can drink but just drink within the recommended limits (14 units a week) and don't tell the DVLA ....
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I know what your saying here Honestman but let's not forget not all dependant drinkers are worthy of holding a licence , but yes we're talking brackets of fine line and normal people caught up within a system created to make roads safer.
Especially when there honest go that extra bit to help themselves but there is no single person within dvla to talk with!
It's a system that's blindfolded and runs by yes n NO Questions
 
Yes I think you're right Craig maybe I should of rephrased it "not all" but I do think there are a large majority of people that can drink within the recommended guidlines and for whatever reason have been caught up in this innocently, the problem is as you rightly suggested some people tend to go back to their original drinking habits that can put people lives in danger and the DVLA have a hard job to police this thus tarring us all with the same brush, however for me I found it was easier and a lot less complicated when it came to filling out the medical forms to stick to the last drink date ...
 
Do any of you think it is worth lobbying MP's on this issue? I am still finding it extremely hard to believe that I can absolutely never have another drink in my life because if I do then I cannot drive. Statistics DO show that a percentage of ex dependent alcohol people CAN drink in a controlled way. I do not know much about drugs - but can I assume they are taking the same stance with them?
 
Yes I do, but who's gonna back criminals with drink drive conviction, unfortunately I don't think it'll go down to well, although more than likely there's a large portion of the U.K. At it, however coming back to licensing in some cases once you can prove 3 years sobriety then there's a good chance of a full 10 year licence, they can't keep you forever...there are different levels of dependance apparently from mild to severe that the DVLA use, depends really weather you've been to rehab, detox, meds etc....
 
Honestman said:
Yes I do, but who's gonna back criminals with drink drive conviction, unfortunately I don't think it'll go down to well, although more than likely there's a large portion of the U.K. At it, however coming back to licensing in some cases once you can prove 3 years sobriety then there's a good chance of a full 10 year licence, they can't keep you forever...there are different levels of dependance apparently from mild to severe that the DVLA use, depends really weather you've been to rehab, detox, meds etc....
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Thanks - well that is a glimmer of hope then if I keep sending medical 'evidence' for three years! I do get it about keeping drink drivers off of the roads . . . . but, just with the people I know - there are tons of people who drink drive very often. Just wish that everyone could be 'caught'. However that is sour grapes on my part and I should be better than that.
 
Honestman said:
Yes I do, but who's gonna back criminals with drink drive conviction, unfortunately I don't think it'll go down to well, although more than likely there's a large portion of the U.K. At it, however coming back to licensing in some cases once you can prove 3 years sobriety then there's a good chance of a full 10 year licence, they can't keep you forever...there are different levels of dependance apparently from mild to severe that the DVLA use, depends really weather you've been to rehab, detox, meds etc....
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When I was in court the medical doctor from the dvla had to attend and said they can only keep testing and monitoring us for a maximum period of 6 years to prove we are not using alcohol before a 10 year licence is issued. Hopefully they actually adhere to that as I do not want yearly licences for the rest of my life it’s just unfair
 
NST90 said:
When I was in court the medical doctor from the dvla had to attend and said they can only keep testing and monitoring us for a maximum period of 6 years to prove we are not using alcohol before a 10 year licence is issued. Hopefully they actually adhere to that as I do not want yearly licences for the rest of my life it’s just unfair
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How many temp licence have you had so far?
 
Honestman said:
How many temp licence have you had so far?
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None, I was applying last year for my first time since my ban and that’s when I learnt about the whole having to abstain etc. I’m halfway through my second application now (got my medical at the end of this month)
 
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